Bannon and Carney return home World Cup heroes
SHAUNA Bannon and Sarah Carney could not contain their delight after returning home from the 2021 IMMAF World Cup in Prague with gold and silver medals respectively.
The Holohan Martial Arts competitors arrived back in Ireland yesterday evening to a rapturous reception at the club’s gym in Tallaght.
After winning silver at the IMMAF-WMMA World Championship in 2019, five-time World Champion kickboxer Bannon was determined to strike gold in the senior bantamweight division at the World Cup this year.
“I was dying to get back to a tournament-based competition, because when I fought at the last one, I fell pregnant soon after,” Bannon told The Echo.
“So I was happy to get back out there and get the gold. That’s another goal ticked now.”
The Springfield native faced Norwegian fighter Maria Kaald Andresen in the first round of the Senior World Cup last Friday.
While admitting she initially underestimated her opponent, Bannon was able to call upon her full arsenal to dig out the win.
The fight was a true display of mix martial arts, with Bannon ultimately taking a unanimous decision from all three judges.
Sarah Carney and Shauna Bannon with the respective silver and gold medals they won at the 2021 IMMAF World Cup in Prague
It was an all-Irish affair in the final, with Bannon coming up against Kerry Ann Vernon, a competitor she had beaten at Cage Conflict 4 in August.
The first round proved a striking contest for the most part until Bannon employed her grappling experience to overwhelm her opponent and ultimately card another unanimous decision for gold.
It was brilliant to come back to the gym and see all of the training partners who have helped me get here” she said.
“My family was there as well, I was delighted to bring the gold back to the gym. It brought a tear to my eye.”
Meanwhile, in the Junior Bantamweight division, Bannon’s training partner Sarah Carney stormed to a silver medal in what was her first ever MMA contest.
“That was my debut. I waited two years for that and then I got two fights in two days,” Carney told The Echo.
“I’m delighted with it. I won my first fight and I didn’t even get to take that in, I was so focused on the next one.
It’s only really now that I’m processing it.” The Rossfield native made a perfect start to her MMA career, winning by a rear-naked choke after 2:29 in the very first round against Lijana Lipinskaite on Friday.
On Saturday, in the final, Carney ultimately fell short against Maryna Demchuk of Ukraine.
At 20-years-old, she has already become a role model for up-in-coming fighters in Holohan Martial Arts – coaching the children and some jiu jitsu classes.
Despite coming from a taekwondo background with South Dublin Taekwondo, achieving a black belt during her time there, Carney insists that she is not more proficient in any specific discipline.
“I never say no to anything, whether it’s striking, wrestling, jiu jitsu.
Throw me in anywhere,” she laughed. “I suppose I love jiu jitsu, but I’ve taken to it all like a duck to water.” Both Bannon and Carney are now eyeing a return to the octagon in October and November.
