UFC Strawweight Aisling Daly Retires Due to Brain Hemorrhage

UFC strawweight Aisling Daly has announced her retirement from MMA, unfortunately citing a small brain hemorrhage as the cause.

Aisling Daly was 2-1 in the UFC, and found her way to the Octagon through The Ultimate Fighter. You can read her full retirement statement on her Facebook page.

Aisling Daly was the pride of Irish women’s MMA, sporting an impressive 14-5 record, including a win over Jessica Eye, before being selected for The Ultimate Fighter 20, which brought the strawweight division to the Octagon. “Ais the Bash” went 1-1 on the show, defeating Angela Magana, then losing to former title challenger Jessica Penne.

The SBG-trained strawweight earned her first Octagon victory with a first round submission over Alex Chambers. After a loss to Randa Markos, Daly achieved a personal dream by defeating Ericka Almeida in her home of Dublin, Ireland, under the UFC banner. Her walkout for that fight is known as one of the best in the promotion’s history.

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This past year a routine brain scan showed up evidence of an abnormality, the remnant of a small hemorrhage that had taken place at some point in the months previous. It would be unlikely I would be medically cleared to compete again, even in the event I could find a doctor who would clear me it would be very unwise for me to continue to compete with the risks involved.

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Daly would go on to look back at her legacy in Irish MMA, thank friends and teammates, and reminisce on what she believes to be the perfect ending to her career, which was the aforementioned Dublin fight. The statement is accompanied by a picture of Daly in tears after her last Octagon victory. While she admits her retirement is premature, it is the right decision given her condition.