It was another night for the ages for Irish MMA fans in the capital as Bellator Dublin served up a thrilling card.
The roof was blown off the 3 Arena on several occasions as Bellator gold was defended, two of the biggest names in Irish MMA collided and some hometown stars lit up the evening.
Sinead Kavanagh and Leah McCourt provided the focus for thousands packing out the capital, but a stellar main event saw Gegard Mousasi and Austin Vanderford go to war - with the promotion pulling out all the stops a nod to the adoring Irish fans.
There's no doubt about the fight of the night as Kavanagh and McCourt put on a show for the fans in the co-main event.
The two Irish women were already making history in the seismic featherweight showdown, but the pair left it all in the cage as 'KO' Kavanagh scored a unanimous decision win.
After a back and forth opening two rounds that saw both fighters come agonisingly close to locking in dangerous submissions, Dubliner Kavanagh was nursing a nasty-looking leg injury heading into the deciding round.
But she had the advantage on the scorecards and was able to grind her way to victory over McCourt - who will take plenty from the gruelling duel.
Afterwards Kavanagh admitted she willingly was dragged into a 'dogfight' in the closing stages, but she paid tribute to an electric crowd in what proved an exhibition of just how strong a place Irish MMA is in.
But perhaps one of the biggest fights in Irish MMA history wasn't even the showpiece of an exhilarating night, Gegard Mousasi and Austin Vanderford's main event saw the Bellator middleweight title put on the line.
Mousasi already had Irish fans on his side as he came out to 'Sweet Caroline', but 85 seconds later it was all over as he downed the American.
A few blows later and the referee stepped in to confirm a sweeping defence of his middleweight strap.
There was drama in Ciaran Clarke's showdown with Abou Tounkara as the featherweights went back and forth in a submission dual in the first round.
But a late surge from Clarke saw him end the round on a high, and that was all she wrote.
The Frenchman wouldn't come back for the second round as a shoulder injury meant a medical stoppage awarded the Drogheda man a big win - much to the delight of the thousands in attendance.
The main card kicked off with a bang as Brian Moore made his 3 Arena return after almost five years, he took on Jornel Lugo as a hot crowd roared him out to the chorus of the Fields of Athenry.
But his evening ended in disappointment as he took an unanimous decision loss despite a bruising thriller that saw both bantamweights land some huge strikes.
Khasan Magomedsharipov extended his record to 7-0 with a dominant performance against Jose Sanchez on the main card, the Dagestan native scored a comprehensive unanimous decision.
Danni McCormack was the big Irish name on the preliminary card as she took on Stephanie Page, but there was disappointment as the SBG fighter suffered a brutal TKO loss in the first round.
But the crowd were on their feet from the very start of the preliminary card as Lee Hammond picked up a thrilling first round TKO win over Jamie Hay in the first fight of the night - prompting McGregor's celebrations.
And fans were treated to an intriguing clash next as Nathan Kelly took a split decision victory over Scott Pederson to make it 2-0 for the Irish crowd.
Gokham Saricam picked up a split decision win after a titanic heavyweight battle with Kirill Sidelhikov before there was disappointment for Irish fans as adopted Italian lightweight lost to Vladimir Tokov by unanimous decision.
And the biggest pop of the night came in the fifth fight as Donegal native Darragh Kelly got his pro career off to a flying start.
The SBG man locked Junior Morgan in a guillotine choke after just under two minutes of the first round as he became the third Irish fighter to pick up a victory.
The two feature fights of the prelims saw French lightweight Davy Gallon floor Charlie Leary to score an impressive TKO victory before Brett Johns had the crowd serenading him to Tom Jones after an impressive TKO win over the undefeated Kurshed Kakharov.
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