The UFC debuted in Dublin, Ireland at the O2 Arena, much to the delight of those in attendance. Many had been looking forward to the main event as well as seeing how an “old school” warrior would fair against the modern day version.

Marcus Davis vs Chris Lytle
Adopted Irishman Davis had the crowd firmly in the palm of his hands as they backed, cheered and sang raucously for their hero. “The Irish Hand grenade” and “Lights Out” put on a fight of the night performance for the packed arena. Both men throwing leather right from the opening bell through to the end. A stand up battle is what was promised by these two and they did not disappoint.

Davis scored regularly as did Lytle, who did most of the chasing. Chris was continually looking for that one big punch that would stop Marcus, whereas Marcus was more tactical with his punches and kicks. The scorecards were close as they entered the final five minutes and both combatants had obvious signs on their faces that they definitely weren’t mucking around. Davis was starting to edge clear, and continued to do so, connecting even more often as Lytle was unable to make the same in roads, as he had a few times in the preceding rounds. Davis wins a split decision and he and Lytle vowed to do it all again.

Denis Kang vs Alan Belcher
Kang was one middleweight that a lot of MMA fans have been waiting to see in the UFC for quite some time. He was keenly greeted in the octagon by “The Talent”. Denis was impressive in his UFC debut for the best part of two rounds, landing some hard shots on Belcher, who to his credit ate them up and kept on coming. When the fight went to the ground with Kang on top, he controlled things but never dominated Alan, who keeps improving on the mat with every outing. With a little under thirty seconds remaining in round two, Denis shoots for a takedown and is caught in a tight guillotine from Belcher and taps almost immediately. Belcher claims a great scalp via submission, although Kang showed plenty of skill and is a worthy addition to the middleweight ranks.

Rousimar Palhares vs. Jeremy Horn
In what should have been a grapple fest, it was the stocky Brazilian who directed proceedings and had his way with veteran Horn. Palhares was never in danger as he ruled from top position and pounded on Jeremy for long periods, as Horn was only able to turtle up and cop the barrage. Apart from a couple of half hearted kicks and a few decent jabs, it was all Rousimar as he out played the player on the ground and moved seamlessly from position to position and could have had the fight stopped at least once. To Jeremy’s credit he pressed on until the end, even though he knew he was out classed. A lesser fighter probably would have “allowed” himself to get caught. Palhares returned to the victory podium via a unanimous decision.

Mauricio Rua vs. Mark Coleman
It was the return to the UFC of the “God Father” of ground and pound, Mark “The Hammer” Coleman after a ten year absence from the octagon. “Shogun” Rua was also making a comeback of sorts after a long lay off with a bung knee, which is now fully fixed after surgery. With a little history and a bit of bad blood between these two from their days in Pride, the crowd was anticipating carnage. Coleman who had never fought at LHW before looked a little drawn out and seemed to run out of gas quickly, about half way through the first round. He took several hard shots from Rua including some knees (a favorite of his). He stuck with it though and took the Brazilian down a couple of times in the first stanza. Towards the end of the round Mark gets hit with a strong hook that rocks him, Coleman reaches for a leg and holds on until the bell.

44 year old Coleman is looking his age as he is completely spent physically. Shogun works well from the Thai clinch and scores plenty of points with his knees. Coleman has slowed but still manages to hit his target with some punches, the veteran gets another takedown but can’t take any advantage. Rua slips on a slow Omoplata and tries to submit the one time HW champion. Mark shows tremendous resilience and holds on, making it to the last round.

Rua and Coleman are both badly gassed and basically just stare at each other briefly. Then the fight ends up on the mat with some back and forth positioning and Mark is trying to inflict some damage on Rua, who is able to fend off and roll out. As they come back up Shogun drives a knee into the chest of Coleman but is pulled up by the ref and warned for an illegal blow. Mark gets a bit of time to catch his breath and the fight restarts. Shogun comes in blazing and finds his target with several unanswered shots, most notably a big uppercut that drops Coleman. The ref moves in and stops the fight, handing Rua victory towards the end of round three. If Rua wants to compete with the cream of the LHW division he is going to have to seriously work on his cardio. As for the legend Coleman, maybe he is best suited to the heavyweight division or perhaps he will be better for the run.

Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson
This fight would determine the coach for team USA on the next season of TUF. Two former belt holders in the MW division, now battling it out in the LHW division, for a chance to fight Michael Bisping in the MW division. Anyone else confused?

“Ace” and “Hendo” put on a great show for the crowd, Henderson scored early with a nice overhand right that stung Franklin and seemed to keep him just a little gun shy for the remainder of the fight. Dan also landed some heavy shots from within Franklin’s guard giving him a clear edge after the first. Rich has two reasonable sized cuts on his head one from a head clash.

The second round was much closer as Rich started to land some hard kicks and some nice combinations. Henderson continued to throw like his life depended on it and managed to score with the judges. Dan decides to go for the takedown again and gets it, again landing some blunt shots from the guard and probably sneaking that round as well.

Rich came out in the final round like it was the first, due to him being some kind of cardio freak, knowing that he probably needed to stop Henderson to win or at the very least dominate the round. Although Rich was pushing hard in the last round, Hendo was being evasive enough and still staying busy. Late in the fight Ace got caught with a deep finger to the eye, which halted proceedings momentarily. Thankfully the fight didn’t end with the poke and they slugged it out at the death. Rich won the last round but not the fight, Dan Henderson was declared the winner via a split decision and landed himself the coaching gig.

Irish eyes are smiling in Dublin after a great night of fights as I’m sure Dana White and the UFC are too.

Click here to see the full fight results