Casey O’Neill says her dreams “came true” after winning her UFC debut.
The Kilmarnock-born fighter, now living in Australia, defeated American Shana Dobson at UFC Fight Night 185 via TKO.
She was on top early in the second round and then forced the fight to be stopped after a prolonged series of strikes to her unresponsive opponent.
Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping was full of praise for O’Neill after the fight.
He said: “Casey O’Neill is for real.
“She’s so aggressive. She went forward, she ate some of the best shots that Shana had, and the game plan to me was clear – she was looking to put her on her back.
“Once she had here there, she was absolutely relentless.”
The win extends O’Neill’s professional record to six wins, zero losses.
“You can’t hope for anything more than a finish in your UFC debut,” she said after the fight.
“I definitely got off to a slow start, I was a little bit worried in that first round, but between rounds I was like, ‘Nah, same job, different uniform’; just get the nerves out of the way and just go for it.”
O’Neill dominated the fight, landing 132 strikes to 27, and taking Dobson down four times.
“I wanted to do better, I wanted to finish her in the first round but we got the second round, so can’t complain about that.”
She said she dreamed plenty of exactly how the fight would end.
“I actually had that dream five times last night – that I finished her in the second round by elbows on mount, so it came true.”
O’Neill was overwhelmed with emotions after her fight, but she was gutted that her parents couldn’t be there with the fight taking place behind closed doors at the UFC’s facility in Las Vegas.
“I wanted to be here for a long time and I’ve made a lot of sacrifices in my personal life to do that,” she said.
O’Neill said she was injury-free and wanted to fight again as soon as possible, eyeing two or three more fights this year.
“I love fighting and I love being in the gym – I’m excited to get back in there as soon as possible.”
