Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

There was a resounding feeling in the Irish MMA community that Team Ryano stalwart Neil ‘2 Tap’ Seery was not getting the billing from UFC that his three Octagon outings deserved.

After showcasing his undeniable pugilistic prowess against Brad Pickett and Phil Harris, Seery completely picked apart rising prospect Chris Beal when they met in the curtain raiser in Stockholm back in January. Seery’s performances had dragged some of the biggest reactions from each crowd he had performed in front of.

Having began his promotional career in a main card slot against Brad Pickett in London, the Dubliner had a reverse trajectory as he moved further down the card for his hometown show in July last year, and then again in Sweden. Fightland actually ran an opinion piece on the topic after Seery’s victory over Beal titled ‘Unsung Seery’.

However, with his latest fight against talented Hawaiian Louis Smolka announced for UFC 189 in Las Vegas, Seery couldn’t be happier. As a lifelong combat sports athlete and fan, fighting in Vegas was something that Seery didn’t believe could ever happen to him.

“It means everything to me,” said Seery. “UFC 189 is going to be the biggest card of the year and I think it made a good bit of sense to put another Irish guy on the card with everyone travelling over. I’m glad that I got the shout. I was very lucky.

“Las Vegas is the fight capital of the world, I never thought that I’d get to the UFC, so I definitely didn’t think I was going to get to Vegas. The hard work has paid off, now I’ve just got to go out and fight my fight.”

The Ryano man might be the polar opposite of outspoken featherweight Conor McGregor when it comes to the limelight. While the featherweight contender revels in his stardom, Seery has been known to make Houdini like escapes from Andy Ryan’s North Dublin stronghold when camera crews come to film him.

He hasn’t appeared even slightly nervous thus far in his UFC bouts though, but admits that thinking about the passionate Irish fans in the MGM Grand is something that he’s trying to put to the back of his head. Seery is expecting such a large crowd presence from the Irish in Vegas that he is confident that Smolka will feel like he’s fighting in Dublin.

“I’m trying not to think about the amount of Irish support that will be there because it plays with my nerves a bit,” he admitted. “Every time I go out there it’s mind blowing that I’ve even got this far, I never thought it would come. I just want to take everything in my stride.

“There was an amazing crowd in Dublin too obviously, it’s hard to explain the feeling when you have that many people roaring from the stands. The thing with the Irish fans is that they get into the arenas from the word go—they love the fights. Louis Smolka is going to feel like he’s fighting me in my hometown.”

Smolka took exception to Seery asking him to “stand and bang” via Twitter when the idea of two facing off initially came up. The Hawaiian then posted a video where he called out “old man Seery”, appearing very fired up on the back of what was “a bit of fun” for the Irishman.

When asked about his opponent, Seery didn’t use the opportunity to ridicule Smolka, but instead insisted that he is one of the toughest tests that he has had to face to date.

“Look, there was a bit of back and forth between us. I don’t know where it all went off there really, but everyone knows that all I do on social media is take the piss out of people. It means nothing to me, and it means nothing to the people I usually have a bit of fun with—that’s all it is.

“I don’t care if he’s emotional, if he’s ready to kill me or whatever. The fact is, he’s a dangerous fighter from the word go. I’ve seen him finish guys in the third round. He was losing that fight against Richie Vaculik and then he came out in the third and knocked him out. That was impressive.

“I’m not taking him, his tweets or anything lightly. I think he’s up there with the best guys I’ve ever fought. He’s very tricky. I think he’s trickier than Chris Beal. He was more of a strong guy, he had two good rounds and then he died a bit.

“Smolka has proved that he has a good three rounds in him. He’s young, he’s looking to make a name for himself in the UFC and I know it’s going to be a very tough battle.”

Finally, Seery broke down his July 11 counterpart’s style and he claimed would be chasing Smolka down for every second of the fight.

“He has a very similar style to Paddy Holohan, I was actually talking to Paddy about him. He’s tall and wiry. He throws a lot of weird, unorthodox stuff—he comes from a karate background. He’s good on the ground too, very good off his back.

“How do I beat him? I think I’ll have to put him on the back foot. I’ll be chasing him down and looking to take his head off and I’ll still be doing that in the very last second of the fight if it goes the distance. I don’t know if it’s going to be a knockout or a submission, but I know I will be fighting until the end.”

Check out these related stories:

Unsung Seery: Why the Irish Flyweight Deserves Better Billing

A Big Night in Stockholm for Team Ryano

Working Class Flyweight: Neil Seery Eyes His Third UFC Test in Australia