It’s not every day that you meet a professional mixed martial artist (MMA), but that’s exactly the career path that 26-year-old Aisling Daly from Drimnagh in Dublin has chosen.
The talented athlete left university in order to pursue a career in MMA having trained in the art for ten years. She had her first professional bout in 2007 and her career has flourished in the years since. She became the first Irish MMA world champion, before going on to become the first Irish female to achieve the rank of brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Aisling has also featured on a reality TV show with 16 of the best female fighters in the world.
So how did it all begin?
“I started off doing karate when I was 10 years old,” Aisling explained. “My instructor at the time, Ian Ward, introduced me to some Jiu Jitsu and grappling techniques. I really enjoyed it and wanted to compete further, so I started looking online and I realised there were girls in other countries competing in MMA.
“I set about changing up things in my life to pursue it further. That’s when I made the move to train with John Kavanagh in SBG,” she added. “MMA is an individual sport but it does require, a team or gym to train at. “My gym is SBG Ireland. That’s where all my training partners are, and where I spar and roll with others regularly to prepare myself for competition.
“Since that, it’s been a great journey. I am the first ever Irish Mixed Martial Arts world champion – male or female, so before Conor McGregor,” she said. “I won the World Title in Ohio back in 2011 and I have won numerous British titles for grappling and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).
“I was the first Irish female to achieve the rank of Brown belt in BJJ and I am ranked number five in the world in the 115lb UFC weight class,” she continued.
“My life is dedicated to training and that is what the majority of my life is spent doing,” she reflected. “I try to balance this with spending time with my family and friends when I can, though it’s a very demanding training schedule paired with a strict diet which really limits what I can do in the way of socialising coming up to fights.
“I do enjoy going to musicals with my family and watching comedy gigs. Getting the chance to take part in The Ultimate Fighter 20 was great. It is a TV show in which the 16 best female fighters in the world take part in a contest to the win the inaugural 115lb UFC belt.
“It is a reality TV show where all the contestants are put living in a house together for six weeks. All daily life is filmed in a Big Brother style set up. Contestants then fight against each other in an elimination style tournament through the season until there are just two finalists left,” she continued.
Looking over her fighting careers, Aisling lists the now-retired Megumi Fujii as her favourite female fighter, while Anderson Silva and Dominic Cruz are her favourite male fighters.
“My most difficult opponent to date would probably be Barb Honchak. She was very tough and strong. I lost that fight by decision in the weight class above the one I currently fight at,” she explained.
“I am fighting in the final of the Ultimate Fighter on December 12th in Las Vegas. We are separated by weight class and gender only for competition. I train six days a week, twice a day when I have a fight coming up. This lowers to once a day with some two a days when I don’t have a match confirmed.
“John Kavanagh is my coach at SBG Ireland,” she continued. “I’ve got a lot of support behind me which is great. I’d like to thank my main training partners Paddy Holohan (also a UFC fighter) and Dylan Tuke. My family and friends have always been very supportive of my career choice and my family have always been supportive of me financially too which has been invaluable to help me reach my goals.
“The hard work that has been put in over the years is finally starting to pay off for me. The UFC is the biggest and most prestigious stage in the world for my sport, so to be finally contracted to fight with them, for me, is a dream come true.
“The highlight of my career? It’s just about to happen. To me, making UFC will be my biggest achievement to date.
“The lowest point in my career was probably 2012. I was having some mental problems which I never really addressed at the time, which resulted in me losing three fights in-a-row. In 2013 then I dealt with my mental health issues and took a year off from competition before returning with a significant win at the end of last year.
Aisling continued: “I don’t have a sporting idol. But the best advice I could give young girls who are interested in MMA would be to find a good gym to train in. One where you feel comfortable and coaches are genuinely interested in your development. With a good team behind you, you will really enjoy your training and go far.
“Right now, I think at the highest level it’s not possible to have your cake and eat it too. Sacrifices need to be made to be the best in the world. I enjoy down time when I possibly can, but as an MMA fighter we have no off season so we are constantly training and preparing for bouts that might be offered to us,” she concluded.
