Dublin fighter Shauna Bannon has suffered her first professional defeat in her UFC debut at the Aspinall v Tybura Fight Night Saturday.
The 29-year-old former kickboxer and Taekwondo fighter lost to Brazil’s Bruna Brasil by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27) despite a strong third round.
Going into the fight Bannon’s record was 5-0 and Brasil’s 8-3-1.
Bannon, who is coached by Paddy Holohan, is only the second Irish woman to compete in the UFC (following Aisling Daly).
She has spoken about the challenges of balancing single motherhood with training but says that her son, Jayce, is her motivation.
“If I come home from my morning session and I’m wrecked, exhausted, and I get to look at Jayce, he brightens my day and he motivates me and he gets me going for my second session of the day,” she said at the media day earlier this week.
“I think I have the best of both worlds. Some people work a 9-to-5 job and don’t get to see their kids for the full day. The morning, I drop Jayce, get my morning session in, come back, get to spend the whole afternoon and evening with him before my evening session, so I think I have the best of both worlds.”
“It is super tiring and it’s great.”