It's been fourteen months since Conor McGregor rounded off an Irish clean sweep at UFC Fight Night Dublin by KOing Brazilian challenger Diego Brandao in the first round. 

In that time there has been rumours of Irish stadium shows, new Irish fighters joining the organisation, some losses, but a lot more wins. 

It's been an incredible period in the history of Irish MMA, and now that UFC is back in town for fight week, we thought we'd put together a handy guide for all you need to know about it.

Who's fighting?

Saturday's card sees five Irish fighters step inside the Octagon, 

Paddy "The Hooligan" Holohan is now headlining the event with Louis Smolka in this Flyweight clash, after the card's original main and co-main events being scrapped due to injuries. With both fighters tipped for potential surges up the rankings, it's not quite make or break, but it's a fantastic launching pad for two fighters coming in with identical 3-1 UFC records. The Hooligan has never had a boring fight with his one loss a back and forth bonus winner for Fight of the Night. 

Norman Parke looks to end a two fight losing streak as he squares off against Reza Madadi. A chance to impress for the Antrim man as the fight has been moved up to the main card, after the Stipe Miocic vs Ben Rothwell fight got scrapped following an injury to Heavyweight contender Miocic. 

Welterweight Nicholas Darby faces off against Darren Till, in the only main card fight that doesn't feature an Irish fighter. Then it's down to the undercard which sees Cathal Pendred, Neil Seery, and Ashling Daly face up to Tom Breese, Jon Delos Reyes, and Ericka Almeida respectively.

That's brings us onto the next important point.

Where can you watch it?



The entire under card is available on UFC Fight Pass and should start at roughly 5.30pm.

The main card will be shown live on 3e and Setanta Ireland from 9.00pm. 

If you haven't got a membership to Fight Pass already, they offer a free 30-day trial, but if that doesn't suit, you can catch 3e's build up which starts at 8.00pm.

When are the weigh-ins?

The official weigh-ins are set for 2.15pm on Friday, and will take place in the 3Arena. We're always tentative about confirming these times as delays often happen, so don't blame us if you're sat around an extra half hour waiting.

Who are the guest fighters?



Expect to see a lot of Conor McGregor. He's one of the guest fighters, and he'll be getting as much coverage from ring side as the men in the Octagon that night, but he's not the only one. Featherweight #5 Max Holloway, former Heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski and recent Welterweight title contender Rory MacDonald will be in Dublin all week doing media work. MacDonald currently trains at Tristar Gym, Montreal, with Joe Duffy and Tom Breese, so he's not exactly going to be a neutral. Although he has said he'd like to train with John Kavanagh in SBG. 

Is there anything else?

When it comes to the actual fights? No, not really, but keep an eye out for all the media coverage that you won't be able to get access to, namely the open workouts. The guest fighters will be doing a tonne of media work during the week, as well as seeing some sights, so keep and eye out for a 6'4 Belarusian bear and a Canadian guy with half a nose who kind of looks like Patrick Bateman, they'll both make for good selfie opportunities.