AISLING DALY TASTED defeat for the first time in the Ultimate Fighting Championship tonight.
Despite a courageous display, the 27-year-old Irish fighter suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Canadian opponent Randa Markos at UFC 186 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Markos took the first round after landing the cleaner strikes early on, before rear-naked choke and arm-triangle attempts which Daly bravely withstood. However, the Dubliner did end the round in top position after securing a takedown.
The second round was much better for Daly as Markos appeared to tire. After scoring another takedown, Daly chased a kimura and then a rear-naked choke, but the Canadian was saved by the bell.
However, the final and decisive round went the way of Markos. The 29-year-old had the better of the grappling exchanges and Daly spent most of the latter stages defending against an armbar attempt.
The fight went the distance and the judges gave a deserved unanimous-decision win to Markos. It was 29-28 against Daly on our scorecard and that’s how two of the three judges saw it, with the other bizarrely handing in a 30-27 score.