Bannon suffers first defeat on UFC debut

A LATE rally was not enough for Shauna Bannon to secure a win on her UFC debut, ultimately slipping to her first professional defeat at the hands of Bruna Brasil at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.

Bannon came into the contest with an undefeated record of 5- 0 but could not continue her hot streak, after a dogged battle against Brasil.

The Tallaght native started positively, taking the middle of the Octagon and landing a chopping low kick, however, Brasil soon asserted her dominance in the opening round.

The Brazilian native landed a couple of punches to cut Bannon and connected with a clean head kick to put her opponent on the backfoot.

Bannon struggled to land but did unload a barrage of strikes a couple of times, with Brasil constantly slipping out of range to end the first round on top.

Much of the second round was spent in protracted grappling exchanges, which lead referee Dan Movahedi standing the two women up due to Brasil failing to make any advances.

With the clock now against Bannon and chasing a two-round deficit, the 29-year-old needed a massive final round to maintain her record.

“Lets start looking for our shots,” coach Paddy Holohan said to Bannon in between rounds, and Mama B did exactly that, finding much more success on the feet in the third and final round.

A stabbing kick and a couple of well-placed punches landed, with the former Tallaght Martial Arts kickboxer able to take great encouragement from her strong finish despite the result.

All three judges scored the contest in favour of Brasil, with the unanimous decision loss hitting the Holohan Martial Arts competitor on the biggest stage.

“To have the worst performance on the night that means the most is the hardest pain in the world, but I will be back yous all know it and know I belong in that UFC octagon,” Bannon said on social media after the fight.

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