Mixed martial artist Adam Darby says more than a decade of hard work came “to fruition” after becoming the first Irish fighter to earn a UFC contract through Dana White’s Contender Series.

Darby (8-1) secured his place on the UFC roster with an impressive TKO victory over American Patrick Rivera (13-5) in Las Vegas on 1 September.

The welterweight dominated Rivera before the bout ended in the third round via doctor stoppage.

Darby was one of five fighters awarded UFC contracts on the night, completing an arduous journey which included a 20-second defeat by Mush Aslani and a 17-month absence because of a serious hand injury.

“I was just sitting there thinking to myself, well, that’s 10-plus years of work all coming to fruition,” Darby told BBC Sport NI.

The Dubliner had controlled the contest against Rivera but was hoping the fight would continue long enough for him to secure a more emphatic finish.

“I was saying to the referee, ‘Don’t stop it, he’s good, he’s good,'” he said.

“I knew he was done, but I wanted a highlight-reel finish. The ref recognised the damage he was taking and pulled the plug on it.

“I went in there to put on a show, and I think I delivered.”

Liverpool’s Liam McCracken also competed on the card but missed out on a UFC contract after suffering a knockout defeat by Silvestre Sanchez in a thrilling lightweight contest.

The former Cage Warriors fighter’s journey started when his father enrolled him in kickboxing, but upon discovering MMA, he was hooked.

“Once I had my first day in MMA, that was it,” he said.

“That was me for the rest of my life, and now here we are over 10 years later and I’m a professional UFC fighter.”

That conviction was evident in a note Darby wrote in 2018 and shared on social media following his Contender Series victory.

It read: “One life, one chance, UFC or nothing.”

“Visualisation is very important, but you can’t sit in your bedroom looking in the mirror saying, ‘I’m the best of the best,’ and not training and backing it up,” he said.

“You have to set some goals and put the work in to get to where you want to be. I had to put the work in.”

But the Clongriffin fighter, who is currently on a seven-fight winning streak, encountered several setbacks in pursuit of his UFC dream.

He entered his second professional fight believing he was ‘the best guy in the world’, only to suffer a standing TKO defeat by Aslani.

“For a lot of people that might finish their career,” he said.

“But for me, that loss made me reflect, ‘where am I going to go from here?’

“You can’t let something like that set you back. Life’s going to hit you hard, but you have to be able to come back from it.”

A greater obstacle followed when Darby suffered serious hand and finger injuries before Cage Warriors 170 bout in March 2024, requiring multiple operations and 17 months away from competition.

“I snapped my finger in half, I broke my hand, I had to have multiple surgeries to get it back right,” Darby said.

“I was told, ‘You probably won’t fight again, you won’t be able to punch with that.’

“That was two and a half years ago, and here I am now.”

Darby hopes his achievement can inspire another generation of Irish fighters to follow him into the UFC.

“It’s inspiring to think somebody watching me in five or 10 years’ time in the UFC might say, ‘I saw Adam Darby do it so I knew I could do it,'” he said.

“The area I come from, not a lot of people make it out like this and do so well.

“So it’s good to show people that you can earn an honest living and do fighting and make some money out of it.”

The Team Ryano fighter believes the standard of Irish MMA has risen significantly, with more fighters now able to dedicate themselves fully to the sport.

“The standard of MMA in Ireland has improved so much. The fighters before us worked multiple jobs their whole career, now everybody is training full-time,” he said.

“Looking at the guys coming through at Cage Warriors, Paddy McCorry, Ger Harris, Solomon Simon, these guys are only 12 to 24 months away from the UFC.”

Having spent more than a decade trying to reach the promotion, Darby is now targeting his UFC debut before the end of the year.

“I’ll definitely be targeting one more fight this year, but it’s up to UFC now,” he said.

“I’ve always told them I’m ready to fight whenever they want me to.”