NEIL SEERY CAME up short this afternoon as he returned to action at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam.
In spite of a typically courageous performance, Seery was unable to avoid a defeat to the impressive Kyoji Horiguchi, which takes the veteran Dubliner’s UFC record to 3-3 (16-12 overall).
Horiguchi, who fought for the UFC flyweight title against Demetrious Johnson just a year ago, showed superb speed and movement to pick up a unanimous-decision victory (30-27, 30-27, 30-26) to improve his own record to 17-2 (6-1 UFC), as the 25-year-old resumes his journey back to title contention in the 125lbs division.
Following his submission of Jon Delos Reyes back in October, Seery was making a significant step-up to face Horiguchi at the UFC’s inaugural event in the Netherlands. That was evident just seconds into the contest, when the Japanese fighter dropped Seery with a ferocious right hand.
Horiguchi’s speed was the difference throughout the bout and he used it to land big shots consistently. The former title challenger — ranked fifth and now training at American Top Team — knocked Seery down again in the opening frame, this time with a left jab, but the Finglas native displayed a granite chin to stay in the fight.
Despite having a cut opened above his right eye, Seery settled into the fight in the second round and had some success thanks to his own excellent boxing. However, Horiguchi was always one step ahead and although he was unable to secure a finish against the teak-tough Irishman, the outcome was never in doubt when the judges were called into action.
Seery’s defeat takes the combined record of Irish fighters in the UFC this year to 0-5, following losses earlier in 2016 for Joseph Duffy, Artem Lobov, Norman Parke and Conor McGregor.
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