Casey O’Neill was just eight-years-old when her family traded the blustery beaches of North Ayrshire for a life walking silkier sands on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Now 26, the Irvine-born kickboxer has another brawl to contend with as her lingering Scottish accent tries to wrestle its way through in every word she speaks.
Her fighting craft was formed and honed in Thailand – and has seen her rise up UFC’s flyweight ranks where she currently occupies 12th position – but it was in Scotland where Casey’s love for martial arts was born, initially following in her father’s footsteps.
‘When my dad went kickboxing nearby, he would just take me along because we didn’t have a babysitter,’ she said.
‘I think I jumped in when I was four or five years old in the adults class, and I did that until we moved.
Former kickboxer Casey O’Neill has targeted becoming Scotland’s maiden UFC champion
O’Neill, left, takes on Ariane Lipski in the women’s flyweight division at UFC 296 on Saturday
‘I would compete in IAKSA (International Amateur Karate-Kickboxing Sport Association) all through the UK as a kid. I actually have memories of fighting boys at six and seven years old in competitions.
‘My dad had a major influence on me – I just wanted to be like him. When he was kickboxing and starting jiu-jitsu, I was there and I’d do it, too. I went to every gym he went to.’
However, dad Cam, a former professional kickboxer, was not so keen on his daughter taking to the cage under MMA rules. Despite running his own shows when Casey was a teenager, it was fair to say he didn’t want to see her in the midst of the action. She got her way in the end.
‘When he started his MMA promotion, I was working on the door taking the tickets because it was an underground thing, and I told him I was going to fight. He just said: “There’s no way you’re doing that”.
‘A couple of years later I had my first fight on his show, and I went on to have my whole amateur career except one fight on it,’ she laughed.
‘I also became a champion as well which was awesome, and I think he was really proud of that.’
After the initial success as an amateur and early professional, O’Neill was about be thrown a significant challenge when looking to break through as a serious professional in the MMA scene.
Neither her dad, nor any members of her family, were able to help her when the Covid pandemic struck, beginning what she recalls was the ‘crazy’ chain of events that saw her land a UFC contract.
The UFC star, who represents both Australia and Scotland, told Mail Sport of her MMA journey
O’Neill (left) celebrates her win against Brazil’s Lara Procopio in the summer of 2021
‘I was in Thailand during Covid times and it started getting pretty serious after the first couple of months when every country started closing their borders,’ she said.
‘My parents were in Australia where the borders were closed and the rest of my family were in the UK and they weren’t letting many people in or out there.
‘I was stuck in Thailand. No fights, no money and I was already broke to begin with. I was there trying to make it as a fighter and luckily I was offered a fight in Abu Dhabi, which was one of the only places still doing them at the time.
‘It wasn’t on the UFC, it was with a regional show called UAE Warriors, so they gave me an opportunity. I thought to myself: “I could really do with the money”. The only problem is that I’d have absolutely no idea where I’d end up after the fight and I knew I couldn’t afford to stay in the UAE because it’s so expensive there.
‘I took the fight and my manager said to me that if I won they could take me to Las Vegas. There was a possibility I could get a short notice call on one of the UFC cards because people we’re dropping out with Covid all the time.
‘I wasn’t even thinking about what would happen if I lost the Abu Dhabi fight, but if I had I would have been screwed.
‘I took the risk, I went out there and fought, got the finish and went to Vegas. I couch-surfed in an Airbnb which actually belonged to someone I’d met in Thailand and had only known for a week.
‘I had made money from the UAE fight and I was essentially hoping to get signed with $3000 in my bank.
‘About two weeks later, I got the call to fight Lauren Murphy on Fight Island with the UFC. I was supposed to leave a couple days after the call and unfortunately I got Covid which meant I couldn’t travel. But, luckily, Mick Maynard liked me and kept me around.’
O’Neill earned a dominant victory over Shana Robson in 2021 as she built her reputation
What O’Neill may attribute to luck, others may perceive as hard work which has seen her gain global recognition.
While her life has certainly changed from her humble beginnings in North Ayrshire, the O’Neill family – who mostly still live in Scotland apart from her parents and sister – still cheer Casey on.
Using Loch Lomond by Runrig as a walkout song is just one way in which she pays homage to her birthplace, and she believes it is ‘so important’ that she represents Scotland on the global stage.
‘The Australian flag has been put on my gear and name every single time I fight, but I was born in Scotland and both of my parents are 100 per cent Scottish.
‘I do try to represent both (Australia and Scotland) because they are equally home places for me, so I always wear the blue when I fight and take a picture with the flag afterwards.
‘Being one of two Scottish girls in the UFC, it’s really important to fly that flag until we get more joining us’.
O’Neill faces Brazilian Ariane Lipski this weekend at UFC 296 in Las Vegas – her first fight after suffering a first professional defeat at the hands of Jennifer Maia in March.
Her record now stands at 9-1-0, and O’Neill believes that a victory over Lipski would put her on course to achieving the ultimate goal in the UFC.
‘I just want to be UFC champion,’ she said.
O’Neill believes victory over Lipski would set her on the course for a future UFC title fight
‘It’s everything I’ve ever wanted and I feel like people will say: “Yeah, but it’s so hard to get there’, but everyone told me I wouldn’t get to this point, so I think you’ve got to just be delusional as a fighter.
‘I truly believe that I’m three fights away from a title shot. I just need to get out there at my 100 per cent best and I’m the best in the world. I can’t wait to prove that to everybody one step at a time.
‘I’m not looking past Ariane Lipski, I need to beat her emphatically and I will. Then I’ll fight someone in the top five, maybe get a main event, then go get the belt and become the first Scottish champion in the UFC’.
Casey O’Neill takes on Ariane Lipski on December 16 live on TNT Sports Box Office at UFC 296: Edwards vs. Covington.
