Casey O’Neill scored her first finish in just under five years at UFC Seattle, needing just over three minutes to put away Gabriella Fernandes in their prelim bout.
O’Neill came out aggressive from the get-go, bringing her offense in early. Fernandes looked for big shots herself as well, including a head kick that she landed, but she frequently struggled with range, as O’Neill worked distance well.
A right hand wobbled Fernandes, and O’Neill swarmed her with striking flurries en route to scoring a TKO.
Casey O’Neill Earns First Finish Since 2021 At UFC Seattle
O’Neill has now won back-to-back fights after a pair of losses spoiled an undefeated run for her. This marked O’Neill’s first fight since scoring a decision over Luana Santos at UFC 305.
This marked the first time Fernandes has been finished in her professional MMA career. Fernandes sees a three-fight win streak snapped tonight.
UFC women’s flyweight Casey O’Neill took a page out of bantamweight champion Julianna Peña’s book while speaking to Dana White prior to UFC 271.
At UFC 271, O’Neill took another step towards title contention. She did so by sending veteran Roxanne Modafferi into retirement off the back of a loss.
While she failed to maintain her 100% finishing record in the UFC, “King Casey” did extend her perfect professional résumé to 9-0 with victory on the scorecards. In doing so, she moved up three places to #12 on the 125-pound ladder.
She also appeared to establish herself as the promotion’s newest villain with her Octagon interview and post-fight press conference remarks. if she’s believed, we can expect O’Neill to become “the best bad guy” we’ve ever seen in the coming months and years.
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O’Neill Vowed To Capture Gold
With another jump closer to dominant flyweight ruler Valentina Shevchenko, O’Neill is beginning to attract attention as a possible title contender. But while she’s targeting a steady rise through every ranked 125lber first, the Scottish-Australian has gold in her sights, something she let Dana White know prior to her win against “The Happy Warrior.”
Discussing O’Neill’s performance during his appearance at the UFC 271 post-fight press conference, White revealed what the 24-year-old told him at the event’s ceremonial weigh-ins. She seemingly took the opportunity to make an ambitious promise to the UFC President.
“The thing about Roxanne is she’s very unassuming. But she’s a very tough, durable, awkward fighter to fight, and Casey beat her tonight,” said White. “She walked up to me on stage during the weigh-ins and said, ‘I’m going to be your next world champion.’ So I like her attitude, I like the way she fights, she’s aggressive, she’s tough, we’ll see what she does.”
O’Neill’s promise is reminiscent of the one given to the UFC President by reigning bantamweight queen Peña. After “The Venezuelan Vixen” upset the odds at UFC 269 by dethroning then-two-division champion Amanda Nunes, White revealed the newly-crowned titleholder had forecasted her own success to him before she’d joined the promotion.
The question is, can O’Neill make good on her promise like Peña did?
UFC women’s flyweight Casey O’Neill doubled down on her “bad guy” affirmation following her victory over Roxanne Modafferi at UFC 271.
At Saturday’s pay-per-view in Houston, Texas, O’Neill extended her unbeaten professional record to 9-0, added an established name to her résumé, and climbed three spots to #12 on the 125-pound ladder.
She accomplished those feats by securing a split-decision victory over the retiring Modafferi on the February 12 prelims, although you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone other than judge Robert Alexander who scored the fight in favor of “The Happy Warrior.”
While the pre-fight and immediate post-fight narrative centered around the final hurrah of one of the pioneers of women’s MMA, “King Casey” carved her own storyline during her Octagon interview with Daniel Cormier. When telling the crowd to not boo her failed to do the trick, the Scottish-Australian prospect embraced her villainy and flipped the bird to the sold-out Toyota Center.
“I’m not an American and I’m in America. I have to expect some boos,” admitted O’Neill. “When you’re fighting a fan favorite, it’s to be expected as well. Everybody loves Roxanne. If they want me to be the bad guy, I’ll be the best bad guy you’ve ever seen.”
A record-setting performance for the KING 👏🇦🇺@KingCaseyMMA secures the win via SD at #UFC271!
O’Neill To UFC 271 Crowd: You’re Drinking Beers While I’m Getting Sh*t Done
As O’Neill admitted, a frosty reception was to be expected at UFC 271. A young rising contender from outside the US sent a veteran American fighter into retirement with a defeat in Houston; you’d be worried about the crowd if there weren’t boos.
She further told the press following the contest that while it wasn’t a good feeling, those booing her were doing so with a beverage in their hands while she went to work and got “shit done.”
“That was kinda shit. But it is what it is, you know,” said O’Neill. “At the end of the day, they’re buying tickets and they’re watching me, so, you’re paying me whether you like me or you don’t.
“Whatever you wanna do, I don’t care… If they wanna boo me, you know, they’re sitting on their seats, watching me, drinking beers, and I’m out there getting shit done. That’s the difference.”
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While she perhaps hadn’t reached fan-favorite status prior to UFC 271, O’Neill has certainly had a Macbeth-esque moment with her Octagon interview and subsequent comments. But if there’s one person ready to embrace the ‘heel’ role, it’s “King Casey” O’Neill.
What did you make of Casey O’Neill’s reaction to the crowd’s boos at UFC 271?
UFC women’s flyweight Casey O’Neill believes the pre-fight focus on opponent Roxanne Modafferi’s retirement ahead of UFC 271 was “disrespectful.”
In the one and only women’s fight on this past weekend’s pay-per-view card, two 125lbers at opposite ends of the MMA scale collided. While O’Neill was looking to extend her unbeaten record to 9-0 and climb further towards title contention, Modafferi was hoping to close out her 46-fight career with a triumph.
