Bannon was hoping to make a mark as a rising contender in UFC’s Strawweight division. Instead, she was handed the first loss of her professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Irish women’s Strawweight fighter, Shauna Bannon, got a lot of attention coming into her Octagon debut at UFC London this past weekend (Sat., July 22, 2023). She arrived in the promotion with a perfect professional record (5-0), several kickboxing accolades and hopes to make a splash against Bruna Brasil on the “Prelims” undercard.
Unfortunately for her and the Irish fans cheering her on (Conor McGregor included), Bannon had a hard time getting started. She found herself stuck on her back in grappling exchanges for much of the second round. She was down two rounds on the scorecards before rallying for a decent third.
In the end, “Mama B” lost to Brasil via 29–28, 29–28 and 30–27 scorecards.
In a statement released through her social media accounts, Bannon was hard on herself, but optimistic about her future.
Thank you so so much to my team, friends, family and all my sponsors I am beyond grateful for each and everyone of you ??
The mama b era continues time to heal my heart have lots of cuddles with my boy and level up ??
See yas soon IRELAND I LOVE YOU
— Shauna Bannon (@ShaunaBannon5) July 23, 2023
“To have the worst performance on the night that means the most is the hardest pain in the world, but I will be back,” she wrote. “Yous all know it and know I belong in that UFC octagon.
“Thank you so so much to my team, friends, family and all my sponsors I am beyond grateful for each and everyone of you,” Bannon continued. “The ‘Mama B’ era continues, time to heal my heart have lots of cuddles with my boy and level up. See yas soon. IRELAND I LOVE YOU!”
One of Bannon’s biggest supporters coming up in mixed martial arts (MMA) has been the aforementioned McGregor, who rallied the troops coming into fight week.
“Super excited to be supporting Ireland’s newest UFC fighter! Shauna Bannon is FIREWORKS!” he wrote on Twitter. “Excited to see her grace the Octagon this week! We are with you all the way Shauna, when one of us go to war!”
During the fight with Brasil, McGregor was live-tweeting his scorecard, awarding Bannon the win “2-1 handy.”
Alas, that wasn’t the way the judges saw it. Bannon will have to go back to the drawing board and shore up some of the deficiencies in her ground game and start speed if she wants to become a force at 115 pounds.
As “Mama B” said herself, it’s time to level up.
For complete UFC London results, coverage and highlights click HERE.