The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was back in Dublin, Ireland yesterday (October 24, 2015) for UFC Fight Night 76: Holohan vs Smolka. The fight card had taken some major hits but ultimately produced an exciting and memorable show. The entertaining night of scraps is now in our rear-view, so let’s take a look which UFC Fight Night 76 competitors we may no longer see inside the Octagon… ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK Cathal Pendred It is highly unlikely that the UFC will cut Pendred, but only because he is Conor McGregor’s boy, and McGregor is their most popular male fighter. Pended is now on a two-fight losing skid and is arguably 1-4 in his five UFC outings, as he had his hand raised in a pair of controversial decisions. If it were anybody else, I would feel confident that they should be expecting a pink slip in the mail, however with Pendred, I am feeling confident that he gets another crack. Even if he goes on to lose the next fight, I would not be surprised to see him get one last chance afterwards. I believe the UFC will go as far as possible in their efforts to keep McGregor happy. Bubba Bush Bush made his promotional debut against Kevin Casey, and was knocked out in the very first round of action. Following an extended layoff, he returned to Octagon action against Garreth McLellan, and after dominating the first round, a fence-grab by McLellan during a Bush takedown attempt landed him on top of Bush in the mount position, where he spent the round beating up the former Legacy FC middleweight champion. The referee noticed the fence grabbed and warned McLellan for it, but did not stand them up, which was completely mind-boggling, even to the commentators at Octagon-side. Bush was gassed out heading into the third frame and McLellan took the fight to the mat and rained down a ground and pound that eventually forced the referee to step in and halt the action. I think this was a “loser goes home” type of match-up in the UFC’s middleweight division, and with the loss, I think there is a good chance Bush will be sent packing.
