“You know what I really love about MMA in Ireland at the moment is that there’s a lot more girls doing it and there’s a lot more girls doing it at a higher level,” she said. “When I first started off, I struggled so bad to get fights, and there was nobody around. I had to go to the UK and I had to travel a good bit because there was no one in Ireland. Whereas now there’s a lot of female athletes that are at a high level and could be in the UFC and following my footsteps, because prior to me it was only ever Aisling (Daly) and that was a 10-year gap.”
Daly had a three-fight run in the UFC from 2014 to 2015, but after that, nothing when it came to the ladies of the Emerald Isle competing in the Octagon. Enter Bannon, who followed up a decorated career as a kickboxer by migrating to mixed martial arts. “Mama B” turned pro in 2022, and five fights (and wins) later, she was in the UFC.
Order UFC 314: Volkanovski vs Lopes
Bannon lost that first UFC bout to Bruna Brasil in July of 2023, and a year later, she got a win over Alice Ardelean. This Saturday, she’s in London to face Puja Tomar. That’s quite a three-year whirlwind.
“I think this is only the start of my UFC career,” Bannon said. “Although in July, I’ll be there two years, I don’t really feel like I’ve went in and got a run. I feel like it’s been a slow start. And I do believe sometimes everything happens for a reason. Maybe I wasn’t ready. I was only a professional one year when I was in the UFC. So although I’ve had years and years of experience in martial arts, professional is different and the UFC is different again. I was in Invictapreviously, but the UFC is obviously a step up in competition, a step up in professionalism. It’s a different stage and it’s a different level. And maybe I needed that time to develop mentally and mature as a fighter, as well. And I really feel like this has happened and I feel like now is the official real start of my career in the UFC, and I’m super excited to get going.”
