Conor McGregor reacts to Saturday's UFC Fight Night 76 in his Dublin home

Aisling Daly

DUBLIN – Irish fighters had mixed results today at UFC Fight Night 76 in Dublin.

Of the five Irish-born athletes to compete on the card at 3Arena, three emerged victorious while two others suffered defeats inside the octagon.

Interim UFC featherweight champion and the face of Irish MMA, Conor McGregor, did not compete on the card. However, “The Notorious” still had some thoughts on the card that featured four of his SBG Ireland teammates (via Twitter).

Paddy Holohan (12-2-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) had the opportunity to break through as the flyweight division’s next fighter to watch when he was granted a main event opportunity after the original headliner of Joseph Duffy vs. Dustin Poirier fell apart at the last minute.

“The Hooligan” was unable to seize that opportunity, though, because he suffered a second-round submission loss to Louis Smolka (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

Earlier in the night, welterweight Cathal Pendred (17-4-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) was stopped in the first round by Tom Breese (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC).

There were some bright points, though, because Aisling Daly (16-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Neil Seery (16-11 MMA, 3-2 UFC) thrilled the raucous crowd with decisive victories over their respective opponents. Northern Ireland’s Norman Parke (21-4-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) was also successful with a unanimous decision win in the co-main event.

McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC) will attempt to once again raise the profile of Irish fighters when he looks to unify the 145-pound belt with Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the highly anticipated main event of UFC 194 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 76, check out the UFC Events section of the site.