An illness has forced Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff out of a planned bout with Angela Hayes on Thursday at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: “Fight Night 2” in Amman, Jordan. NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly has stepped in on just three days’ notice to face Hayes on the card.
MMARising.com confirmed the change with a source close to the promotion today. Daly and Hayes will face off in a 132-pound catchweight. Daly was upset by Gaff in April, but captured the NAAFS title by submitting Jessica “Evil” Eye in June. Hayes brings three straight wins into her CWFC debut.
Daly (11-2-0) brought a 9-0 record into her Bellator Fighting Championships debut last August. Taking part in the promotion’s inaugural women’s tournament, Daly made the cut down to 115 pounds, but suffered her first career loss against Lisa Ellis-Ward. Feeling that the weight cut was too severe, Daly returned to her natural weight class of 125 pounds and defeated Molly Helsel in her Cage Warriors debut last November. She made a second appearance for the promotion in April, but suffered a quick stoppage loss to Gaff.
Entering hostile territory just two months later, Daly became the first professional 125-pound women’s champion in the Ohio-based North American Allied Fight Series by upsetting Eye in their main event bout. The Irish standout will defend her NAAFS title against Kelly Warren in November, but now has her sights set on facing Hayes this Thursday and is excited despite the short-notice nature of the fight.
“I’m really looking forward to the matchup,” Daly tells MMARising.com. “Angela is tough but I think I’ve got a great skill set for this matchup. I really appreciate the opportunity to have this fight. Thank you, Cage Warriors. I’ll be ready to rock as always come Thursday night!”
Hayes (4-5-0) opened her career with tough losses against some of the top names in the 135-pound division, but has found considerable success in the last two years and brings a three-fight winning streak into the bout with Daly. The Colorado native earned a pair of submission victories last year and picked up arguably her biggest victory to date this May. Facing former Tuff-N-Uff amateur champion Tsui-Jen Cunanan, Hayes walked away with a Unanimous Decision victory and she will look to upset Daly in her debut for Cage Warriors. Three of her four wins have come by submission.
Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: “Fight Night 2” takes place this Thursday, September 8th, at the Al-Hussein Youth City Boxing Arena in Amman, Jordan.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)