British promotion BAMMA have this morning officially announced that they will be doing an event in Dublin, Ireland this September 19th. It will be the first time the promotion has ever done an event outside of England in their 6 years existence.
The venue will be the 3 Arena an historic stadium that has hosted two sell-out shows for the UFC with UFC 93 in 2009 and UFC Fight Night Dublin last July. Before the 3 Arena (formerly the 02) was built ‘The Point Depot’ stood in its place and only one MMA promotion held an event there, Cage Rage in 2007, in what was a relatively successful show attendance wise.
The main event on the night will be a BAMMA World Featherweight Title fight between champion Tom Duquesnoy (10-1, 1 NC) and TUF veteran Brendan Loughnane (10-1). 21-year-old Duquesnoy won the title at BAMMA 15 last year and has proven to be one of the world’s top MMA prospects.
After a stint on TUF: The Smashes and a fight at the finale in Australia, which he lost, Loughnane found himself not being signed by the UFC. Subsequently, he has won five straight fights including two in BAMMA after being snapped up by the promotion late last year.
Other fighters rumoured to be on the card are Irish MMA fighters Chris Fields, Conor Cooke and Alan Philpott, each of whom are currently signed fighters on the BAMMA roster. Expect more fight announcements from the promotion over the coming days and weeks.
BAMMA 22 will take place in the 3 Arena in Dublin, Ireland on September 19th and tickets will be on sale very soon.