Paddy Holohan: Saturday’s McGregor fight ‘could be like looking into the future for myself’

For two of his three UFC fights so far, Paddy Holohan has fought alongside his Irish countryman Conor McGregor. As McGregor gets set to fight in the biggest bout of his career at UFC 189 this Saturday – an interim title fight against Chad Mendes — Holohan is finishing up his training. He has a bout scheduled against Vaughan Lee at UFC Fight Night 72 in Glasgow, Scotland, the following week, on July 18.

Not that “The Hooligan” is suffering any kind of separation anxiety. Holohan was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and he said that it might be a sign of the times that Irish fighters are spreading and appearing all over the globe.

“I didn’t really mind,” Holohan told Ariel Helwani about not being in Las Vegas with his teammate, McGregor. “This is Conor’s time as well. The next level is all fighting in different countries at different times, and getting wins on different shows. It will increase.”

Holohan said it might be beneficial to him to focus on Lee elsewhere.

“And same with him. This is Conor’s time,” he said. “I wanted to split to a different part of the woods, and separate just maybe for this time. And then the next time I’ll be back being the berserker. This time it’s going to be nice there, to go over there. Every one [of my teammates] gets to see how the UFC machine works.”

The 27-year old Holohan (11-1-1) is coming off a decision victory against Shane Howell at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. That was the same night that McGregor defeated Dennis Siver and jumped the Octagon wall to confront a cageside Jose Aldo. Holohan choked out Josh Sampo in his promotional debut when the UFC visited Dublin last July.

That was the time that McGregor made quick work of Diego Brandao in one of the most raucous atmosphere’s in UFC history.

Come Saturday night, the city of Irish is expected to be green for McGregor’s interim title bout, with thousands of his countrymen making the trek to Vegas to attend.

Asked where he’ll be on fight night – which, on Dublin time, is at 5 o’clock in the morning – Holohan said he’d be at Harry’s on the Green on King Street in Dublin. He said the whole country will be glued to the action, no matter what time it is.

“Of course. And you know, everyone gave up their jobs,” he said. “Everyone has put their kids up for adoption, gave up their jobs, and a lot of them are getting ready for the Conor McGregor fight. It doesn’t matter who he’s fighting, the whole country is here, and trust me, when he gets his hand raised, be quiet and listen. The whole country’s going to jump at once. You’re going to feel it. You’ll here, Eire! It’s going to work out. And then a week later we go to war ourselves.”

Holohan said it would double as his sending off party for Scotland, as well.

“I’ll be eating some lettuce, because we’ll be deep in the trenches there,” he said. “So yeah, looking forward to it. I’m going in with a few friends, the last bit of fun before I fly out to Scotland down there. It’s going to be great.

“As a fighter and a friend, I’m a Conor McGregor enthusiast as well. I can’t wait to see it for [coach] John [Kavanagh], to see it for Conor, and see it for the whole team and Conor’s family. This is ten years in the making coming to fruition. This is serious. This could be like looking into the future for myself.”

Just as McGregor stated on his UFC 189 press call last week, Holohan said he also hopes to end up on the next Dublin card, which the UFC scheduled for Oct. 24.

For two of his three UFC fights so far, Paddy Holohan has fought alongside his Irish countryman Conor McGregor. As McGregor gets set to fight in the biggest bout of his career at UFC 189 this Saturday – an interim title fight against Chad Mendes — Holohan is finishing up his training. He has a bout scheduled against Vaughan Lee at UFC Fight Night 72 in Glasgow, Scotland, the following week, on July 18.

Not that “The Hooligan” is suffering any kind of separation anxiety. Holohan was a guest on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and he said that it might be a sign of the times that Irish fighters are spreading and appearing all over the globe.

“I didn’t really mind,” Holohan told Ariel Helwani about not being in Las Vegas with his teammate, McGregor. “This is Conor’s time as well. The next level is all fighting in different countries at different times, and getting wins on different shows. It will increase.”

Holohan said it might be beneficial to him to focus on Lee elsewhere.

“And same with him. This is Conor’s time,” he said. “I wanted to split to a different part of the woods, and separate just maybe for this time. And then the next time I’ll be back being the berserker. This time it’s going to be nice there, to go over there. Every one [of my teammates] gets to see how the UFC machine works.”

The 27-year old Holohan (11-1-1) is coming off a decision victory against Shane Howell at UFC Fight Night 59 in Boston. That was the same night that McGregor defeated Dennis Siver and jumped the Octagon wall to confront a cageside Jose Aldo. Holohan choked out Josh Sampo in his promotional debut when the UFC visited Dublin last July.

That was the time that McGregor made quick work of Diego Brandao in one of the most raucous atmosphere’s in UFC history.

Come Saturday night, the city of Irish is expected to be green for McGregor’s interim title bout, with thousands of his countrymen making the trek to Vegas to attend.

Asked where he’ll be on fight night – which, on Dublin time, is at 5 o’clock in the morning – Holohan said he’d be at Harry’s on the Green on King Street in Dublin. He said the whole country will be glued to the action, no matter what time it is.

“Of course. And you know, everyone gave up their jobs,” he said. “Everyone has put their kids up for adoption, gave up their jobs, and a lot of them are getting ready for the Conor McGregor fight. It doesn’t matter who he’s fighting, the whole country is here, and trust me, when he gets his hand raised, be quiet and listen. The whole country’s going to jump at once. You’re going to feel it. You’ll here, Eire! It’s going to work out. And then a week later we go to war ourselves.”

Holohan said it would double as his sending off party for Scotland, as well.

“I’ll be eating some lettuce, because we’ll be deep in the trenches there,” he said. “So yeah, looking forward to it. I’m going in with a few friends, the last bit of fun before I fly out to Scotland down there. It’s going to be great.

“As a fighter and a friend, I’m a Conor McGregor enthusiast as well. I can’t wait to see it for [coach] John [Kavanagh], to see it for Conor, and see it for the whole team and Conor’s family. This is ten years in the making coming to fruition. This is serious. This could be like looking into the future for myself.”

Just as McGregor stated on his UFC 189 press call last week, Holohan said he also hopes to end up on the next Dublin card, which the UFC scheduled for Oct. 24.