The UFC is back at the o2 Arena in London, England for a Fight Night event this Saturday. UFC London (July 2023 edition) is headlined by returning heavyweight Tom Aspinall, who will have the British crowd in his corner against Poland’s Marcin Tybura. Also featured on the card are a number of debuting fighters, including undefeated strawweight Shauna Bannon.
Shauna “Mama B” Bannon
Standing at five-foot-five
Fighting at 115 lbs (strawweight)
29-years-old
Fighting out of Dublin, Ireland
Training out of Holohan Martial Arts
A pro record of 5-0
2 KO/TKOs
How will Bannon fare in the UFC:
Bannon isn’t a surprise signing. She’s kept winning in Invicta and her momentum has carried her right into the UFC London card. She only has five pro fights but was 9-3 as an amateur. She was an IMMAF world champion. As a pro she won the Cage Legacy strawweight and flyweight title.
Bannon on the feet fights out of a loose karate stance. She stands sideways and throws a lot of side kicks and spinning kicks. Zero setups on the kicks as she just slings them around. Her standup definitely will need to be tightened up now that she’s in the UFC. Bannon is just going to have moments on the feet when she lands a nice kick from time to time. Most of the time on the feet it’s her that’s in trouble. Her striking defense lacks and her body language is bad when she’s hit clean.
Her Jiu-Jitsu is her best weapon. Her wrestling doesn’t match as all her takedowns come from trips and 50/50 throws in the clinch. Even on her back, her Jiu-Jitsu has been good enough that she’s the offensive fighter. Bannon has fluid hips and a good awareness of positional grappling. Her ground and pound isn’t as damaging but she throws a ton and is frequent. When Bannon is on top she has good control and is actively working and looking for the finish.
How she matches up with Brasil
Brasil lost some hype in her UFC debut loss to Denise Gomes. Gomes has looked really good in the UFC actually so that’s not a bad loss either. Bannon is going to have to get this fight down with a heavy wrestling game plan. Brasil is night and day the better striker. Faster, better technique, more powerful, and is in all areas better. The good thing for Bannon is Brasil has poor takedown defense. The downside is her wrestling isn’t that good only being able to use trips. I’m not confident but I like Brasil in this fight. I think it will be an ugly fight and Bannon will wear the damage. I see Brasil landing the damaging blows to a close decision.
