Aisling Daly Announces Her Premature Retirement From MMA

Aisling Daly has announced her retirement from the sport of MMA.

'Ash the Bash' has been a real trailblazer for the sport of MMA in Ireland. After appearing in season 20 of 'Ultimate Fighter' Daly's profile soared as she became the first Irish female to compete in the UFC. After success in Cage Rage, Daly then went on to have success in Bellator and Cage Warriors before arguably the high point of her career: a unanimous win over Ericka Almeida on the undercard of Paddy Holohan's fight against Louis Smolka at the 3Arena.

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Unfortunately though Daly has been forced to retire due to a brain haemorrhage, as she announced via social media on Monday evening.

I will be officially retiring from the sport of MMA. This past year a routine brain scan showed up evidence of an abnormality, the remnant of a small haemorrhage 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. My career has ended prematurely but I’m very grateful for my long list of achievements, I am and will always be ‘Ais the first’ for so many things, my legacy set in stone in the history of Irish mixed martial arts. I am the countries first ever world champion, the first and only female to ever do it. I have and always will give back to the sport which has given me so much. I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the fans who have supported me tirelessly through various parts of the journey. Without this support there is no sport of MMA as we know it. I would like to thank my good friends and close team mates, there is no substitute for the genuine loyalty built between people over years of blood, sweat and tears. I am truly most grateful for my wonderful family, who were there to pick up the pieces throughout my entire career and especially now when my dream fell apart. This would have been intolerable without their help, emotionally and financially. They say you can’t choose family but I would want no other. Now starts the next chapter of my life. I’m very fortunate to have grown up within such an outstanding organisation as SBG. I am equipped with the skills to be an exceptional coach and member of the martial arts community and I look forward to seeing what challenges lie ahead for me. “New Beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”― Lao Tzu #TheQueenofIrishMMA #AisTheFirst #SBG #happy #proud #grateful #MMA #UFC #retirement #worldchampion #blackbelt #legend

A photo posted by Aisling Daly (@aisydaly) on Jan 30, 2017 at 10:57am PST

A big blow for the sport but, having trained under John Kavanagh at SBG, Daly has more than enough experience to be invaluable in the sport if she decides to try her hand at coaching or another, non-fighting role.