THEIR SCHEDULED UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) bout will no longer go ahead, but the rivalry between Aisling Daly and Claudia Gadelha has merely intensified since the fight was cancelled.
The pair were due to meet next weekend at UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland, but it emerged last week that Gadelha had pulled out due to a back injury. Daly will face Randa Markos in Montreal on 25 April instead.
Following her withdrawal, Gadelha — a team-mate of UFC featherweight world champion Jose Aldo — posted on Instagram that “Daly talks shit just like her training partner (Conor) McGregor”.
However, when asked about Gadelha’s comments at Tuesday’s UFC fan Q&A in Dublin, Daly said: “There isn’t any beef, and there wasn’t. She (Gadelha) released a statement after she pulled out of the fight saying that I’ve been talking shit. I actually think she was just confusing me with Conor.
“I heard somebody shouting there, steroids… I don’t know anything about that, but we were both due to be tested, neither of us actually got around to being tested, and she was gone… so think from that what you will.”
Neither Daly nor Gadelha have ever tested positive for banned substances, but the Brazilian today hit back at Ireland’s only female UFC fighter, according to a report from Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting.com.
Gadelha said: “Aisling said that because she’s not an athlete. I’m a better athlete, more disciplined. I train every day, several times a day, and I take care of my body.
“I believe she said that because I’m fit and she’s fat, she has that big belly. She doesn’t make weight, she’s not an athlete, and is talking s**t.”
Daly missed weight for her UFC debut in December but generally has a good track record on the scales. Gadelha and the 27-year-old Dubliner compete in the strawweight division, which has a 116lbs limit (115lbs for championship bouts).
They bloody well better offer him more than a one year deal! He’s been brilliant after the turmoil of the Keane tenure, also I imagine Friendy is a big part of why players would join.
The IRFU need to cop on and tie down the good coaches to long term contracts. Oh and sign the players too. Stop importing players for 2 seasons and promote from within
I hope the IRFU find the funds to keep him longer. Nigel Carolan would be another option.
@Con Cussed: yeah Nigel is an option, but the question remains whether his preference is hands on coaching rather than top management. His track record has been good enough for years to have had Head Coach job offers elswere, but he’s stayed in Galway. My feeling is he loves what he does and isn’t interested in the politics of the top job, could be 100% wrong of course. Jimmy Duffy is established too. Shame the timing was out for Dan McFarland, because he would fit back in perfectly. All the above is conjecture of course, first preference is to keep Friendy. Love what he’s doing and especially the contagious positive vibe he exudes from every pore…..
Suspect Friend will be returning to Australia at the end of the current season. He was very annoyed about the failure to win the game vs Munster last weekend off that final scrum and his pique at his onfield leaders botching (yet again) an end of game opportunity was noticeable. I wonder if he feels he’s taken them as far as he can. I do hope he stays. He’s a great man manager, but a 1 year contract extension offer would force him to look elsewhere, and will the IRFU offer him a 2 year contract – I doubt it.
@David Finn: If the IRFU are serious they have to stop these 1-2 year deals. It gives the wrong message to those receiving them. Keep Friendly at Connacht or resign. The politics at the IRFU does not help in these situations.