IRELAND’S ONLY FEMALE UFC fighter has a chance to rocket up the rankings when she returns to the Octagon on 11 April.
Aisling “Ais the Bash” Daly has been granted her wish and a shot at strawweight #2 Claudia Gadelha of Brazil.
The two will meet at the UFC’s debut event in Poland, headlined by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Brazilian Gabriel “Napao” Gonzaga.
Daly, who won on her promotion debut at The Ultimate Fighter finale, is currently ranked ninth in the division but she has no fear of Gadelha .
“I think a lot of girls would shy away from her but I was really excited to get this fight,” she said as she was confirmed for the Krakow card on Thursday.
“I didn’t think I would get offered a fight like this for a while so I was really happy to get Claudia.
I wouldn’t say it’s a huge step up in competition but it is good for me to come up against somebody like her. In my mind, there are three of four of us in the division that are up there and she’s one of them. So I’m delighted – sometimes you get what you ask for!
It’s also a chance for Daly to strike first blood for the Straight Blast Gym Ireland team. Gadelha trains in Rio de Janeiro’s Nova União alongside featherweight champ Jose Aldo, the man who will put his title on the line against Conor McGregor in Las Vegas this July.
Women’s strawweight champion Carla Esparza defends her belt against Joanna Jedrzejczyk on 14 March, and Daly believes that a win against Gadelha would skip her to the top of the queue.
“A win over Claudia – I’m hoping it would put me into title contention. She was going to fight for the belt if she beat Joanna, you know.
“They are short of title contenders after March, so me vs. Claudia puts the next title contender forward.”
– First published 17.12, 12 Feb
