SPARE a thought for Casey O’Neill’s punchbag. A glance at the record books throws up the impressive statistic that out of every UFC fighter, male or female, the Kilmarnock-born flyweight lands the most strikes per minute.
O’Neill herself admits she’s been a woman in a hurry since bursting onto the scene with four wins in a row, but her exhausted sparring partners may be relieved to hear that she’s slowing down and taking stock.
Two defeats since that initial streak have given the 26-year-old some perspective and although she’s trying to be more realistic in career planning, it hasn’t made her any less ambitious ahead of Sunday night’s fight with Luana Santos at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
“I still believe 100 per cent, wholeheartedly in my head and my heart that I can be the best in the division,” she says. “I see it in training, it's just getting it through to the fights, so that will start with Sunday and then hopefully a top-10 opponent from there, a couple of those then maybe a top five and build my way back up. I don't want to rush it.
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“I was young when I got into the UFC and I was so focused on rushing and being a champion really fast, as fast as I could. That was all I was determined to do. Now I want to be the champion, but I want to be it in a different way. I want to be as good as I can be, I want to clear the division out. I want to win the belt and I want to defend it.
“I feel like maybe I was a little naive when I was younger and I thought that I could do all that off the bat but it is different fighting on this level. No matter what anyone will tell you, it is different. Not even just skill-wise, everything that you have to do during the week. Talking to everybody, talking to you guys, the nerves are a little bit more, the photos are different, the crowds are bigger, everything's different. You've just got to start getting used to all of that.”
The Ayrshire lass has always made a point of becoming comfortable outwith her comfort zone. After moving to Australia with her family aged 10, she’s lived in Thailand and now Las Vegas during her mixed martial arts career and actively seeks out new coaches to add to her arsenal for the Octagon.
Eyebrows were raised when she opted to train in Arizona rather than stick with her home gym Xtreme Couture ahead of taking on a Brazilian who’s rising through the ranks, but O’Neill knows it's been the right move.
“It's not like I left or anything and I didn't leave on any bad terms or anything like that,” she clarifies. “I always feel like you need to do a little bit of growing when you have to be out of your comfort zone with all new partners who don't know you, who don't know what you do, you don't know what they do, so it's nice to just get a bunch of new looks, a bunch of new coaches' eyes on you and a different perspective, some new ideas and a couple of different game plans.
“It's also a smaller team as well. I will add it's been more focused. With Xtreme, it's a great gym and it's amazing, it'll always be like a home to me but there are less eyes on you because there's so many people in the room. We have champions in that room so I can't expect time to be taken away from them for me but sometimes little things are missed when there aren't eyes constantly on you.”
After feeling there was a disconnect between how she trained and how she performed in her last defeat against Ariane Lipski, O’Neill also sought out support from sports psychiatrists to up her mental game. A renewed focus on herself in training rather than her opponent made things easier when Santos replaced Tereza Bleda. She feels like she ‘has her spark back’.
On top of all that, it’s a home game. After four years away, O’Neill can’t wait to give the Australian crowd something to shout about with some familiar faces in her corner. It’s always been a family affair for the O’Neills, with her kickboxing dad getting her into the sport and running his own shows with Eternal MMA, but younger sister Robyn has now stepped into the arena herself, with two amateur fights under her belt.
“It is kind of strange because I always will look at my little sister as my little sister and everybody does that with their siblings,” admits O’Neill. “She's been there for pretty much the whole camp of this one so it's been cool. I don't really train with her persay, we train in the same gym but we don't really go together. I don't think that would be great - it would probably turn into a fight knowing us!”
Despite leaving these shores 16 years ago, O’Neill maintains her caledonian pride, waving a saltire on the way to the Octagon and lapping up support from Scots online. Headlining at the Hydro remains on her to-do list.
“My goal is to get to the point where I can headline a show in Scotland, but if not I'll take fighting on one,” she says. “I know they're few and far between so I hope the UFC gives me lots of notice when they are coming to Scotland so I can make sure I'm on it.”
- Casey O’Neill takes on Luana Santos at UFC® 305: DU PLESSIS vs ADESANYA on August 17th live on TNT Sports. TNT Sports is available through its streaming destination discovery+ and across all major TV platforms. See here for more information.
