Aisling Daly talks TUF, her UFC Debut and the future

Straight Blast Gym’s Daly Sets Sights On UFC Dublin Stadium Show

Coming off the back of an emphatic first round win on her UFC debut earlier this month, and after months of living in The Ultimate Fighter house and fulfilling media engagements, SBG Ireland’s Aisling Daly talked to the Irish newspaper the Mirror this week about what it was like to finally make her debut, and what the future may have in store. To read the full interview, as well as watch some great videos of Daly in action, click here.

Aisling Daly’s Time On The Ultimate Fighter

Talking about her time on the show, Daly was fairly blunt, stating:

“For me, it was a means to an end. I really wanted to be in the UFC and the show was for the UFC belt and I knew I’d at least come out of it with a contract. I knew at the start that was going to be the strawweight division because they had pretty much all the top girls fighting on there.

“So that was pretty much what it was for me. I learnt a lot from it. I learnt a lot about myself and about my mental toughness.

“I’m glad I did it (but) I definitely wouldn’t do it again. I couldn’t put myself through that again now knowing what was actually involved. I got what I wanted out of it; I’m in the UFC and I’ve got that win under my belt now which I’m delighted about.”

Daly puts the impact of her stressful time inside the Ultimate Fighter house, along with UFC media engagements, down as one of the reasons she had trouble, and would eventually miss, making weight for her debut. That said, she made it clear such mistake won’t be happening again, now that she has finally made it to the UFC:

“…Next time for the weight cut, I’ll be overly cautious. I won’t be making that mistake again. You don’t get a second chance like that and then blow that too!”

Aisling Daly On Her UFC Ranking

Despite those difficulties, Daly was extremely impressive on her debut against Alex Chambers, using solid BJJ to pick up the win via armbar in the first round. It leaves her ranked no. 9 in the new UFC women’s strawweight rankings. Daly, though, is clearly not overly impressed with only sitting in the UFC’s top ten:

“I know the rankings just came out but the rankings seem a little bit shady to me. Like, I don’t understand why (Jessica) Penne is ranked so high; I mean, she narrowly beat me, she narrowly beat Randa (Markos), and she lost to Carla (Esparza).”

Aisling Daly On The Future

Regardless of rankings, Daly is excited for what the future has in store, and is eager to take on all-comers now that she has finally made it to the UFC.

“I’m happy with whoever they give me… (Penne) would definitely be a rematch that I would like – I’d love that fight – but I don’t think they will give it to me. To be honest, I’ll just be ready to go against whoever they give me.”

That said, the chance to be a part of the potential stadium show in Dublin that is being earmarked to take place next summer would be first on Daly’s wishlist.

“I’d save myself for that show if I had to! … Conor (McGregor) is huge and everyone in Ireland knows who he is and what UFC is… A stadium show in Dublin in the summer would be huge.”

Whatever the future holds for Aisling Daly, everyone at SBG wishes her the very best. A pioneer of women’s MMA; there aren’t many athletes who deserve their place in the UFC as much as she does.