Casey O’Neill: Out To Show Her Best Self

After making her debut in 2021, O’Neill was a hot prospect in the flyweight division. She was undefeated when she came into the promotion and rattled off four victories inside the Octagon, three by finish and one by decision. However, things haven’t gone her way in her last two fights. 

Last year in London, she lost by unanimous decision to Jennifer Maia, and in December she was submitted by Ariane Lipski. But heading into this fight, O’Neill wanted to focus solely on herself, and that has made all the difference.

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“I've done a lot of self-growth,” O’Neill said. “I know that's super cliché for people to say, but I really did. I feel like I've grown up a lot in the UFC and now I'm at a really good spot in my life and I've changed a lot of things for this fight. I'm just excited to go out there and perform for everybody and show everyone what I can do.”

The biggest change O’Neill feels ahead of this fight is in the mental aspect of the game. 

“Coming back from (the injury) was super hard and I don't think I knew how to deal with it on my own and I'm too tough for my own good, so I refused to talk to anybody for a long time, but now I have I ironed out a lot of things that I didn't even realize were issues for me,” O’Neill said. “Mentally, I'm in a great place. I think that a calm, confident fighter is a dangerous fighter, and that's how I feel right now, comfortable and excited.”

Being at a good place mentally came at a good time for O’Neill, who had her original opponent, Tereza Bleda, withdraw from the fight just a few weeks ago. She didn’t want to miss out on another chance to compete in Australia, so she was eager to find a replacement, but also wanted to continue focusing on herself and her game plan, rather than training specifically for an opponent, which she has done in the past.

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Santos comes into the bout on a five-fight winning streak. She made her debut last August, and has gone 3-0 in the Octagon, with two wins by finish and one by decision. O’Neill looks forward to stopping the hype that Santos has coming into the bout. 

“I don't think that she is special anywhere,” O’Neill said. “I know she's a jiu-jitsu girl, but I don't think that she portrays that much in her fights. I'm not going to give too much away, but I feel really confident. When they changed it to her, I was super excited because she has some hype behind her, and I can just take all that away with a win.”

Getting things back on track is the ultimate goal for O’Neill, and getting to do that in front of the Australian crowd would make it even better. “King” believes it doesn’t matter who she is facing; if she shows up as the best version of herself in the Octagon, she can beat anyone in the division.

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She doesn’t care what people think anymore, she only wants to prove that to herself. 

“I'm just going out there to fight for myself, not for other people,” O’Neill said. “People can watch and it's going to be really exciting, but I'm going out there just for myself and to prove to myself that I am who I say I am when I show up as my best self.”