Paul Redmond (left) and Chris Stringer trade shots at BAMMA 26. Gary Carr / INPHO Gary Carr / INPHO / INPHO

PAUL REDMOND RETURNED to winning ways tonight in Dublin as BAMMA 26 took place at the 3Arena.

Fighting for the first time since he was released by the UFC last year, Redmond delivered an accomplished performance to defeat Chris Stringer over the distance in the co-main event.

However, there was disappointment for an Irish fighter with hopes of featuring in the UFC in the future. SBG’s Peter Queally, who was seemingly being considered as a short-notice replacement opponent for Tim Means last month at UFC 202, suffered a unanimous-decision defeat to the impressive Joe McColgan.

With the middleweight title bout between champion John Phillips and Andy DeVent scrapped due to Phillips’ failure to make weight, the flyweight title fight between Rany Saadeh and Northern Ireland’s Andy Young topped the bill. However, Young was unfortunate to be narrowly edged out on the scorecards.

There were better fortunes, however, for Young’s team-mate Alan Philpott, who eased to a successful defence of his bantamweight title at the expense of Aaron Blackwell.

Elsewhere, one of the biggest winners on the night was SBG flyweight Ryan Curtis, who looked excellent as he took his professional record to 3-0 and enhanced his reputation as a young fighter with a promising future by dominating Shamsul Haque.

BAMMA 26

• Rany Saadeh def. Andy Young via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Paul Redmond def. Chris Stringer via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
• Sinead Kavanagh def. Kataryzna Sadura via TKO (strikes) after 2:46 of round one
• Alan Philpott def. Aaron Blackwell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-27) 
• Joe McColgan def. Peter Queally via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Rhys McKee def. Tommy McCafferty via TKO (strikes) after 0:58 of round one
• Ryan Curtis def. Shamsul Haque via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Blaine O’Driscoll def. Mark Andrew via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Richie Smullen def. Andrew Murphy via submission (heel hook) after 1:16 of round one
• Keith McCabe def. Aiden Brooks via submission (armbar) after 1:31 of round one
• John Redmond def. Glenn Irvine via KO (punch) after 0:19 of round two
• Darren O’Gorman def. Gary Morris via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:02 of round three
• Ben Forsyth def. Peru Adetola via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Dave Fogarty def. Barry Hanna via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)

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