Zuffa Boxing Is Coming To Ireland
Right then — this is a proper statement. Zuffa Boxing, the UFC's new boxing venture, has confirmed it is heading to Ireland for the first time, with Zuffa Boxing 10 set for Dublin's 3Arena on Saturday, August 8. It'll be live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and streamed on Paramount+ in the US and Canada. Make no mistake, a major promoter planting a flag in Dublin is a big deal for Irish boxing.
The 3Arena is one of the best fight venues in these islands, and a packed Dublin crowd on a summer Saturday night is as good an atmosphere as the sport offers. Zuffa Boxing turning up with that kind of platform tells you they're serious about building in markets that travel.
Walsh Set To Headline His Own Backyard
The expected headliner is Cork's own Callum Walsh, and that's exactly the right call. Walsh is 16-0 with 11 knockouts, a slick southpaw who topped Zuffa Boxing's very first show in Las Vegas back in January with a wide points win. Bringing him home to box in Ireland for the first time as a Zuffa headliner is the sort of moment that announces a fighter to a whole new audience.
If you know, you know — Walsh has been carefully built stateside, and a homecoming in front of a roaring Dublin crowd could be the night he properly arrives as a domestic star. The pressure of headlining at home is real, but this is the stage he's been chasing.
A Stacked Irish Night
It gets better. Monaghan's Aaron McKenna is slated for the chief-support slot in a world-title fight, the unbeaten middleweight chasing an IBF strap against an unbeaten Italian champion. An all-Irish night with a homegrown headliner and a genuine world-title fight underneath it? That's a brilliant bit of card-building, and exactly what the Irish scene has been crying out for.
My Take
I'm not sitting on the fence on the bigger picture here: Zuffa Boxing landing in Dublin with Sky Sports behind it is a win for the sport, and a Callum Walsh homecoming with Aaron McKenna fighting for a world title underneath is a card I'd buy a ticket for tomorrow. Get the co-feature and the undercard right and Zuffa Boxing 10 could be one of the standout Irish fight nights of the year. Pencil in August 8 — this one has the makings of something special.