After 15 minutes of action on the prelims, it was O’Neill who had her hand raised via split decision. While “The Happy Warrior” gave it her all and made a good account of herself, there was little debate about who earned the nod, despite one dissenting judge.
What followed was a heart-warming final Octagon interview and farewell to active competition for a woman widely regarded as a pioneer for female MMA.
While O’Neill gave credit to Modafferi following the fight and showed respect for the veteran campaigner, she also revealed her frustration at the amount of attention directed towards Modafferi’s retirement ahead of their clash inside Houston’s Toyota Center.
While speaking to the media at the UFC 271 post-fight press conference, “King Casey” admitted her annoyance at the fact her own goals and pre-fight preparations were being overlooked.
Given that her opponent’s retirement wasn’t official until after their fight, the Scottish-Australian contender suggested the questions and discussion about it were “premature” during fight week.
“I was (annoyed). I felt like nobody was giving me any respect or asking me anything about myself,” admitted O’Neill. “It was all about the retirement. To be honest, the retirement wasn’t happening until after the fight, so I felt like it was a little bit premature to just be talking about that. I wanted to talk about myself, and what I’d been doing, and my game plan, and everything. I just felt like I was being brushed over and it was a little bit disrespectful.”
O’Neill: I Deserved More Respect From The Crowd At UFC 271
During her post-fight interview, O’Neill was showered with boos from the Houston crowd, who showed an immense amount of love for Modafferi. The 24-year-old employed the tactic of telling them not to boo her. Who’d have thought that wouldn’t work?
After being asked about the crowd reaction at the post-fight presser, O’Neill pinpointed the boos as another element of disrespect she felt at the PPV. While she expected a negative reaction given the scenario and her nationality, “King Casey” believes she deserved more respect from the fans.
“Listen, Roxanne is liked by everybody, so of course, I’m gonna get booed,” said O’Neill. “I’m also not American and I’m fighting in America. To be (honest), I feel like I deserved a little more respect than that.”
A record-setting performance for the KING 👏🇦🇺@KingCaseyMMA secures the win via SD at #UFC271!
UFC women’s flyweight prospect Casey O’Neill isn’t looking to rush her rise to the top of the 125-pound food chain.
In eight professional MMA fights, O’Neill has worked her way to the UFC and firmly established herself as a name to keep an eye on. In her three appearances in the Octagon to date, “King Casey” has TKO’d Shana Dobson and Antonina Shevchenko, and choked Lara Procópio unconscious.
It’s fair to say a prospect’s development to a legitimate contender is often a ‘sink or swim’ affair.
Edmen Shahbazyan, for example, was about as hot a future star as the promotion had at the start of 2020, having recorded three consecutive first-round finishes at the age of just 22. Fast forward two years and he’s now on a three-fight skid having failed to adjust to the step-up in competition Derek Brunson, Jack Hermansson, and Nassourdine Imavov represented.
“I’m still happy to slow build. But obviously, I can’t say no when Mick (Maynard) calls the phone. And every time he’s called, I’ve answered and been like, ‘OK, we can do that.’ But I just want to fight as many times as possible, get as much experience,” said O’Neill. “So however that ends up playing out, I guess is the way that it’s gonna be. But in my perfect world, I would fight everybody in the top 15 before I got there.”
With that said, Valentina Shevchenko can seemingly focus her efforts elsewhere for the next few years.
“I still think I’m a couple years away from being ready for that, just because of my experience,” O’Neill acknowledged.
With a win on the pay-per-view stage this weekend, and perhaps another finish, O’Neill will make yet another statement to the 125-pound roster. Sending Modafferi into retirement off the back of a one-sided loss would also likely see the Scottish-Australian fighter matched up with a top-10 opponent next time out.
Do you think Casey O’Neill is a future UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion?
UFC women’s flyweight Casey O’Neill doesn’t expect upcoming opponent Roxanne Modafferi to follow through on her promise to try new things at UFC 271.
In the pay-per-view’s one and only women’s fight, veteran campaigner Modafferi will enter the Octagon for one last hurrah. “The Happy Warrior” has fought 44 times since entering the sport as a professional in 2003, including bouts under the promotional banners of Strikeforce and Invicta FC.
Having fought nine times in the UFC since falling short of capturing gold against Nicco Montaño in 2017, a period that includes wins against Maycee Barber and Andrea Lee, Modafferi’s 10th walk to the Octagon will represent her last.
But while “The Happy Warrior” hopes to end her year by trying out all the moves she’s kept in her back pocket, including spinning and flying manoeuvres, “King Casey” is expecting the same Modafferi UFC fans have seen in the Octagon nine times.
Nevertheless, if she is met with anything unexpected, she promises to fight fire with fire.
“OK, well, in my opinion, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” O’Neill said during an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “So I think she’s gonna come out and have the exact same fight that she always has, that she’s had for 50 fights now. So I’m not gonna fall into that. And if she wants to try to do all that crazy stuff, she better be ready for some crazy stuff coming back at her.”
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While a victory for Modafferi this weekend would provide a memorable upset and add the cherry on top of what has been a lengthy and fruitful MMA career, O’Neill will be looking to send the veteran out of the sport in emphatic fashion.
If “King Casey” can extend her promotional record to 4-0 and perhaps maintain her 100% finishing rate in the UFC, she’ll certainly have a big opponent awaiting her next time out.
Who do you think will have their hand raised at UFC 271, Casey O’Neill or Roxanne Modafferi?