Aisling Daly vs Ericka Almeida Booked For UFC Fight Night 76Irish standout Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly will have the hometown crowd on her side when she returns to action on October 24th at UFC Fight Night 76: “Poirier vs Duffy” in Dublin, Leinster, Ireland. Daly is set to battle grappling ace Ericka Almeida in strawweight action on the preliminary card.

Both Daly and Almeida look to rebound from decision losses in their most recent UFC bouts. Daly was defeated by TUF 20 semi-finalist Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos at UFC 186 in April. Almeida suffered her first loss against countrywoman Juliana “Ju Thai” de Lima Carneiro at UFC Fight Night 67.

Daly (15-6-0) signed with the UFC this past year and took part in the inaugural all-female season of The Ultimate Fighter, but her run on TUF 20 ended in the quarterfinal round when she was defeated by former Invicta FC champion Jessica Penne. At the TUF 20 Finale in December, Daly overcame a difficult weight cut and submitted Alex “Astro Girl” Chambers with a first-round armbar. She had expected to face Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha in her next fight, but was instead matched up against Markos after Gadelha suffered an injury, and Markos prevailed via Unanimous Decision.

Almeida (7-1-0) finished each of her first five opponents in the first round, including four by submission, and rapidly rose to become one of Brazil’s most highly-touted prospects. She captured the Jungle Fight Women’s Strawweight Championship in September and retained the title with an easy first-round submission win over short-notice replacement Jennifer Gonzalez at Jungle Fight 76 in April. Almeida signed with the UFC soon after and stepped in on less than three weeks’ notice to face Lima in May, but Lima dominated the fight and handed Almeida her first professional setback.

UFC Fight Night 76: “Poirier vs Duffy” takes place on October 24th at The 3Arena in Dublin, Leinster, Ireland. The event is headlined by a lightweight matchup between Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier and “Irish” Joseph Duffy.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)