Casey Cameron O'Neill (born October 7, 1997) is a Scottish-born Australian

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

(MMA). She currently competes in the

Flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of bo ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). As of November 15, 2022, she is #11 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings.

Early life

O'Neill was born in

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

, Scotland and spent the early years of her life living in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. Her father, Cam, was a professional kickboxer and she began training in kickboxing at the age of four. At the age of 10 she moved with her family to Australia's

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

where she attended

Coombabah State High School {{Unreferenced, date=October 2008 Coombabah State High School is a public secondary school located in the northern suburb of Coombabah on the Gold Coast, Queensland, in Australia. Backing onto the Coombabah Lakelands Conversation Area, The campus ...

. At the age of 13, O'Neill began training in other martial arts such as

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

. Her father eventually relented and allowed O'Neill to compete in her first amateur MMA fight at the age of 15 where she was soundly beaten in the first round by an opponent four years her senior. She competed in another amateur fight the following year and was again defeated early in the first round. O'Neill then committed to honing her skills and spent the next two years training before returning to amateur circuit at 19 years of age. She then strung together five consecutive amateur wins before turning professional at 21 years of age. In 2019, O'Neill relocated to

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

, Thailand to begin training at the renowned

Tiger Muay Thai Tiger Muay Thai is a Thai mixed martial arts and muay thai training facility located in Phuket, Thailand. It has several prominent competitors such as UFC champions Petr Yan, Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko. History William McNa ...

gym.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

O'Neill made her professional debut against Amira Hafizović at the Eternal MMA 43 event on 5 April 2019 and was victorious via a unanimous decision. She then secured three more wins domestically against Jada Ketley,

Miki Motono Miki Motono (本野美樹, born May 18, 1994) is a Japanese mixed martial artist, currently competing in the atomweight division of Deep Jewels. A professional competitor since 2019, she is the former Deep Jewels interim strawweight champion. M ...

, in which she missed weight by 0.2 kg and was forced to vacate her title, and Caitlin McEwen before accepting her first fight overseas with the UAE Warriors promotion. In September 2020 she defeated Christina Stelliou via a second-round knockout at UAE Warriors 13.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In her UFC debut, O'Neill won with a second-round knockout victory over

Shana Dobson Shana or Shanna may refer to: People Shana * Shana Alexander (1925–2005), journalist * Shana Cox (born 1985), athlete * Shana Dale (born 1964), NASA deputy administrator * Shana Hiatt (born 1975), model * Shana Madoff (born 1967), compliance offi ...

at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis on February 20, 2021. O'Neill faced

Lara Procópio Lara Fritzen Procópio de Amorim (born November 11, 1995) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Flyweight division. She has previously fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background The daughter of Brazilian jiu ...

on June 19, 2021, at UFC on ESPN: The Korean Zombie vs. Ige. She won the bout after choking Procópio unconscious in the third round via rear-naked choke. O'Neill faced

Antonina Shevchenko Antonina Shevchenko (russian: Антонина Анатольевна Шевченко; born ) is a Kyrgyzstani and Peruvian Muay Thai fighter and mixed martial artist currently competing in the flyweight division of the UFC. She is the older sis ...

on October 2, 2021, at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker. She won the fight via technical knockout in round two. This win earned her the ''

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

'' award. O'Neill faced

Roxanne Modafferi Roxanne Vincenta Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who most recently fought for the UFC. Though she last fought in the flyweight division, she has fought in multiple weight classes in her career. A p ...

on February 12, 2022, at

UFC 271 ''UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 12, 2022 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, United States. Background A UFC Middleweight Champio ...

. She won the fight via split decision. 19 out of 19 media outlets scored the fight for O'Neill. Judge Robert Alexander, who scored the fight 29-28 for Modafferi, received criticism for his scorecard.

Michael Bisping Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (; born 28 February 1979) is an English actor, sports analyst, commentator and retired mixed martial artist, who competed in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight division of the UFC. A professional competitor ...

, as part of the live commentary team for the broadcast, said "I don't think lexandershould be judging MMA. That judge does not know what he's looking at." O'Neill was scheduled to face

Jessica Eye Jessica Jo-Anne Eye (born July 27, 1986) is an American retired mixed martial artist. She competed as a flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Early life Jessica Eye was born in Akron, Ohio to Randy Allen and Colleen Joanne Eye. ...

on July 2, 2022, at

UFC 276 ''UFC 276: Adesanya vs. Cannonier'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on July 2, 2022, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United States. ...

. However, O'Neill withdrew in late April due to torn ACL and was replaced by

Maycee Barber Maycee Kaye Barber (born May 18, 1998) is an American mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of November 15, 2022, she is #12 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings. ...

. O'Neill is scheduled to face

Jennifer Maia Jennifer Maia (born October 6, 1988) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. Maia currently competes in the Flyweight, Women's Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Maia trains at Chute Boxe Academy in Brazi ...

on March 18, 2023, at

UFC 286 ''UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3'' is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on March 18, 2023, at The O2 Arena in London, England. Background A UFC Welterweight Championshi ...

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

(One time) **2021 Newcomer of the Year *Eternal MMA **EMMA Strawweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defense *

MMA Fighting ''MMA Fighting'' is a news website that covers the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Founded in 2001, the site is notable for its breaking news coverage, podcast series, and ''The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani''. Overview ''MMAFighting.com'' w ...

**2021 Rookie of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Casey Living people Australian female kickboxers Flyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters Australian female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from the Gold Coast Australian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Sportswomen from Queensland Scottish emigrants to Australia Sportspeople from Kilmarnock 1997 births