Updated 17.10
AISLING DALY WILL make her UFC debut against Alex Chambers on The Ultimate Fighter 20 finale at the Pearl at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas in the small hours of Saturday morning.
Following on from Neil Seery, Cathal Pendred and Paddy Holohan, the 26-year-old Daly is set to become the fourth Irish fighter to debut in the storied Octagon in 2014.
In Alex Chambers, she faces a fellow Team Pettis member and one of her closest friends on the show. Chambers, who hails from Australia, was the sole member of Team Pettis not to make the quarter-finals, having been submitted by Rose Namajunas in her opening bout.
Daly advanced to the last eight by earning a third-round TKO victory over Angela Magana in what was one of the better fights of the series.
Prior to the bout, Daly’s spirits were hugely buoyed by watching her SBG team-mates all getting their hands raised at UFC Fight Night 46 in Dublin.
Daly was then matched with Jessica Penne in the second quarter-final. The day before the fight, her good friend and training partner Conor McGregor arrived at UFC’s training facility for a surprise visit.
In another fantastic contest, Penne defeated Daly after three ferocious rounds. The judges scored the fight level after the opening two stanzas, which meant a third round was needed to decide the fight. Penne would do enough to earn the victory via unanimous decision.
The identity of the two finalists will not be known until the last show of the series, which airs in America on Fox Sports 1 on Wednesday night.
The semi-finals see Rose Namajunas face Randa Markos, while pre-tournament favourite Carla Esparza takes on Jessica Penne.
The Ultimate Fighter 20 is the first installment in the history of the series that will see a new UFC champion crowned at its conclusion. Unlike past shows, all the fighters involved have already been awarded UFC contracts.
The winner, though, will become the first-ever women’s strawweight champion.
Meanwhile, Neil Seery will make his third UFC appearance when he takes on Chris Beal at UFC on Fox 14 in Stockholm on 24 January.
Seery, of Team Ryano MMA, will meet the undefeated Beal on the preliminary card at the Tele2 Arena.
A cast member on The Ultimate Fighter 18, Beal has gone 2-0 since joining the UFC’s ranks. Both contests were fought at bantamweight, though Beal is expected to make his flyweight debut against Seery.
Seery has managed one win and one loss in the UFC thus far – losing a unanimous decision to Brad Pickett, before defeating Phil Harris at UFC FN 46 in Dublin, also by unanimous decision.
He was scheduled to fight Richie Vaculik at UFC FN 55 in Sydney in November but was forced to withdraw due to a rib injury.
Having returned to training earlier this month, Seery expressed his desire to fight in Stockholm or with his Irish compatriots in Boston the previous week.
UFC Stockholm is to be the first-ever stadium event hosted by the promotion on European soil.