NEIL SEERY GAVE Chris Beal the first defeat of his career last night, but afterwards expressed his disappointment at having done so via the judges.
The 35-year-old Dubliner turned in an excellent performance to overcome his American opponent courtesy of a unanimous decision, which gave him his 15th professional victory and second on the trot.
Seery has gone the distance in all three of his UFC bouts to date. After losing to Brad Pickett in his debut, he rebounded with a win over Phil Harris at UFC Dublin last July.
Following a competitive first round last night against Beal, which two of the three judges gave to Seery, the Dubliner began to open up as the fight progressed and was close to stopping Beal in the third and final frame, but his opponent survived.
However, while Beal hung in there until the end, there was no doubt over who the dominant fighter was. All three judges gave rounds two and three to Seery, confirming a win on 29-28, 30-27, 30-27 scores.
“Even though I knew I had done enough, I don’t like putting it in the hands of the judges,” Seery said. “That’s another decision now. I wanted the stoppage and it wasn’t for the want of trying anyway.
“I tried hard to get the finish. But he was very tough, to be fair to him. He hung in there until the end so I still had to be careful, even though I knew he was hurt.
“He was getting tired and the timing in my boxing exchanges got better as it went on, but I was disappointed that I didn’t finish him. That’s what I go in there to do every time.”
As for his performance, there were mixed feelings for Seery. He wasn’t too pleased with how he began, but things gradually improved for the Team Ryano star and he eventually seemed at ease, particularly in the final frame.
“I thought I started a bit sloppy, in the boxing exchanges especially. He [Beal] said coming in to the fight that he was planning to stand and bang, so I tried to push him hard but my timing was a bit off.
“Then as soon as he got hit hard he tried to get it to the floor, but I felt very comfortable then as well. He was on the back-foot and that was the plan — to take the centre of the Octagon instead of allowing him to, and then dictate it from there.”
Last night’s event in Stockholm was the second largest in UFC history. As the event’s first winner, Seery will return to his day-job on Tuesday having enjoyed a memorable experience.
He said: “It’s been brilliant. The whole week has been incredible. I love Stockholm, it’s a beautiful city. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. It was obviously a huge event for the UFC. It was great to be part of it and to fight in an arena like this… I couldn’t ask for more.”
Later in the night there was disappointment for Seery’s team-mate Paul Redmond, who suffered a unanimous-decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-25) loss to undefeated US featherweight Mirsad Bektic.
Given that he accepted the fight on just two weeks’ notice, it was a courageous performance by Redmond in the circumstances. However, the 28-year-old has no interest in moral victories.
“With the weight-cut and the short notice, I knew it was going to be a big ask. But I didn’t come over here to lose so I’m absolutely gutted,” said Redmond, who cut 33lbs in two weeks as he aimed to make the featherweight limit.
“I had nothing left to give in there. But I’m not making any excuses. I’m disgusted with my performance but I’m looking forward to being back in there to show what I can do when I’ve had the full eight weeks to prepare.”
