P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:56 RTE 1/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 2022 is shaping up to be a banner year for Ireland's female mixed-martial-arts fighters. Last month, 21-year-old Dubliner Nadine Abbott-Bissett became the amateur atomweight world champion. This weekend, Leah McCourt and Sinead Kavanagh will take centre stage at the 3 Arena for the most eagerly anticipated all-Irish clash in years. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:42:02 RTE 2/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 Something that Abbott-Bissett, McCourt and Kavanagh all shared from their early days in the sport is the knowledge that an Irish woman could rise through the ranks, become a champion and fight on the biggest stages in the world. The woman who inspired them, of course, is Aisling Daly. Before Conor McGregor was calling for "60 gs, baby"; before the UFC had ever allowed women to fight in the Octagon; 'Ais The Bash' was leading the line for the Irish scene. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:42:08 RTE 3/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 In the same building that McCourt and Kavanagh will face off in, Daly claimed the sole win for SBG Ireland at 2015's UFC Dublin following an emotional entrance that went viral worldwide. Sitting astride the octagon, Daly jubilantly celebrated not only a win, but a moment of vindication. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:13 RTE 4/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 After years of putting herself through the wringer to achieve her goals - giving up her fight purses to fly opponents in to face her, being shunned by promoters who didn t want to carry female fights, ridiculous weight cuts and so much more - the ovation from her hometown crowd must have felt like a warm hug. Daly didn t know it then, but it would be the last time she would compete in MMA. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:19 RT 5/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 Two months after the career-highlight hometown win, Daly was preparing for a clash with Michelle Waterson when doctors discovered she had suffered a micro haemorrhage via a routine scan. 'The Bash' didn t think twice about hanging her gloves up. "The thing that really drove it home for me was, (the doctor told me) 'when these things happen, whatever part of your brain gets damaged, whatever part of you that controls, you can sometimes completely lose that function'," Daly recalled. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:26 RTE 6/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 "As soon as I heard that I was like, 'see ya! That s fine'." While it was a relatively easy decision to make, Daly struggled to disconnect from the sport that she had geared her whole life towards. Having successfully taught jiu-jitsu for years, pursuing teaching as a profession appealed to her. Yet, it only came crashing home how badly she wanted to pursue it when her preparations for a grappling bout hampered her study for an oral Irish exam - a test she needed to pass to be accepted onto the teaching course. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:32 RTE 7/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 "I didn t practice for it, I didn t study; I just didn t put enough work in," said Daly. "I went and they basically said, your Irish is terrible - you re not getting a spot on the course'. I was still having trouble letting go, but when I failed that exam it really gave me the boot I needed." Daly eventually passed the exam and is hoping to gain her full qualification as a primary school teacher in 2023. She s adamant that she won t shy away from telling her students about her previous life as a mixed-martial-artist in the hopes it will encourage them to chase their dreams, no matter how crazy they seem. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:38 RTE 8/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 The leading voices in MMA often underline what a poor job the sport does at celebrating its history and many within the Irish scene feel the achievements of Daly have been overlooked. Two years before Ronda Rousey convinced the UFC to adopt a women s bantamweight division and six years before they would establish a division in Daly s preferred flyweight class, 'The Bash' became Ireland s first notable world champion when she defeated Jessica Eye - a future UFC title challenger - to claim the NAAFS flyweight title. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:44 RTE 9/10 Aisling Daly: The rise & legacy of an 20 Feb 2022 10:38 The scene braced itself for the breakthrough moment it yearned for, but it would be another five years before Daly would find herself on the world s biggest stage with the UFC. In the meantime, in 2013, Daly attempted to bring in the first minimum safety standards to the Irish sport with SAFE MMA, which would become the rallying cry of the Irish Mixed Martial Arts Association following the tragic death of Joao Carvalho in 2016. SPORT HEADLINES P200 Next Rugby Soccer GAA
P427 AERTEL 1 427 Wed 23 Feb 08:41:50 10/10 DOWN ROYAL */ "///! /% +//! DIVIDENDS www.thetote.com jjj ————————————————————— TIME WIN -----PLACE------- EXACTA 12.30 8.90 1.70 3.80 1.50 200.10 1.00 15.60 2.60 4.90 1.60 1.90 300.20 1.30 5.20 2.10 1.40 1.50 23.40 2.00 2.60 1.20 4.00 4.40 22.70 2.30 10.60 2.10 1.60 1.80 39.40 3.00 4.30 1.70 5.50 1.30 1.80 112.40 3.30 6.20 1.70 2.30 1.10 19.50 —————————————————————————————————————— TRI 12.30 R/O 2.00 R/O 3.30 R/O 1.00 R/O 2.30 R/O 1.30 18.60 3.00 117.90 —————————————————————————————————————— P/POT POOL 12575.38 DIV 65.50 J/POT R/O 203.40 TO LEOPARDSTOWN Next Rugby Soccer GAA