– Paul Dollery reports from Glasgow
THERE WAS DISAPPOINTMENT for Paul Redmond this afternoon in Glasgow as he suffered his second successive UFC loss.
Redmond was beaten via TKO (punches) by hometown favourite Robert Whiteford on the prelims at UFC Fight Night 72 at the SSE Hydro Arena.
It leaves Redmond still searching for his first taste of victory in the octagon. The Dublin featherweight also lost his short-notice debut against Mirsad Bektic in Stockholm in January.
Whiteford had enormous home support as the first Scottish fighter to compete on the UFC’s inaugural event in this part of the world. The 32-year-old brought the house down as he entered the arena to ‘Flower of Scotland’.
Redmond was greeted by a chorus of boos but the intimidating atmosphere didn’t appear to have an impact on the Team Ryano fighter, who looked relaxed from the outset.
It was Redmond who took the centre of the cage and dictated the pace early on, keeping his opponent on the outside. Both fighters traded on the feet but it was Whiteford who was landing the cleaner shots.
The Scot dropped his Irish opponent but Redmond was straight back to his feet and responding in kind. However, it was all over by the 3:04 mark of the opening round.
After Whiteford sent Redmond crashing with a big left hook, he followed up swiftly with ground-and-pound and referee Marc Goddard correctly intervened to signal the end of the bout.
Whiteford scaled the cage and launched himself into the raucous crowd to celebrate his second UFC win on the trot, while Redmond is left to hope that he’s given an another opportunity to show UFC bosses what he can do.
“I’m just gutted,” Redmond said. “To be honest, I can’t remember actually getting hit or getting knocked out. But congratulations to Rob; he did what he was supposed to do.
“I knew not to jump on him, you know, he’s a tough boy. I tried to take my time but I just got caught.”
