AISLING DALY RETURNED to winning ways tonight in her hometown.
The Irish strawweight scored a unanimous-decision victory against Brazil’s Ericka Almeida at UFC Fight Night 76 at Dublin’s 3Arena.
The win was a boost for Straight Blast Gym following Cathal Pendred’s loss earlier in the evening, while Daly will be relieved to be back in the win column after her defeat to Randa Markos in April.
Both Daly and Almeida immediately came out swinging before clinching up against the fence. They battled for control there for the majority of the round until Daly secured a takedown late in the frame, landing a flurry of strikes while in Almeida’s guard and taking the opening frame on our scorecard.
The second round was an intriguing tussle on the ground, which Almeida had the better of towards the latter stages after a good start by Daly. The SBG star secured top position early on but the Brazilian eventually gained control, attempting a triangle and then moving into side control.
Almeida was relentless in her efforts to secure a rear-naked choke towards the end of the round, simultaneously peppering Daly with strikes from the back. Nevertheless, Daly survived and the fight entered the third and final round.
Roared on by a deafening hometown crowd, the Dubliner again fired off shots as soon as the action resumed and Almeida was rocked briefly before being forced on to her back. Almeida defended well but Daly landed punches to stay in the ascendancy while guarding against some dangerous up-kicks.
The judges were called into action to determine a winner. All three of them scored it differently but they were unanimous in their belief that Daly was the superior fighter, scoring the bout 30-27, 29-27, 29-28 in her favour.
