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, incorpo ...

(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 b ...

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, Scot ...

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

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

on February 12, 2022, at UFC 271. 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 s ...

, 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. O'Neill is scheduled to face Jennifer Maia 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

** Performance of the Night (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

, - , Win , align=center, 9–0 ,

, Decision (split) , UFC 271 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 , Houston, Texas, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Antonina Shevchenko , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Walker , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:47 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada 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 Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Lara Procópio , Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on ESPN: The Korean Zombie vs. Ige , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:54 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Shana Dobson , TKO (punches) , UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:41 ,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the 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. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Christina Stelliou , KO (punches) , UAE Warriors 13 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:12 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Caitlin McEwen , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 51 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Miki Motono , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 48 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jada Ketley , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Eternal MMA 46 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:32 ,

, Australia , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Amira Hafizović , Decision (unanimous) , Eternal MMA 43 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, Australia ,

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