PERTH, Australia – [autotag]Casey O’Neill[/autotag] met the media Thursday ahead of her fight at UFC 305.
O’Neill (9-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) takes on Luana Santos (8-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a women’s flyweight fight on the ESPN preliminary card at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. At media day, O’Neill took questions from media members before her fight.
After a perfect 9-0 start to her pro career, including her first four fights in the UFC, O’Neill has stumbled of late with back-to-back losses to Jennifer Maia and Ariane Lipski. But this week, she’s back on home soil in Australia, which might feel even more welcoming after her recent split from Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas.
“I just wanted to get a fresh set of eyes, I guess. I think when nothing’s broken, you don’t fix anything. Now that I’ve had a couple of losses or setbacks, just look back and evaluate myself and things that I could do differently and get a couple of different opinions from people that I know are great fighters and that I trust.
“I’m just kind of playing it by ear. I’m trying to really focus on myself now instead of focusing on certain opponents – just getting myself to be the best that I can be.”
O’Neill said after her loss to Lipski, a second-round submission, she did some work on the mental side of the game. She also has gotten advice from a lot of her peers in the UFC, which might make it easier to work through losses when they happen.
“I started talking to a sports psychiatrist after that last fight,” O’Neill said. “… I talked to a lot of people who have been in the UFC for a long time, and they all say that some nights you just don’t show up. You can’t expect to be on 365 days of the year. You pick a date 10 weeks out and you’re like, ‘I need to be ready on this day.’ Some days, you’re not. You’ve just got to learn to roll with the punches.”
Check out O’Neill’s full media day interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 305.