Irish veteran Neil Seery might be in his mid-30s but is still a tough challenge for any man at flyweight, and looks to prove so once more when he meets Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC Fight Night 87 in Rotterdam, Netherlands this weekend.
After making his UFC debut on short notice in 2014 against Brad Pickett, the former Cage Warriors 125lb champ has become something of a testing block for promising younger talent. But that doesn’t seem to bother the Irishman one bit.
“Is this just how I like it? Yeah,” says Seery. “It’s just turn up, push all the b****cks to one side and say, ‘Look, let’s go and have a fight.’ It’s just the way it is.”
“We get inside (the cage) and go at it for fifteen minutes or however long it takes,” he adds. “Let’s go in and showcase our skills, what we’ve been training for and enjoy it.”
Though Horiguchi has already challenged for the UFC title, losing to champ Demetrious Johnson via submission last April, he is still far younger than Seery – 25 to his 36, to be precise. This fact might cause lesser men than Seery to look down on their young opponents, but Neil is amazingly considerate towards the man he is days away from fighting one-on-one.
“I really hope it turns out well,” he says. “Obviously I want to come out with the win but it’s a chance for both of us to showcase what we’re about. That’s why we’re on Fight Pass; because it’s an exciting fight. I just hope it turns out that way.”
Seery vs. Horiguchi will headline the UFC Fight Pass portion of the card on Sunday May 8th. Both men have earned reputations as two of the more exciting fighters at 125lb – Seery coming off a ‘Performance of the Night’ submission win over Jon Delos Reyes last October in his native Ireland, and he’ll be looking to bag another $50K bonus by giving his all this weekend.
“You don’t have to be top of the bill to walk away with the big bucks. The ones at the start of the card or the middle of the card, they can all walk away with big bonuses. You just have to go out and fight your heart out.”
UK fans can catch the UFC Fight Night 87 main card on BT Sport 2 at 7pm local time. US fans can watch the event on Fox Sports 1 (check local listings). The prelims are available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass.
