UFC 296: The shock stats and hidden drive behind Casey O’Neill’s UFC rise

‘King’ Casey O’Neill is back in action, and the only Aussie woman in the UFC has revealed her hidden drive ahead of the scrap with Ariane Lipski this weekend.

The most important thing you need to know about ‘King’ Casey O’Neill is that she has to be first.

In everything.

All the time.

“Being first is my whole goal in life – even being the first to wake up in the morning,” the Scottish born Aussie tells this masthead ahead of her UFC 296 scrap with Ariane Lipski this weekend.

“Everything is a competition to me.”

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O'Neill (L) lands one on Roxanne Modafferi. Picture: Getty Images

That explains a few things about her impressive 4-1 UFC career to date.

To the surprise of many, the 26-year-old holds the record for most significant strikes landed per minute.

She sits ahead of heavy hitter Sergei Pavlovich and interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

“I’m excited that I’m number one, it’s not something that’s a surprise to me,” she says. “I’ve got amazing cardio, so that’s something I try to prove in every fight.

“Hopefully I can pump that number up and make that margin even bigger soon.”

Her only loss, which she suffered against Jennifer Maia in March can also be blamed on her steadfast need to be first and break records.

The bout was her first fight since rupturing her ACL in April 2022, and she says now that she tried to come back too fast for her own good.

“Even when I’d just injured it, I told everyone that I’d be back in six months,” she says. “I think I came back in nine months, which was my second goal.

O’Neill is the only Aussie woman currently in the UFC. Picture: Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

“Most people take over a year, so I just wanted to do it faster than anyone. But I should probably listen to doctors’ orders and just wait the timeframe that they give me.”

Another stat sums up O’Neill’s career well too.

Despite the ongoing outsized success of fighters from Australia and New Zealand, O’Neill is the only woman from this part of the world in the UFC.

Others, including Bec Rawlings, Megan Anderson and Jessica-Rose Clark have might have gone before her, but no one’s doing it like O’Neill.

“I’m carrying the flag solo right now,” she says. “There have been a few that’ve come and gone, but I’m happy to be flying the flag for everyone while waiting for other girls to come up.

“There are girls who are getting closer and doing really good things in Australia and I always root for them and hope they can get into the UFC and we can all takeover.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, O’Neill doesn’t give a straightforward answer when asked if she looked up to any of the Aussie women who came before her.

“No. I see everyone as competition. I just wanted to fight them,” she says. “Although that’s probably a bit mean.

“Good for them for getting in. I’m grateful they broke through but I’m definitely the one who’s in here and doing it the best of any Aussie ever, in my opinion.”

Originally published as UFC 296: The shock stats and hidden drive behind Casey O’Neill’s UFC rise