'Mama-B' Bannon ready for the mother of all career moves to UFC

Try to schedule an interview with Shauna Bannon during a fight camp and you may receive a voice note relaying her tireless schedule for the day, with a couple of small gaps where the proposed back and forth can take place.

The "Mama B" show starts at the crack of dawn.

Amidst gruelling strength and conditioning sessions, focused-technical classes with head coach Paddy Holohan, physiotherapy slots and sauna sittings, there is barely a moment for Ireland’s second ever female UFC fighter to grab a bite to eat.

Yet there is some time in her day that is more sacred than the work that goes into maintaining her undefeated 5-0 record, especially as her UFC debut tonight in London looms larger.

"The only free time I have for the rest of the day is the time I’m going to spend with Jayce, and I won’t be scheduling anything during that time with the fight coming up," Bannon explains.

After a decorated international kickboxing career, Bannon drifted into mixed martial arts by chance when Holohan began using a Tallaght community hall for his classes. After claiming silver at the amateur world championships in 2019, she was gearing up for a move to the professional code, when her plans hit a speed bump.

"I was pregnant and we were heading into a lockdown," she recalls.

"Nobody knew what was going on. Honestly, I thought my life was over. I couldn’t see any positivity in the situation. I thought I’d never do MMA again, that I’d never fight again. I thought I’d just be a Mam and I’d have to get another job.

"Not a lot of people comeback after a pregnancy and compete at a high level, some do, but the odds are very small. I knew my situation with Jayce’s father wasn’t really going to work, we had broken up shortly after, so I wondered what kind of