5 UFC main events that were hugely underwhelming

#4 Louis Smolka vs. Paddy Holohan – UFC Fight Night 76

Irish UFC fans were left underwhelmed by the main event of Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka

When the UFC returned to Dublin in October 2015, they planned to do so with the main event of Dustin Poirier vs. Joseph Duffy.

Sure, that fight was a step down from 2014’s Conor McGregor-headlined visit to Dublin, but it still sounded like a cool fight between a rising Irish star and one of the best fighters in the UFC lightweight division.

Unfortunately, Duffy was forced out three days before the event after sustaining a concussion. Poirier then decided he wasn’t in the mood to fight late-notice replacement Norman Parke, and withdrew too.

That left the UFC scrambling badly. And while the card was already a relatively weak one, they were forced to headline with flyweights Louis Smolka and Paddy Holohan.

Paddy Holohan vs. Louis Smolka promoted to the main event in a three round bout https://t.co/L3tTbV0Vp3

— UFC on TSN (@TSNUFC) October 21, 2015

Even as an injury replacement, to say the fight was an underwhelming main event would be an understatement. Neither man was considered a UFC title contender. The best you could say was that at least both were on winning runs.

In the end, Smolka won a relatively entertaining fight with a rear naked choke in the second round, leaving the Irish fans deflated after seeing hometown fighter Holohan lose.

And thanks to this underwhelming main event, they probably felt more than a little unfulfilled, too.

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#3 Yair Rodriguez vs. Alex Caceres – UFC Fight Night 92

Neither Yair Rodriguez or Alex Caceres were ready for a UFC main event slot in 2016

The UFC was initially set to put on an event in Salt Lake City, Utah way back in August 2010. However, the promotion was forced to move the event to San Diego on late notice due to low ticket sales – explained by Utah’s heavily religious population not wanting to attend a show on a Sunday.

But when the UFC finally decided to head to the city in 2016 – on a Saturday this time – it felt like they remembered the slight from 2010, and decided to headline it with a truly underwhelming fight.

The fight in question was a featherweight bout between Yair Rodriguez and Alex Caceres, a head-scratcher of a main event if there ever was one.

At the time, Rodriguez was considered one of the hottest prospects in the UFC’s 145lbs division. However, he’d had just four fights in the promotion and hardly seemed ready for a main event slot.

Caceres, meanwhile, was largely considered a journeyman at best and had a UFC record of 7-6-1. Realistically, Bruce Leeroy wasn’t close to being in title contention.

Sure, the fight made sense from a perspective of putting two fighters with entertaining styles against one another, but as a main event, it was a real head-scratcher – even if it turned out to be a fun clash to watch.