Shauna Bannon: "With the good and the bad days, I still have my son"
"Mama B" is 7-1 in professional MMA, with the 31-year-old's only loss coming in her UFC debut against Bruna Brasil.
She told the Irish Mirror: "I thought I was motivated before I had him, but now it's just on a different level. I could be having such a bad day, a bad training session, or I'm injured or whatever, and I still get to go home and he's there, making me laugh and joke.
"I remember when I lost my debut, I felt like s***. And then I got to go home to him, and he just put a smile back on my face.
"With the good and the bad days, I still have him, and that's huge to me."
While providing for her son is now Bannon's biggest motivation, it was her father who sparked her love for kickboxing.
"Only the other day, my main kickboxing gym, Tallaght Martial Arts, my Dad's gym, was moving to a new location and clearing up, and I was looking at the collages on the walls of photos from all over the years.
"I actually got so emotional seeing those photos. I was crying because I was thinking that I don't know where I'd be today if my Dad had never got me into kickboxing.
"Normally young girls go into dancing or singing or something completely different. So, I'm so grateful that my Dad put me on that journey, and it led me to the path that I'm on now.
"I can't imagine what my life would be like if I didn't do kickboxing. I literally get to live every day doing what I love. And I couldn't imagine it being any different.
"My Dad is still in my corner now when I fight in the UFC and it's really special to have him there."
Bannon is unsure whether kickboxing or jiu jitsu is her main discipline, as she practised so much jiu jitsu during her early career that she is now used to both styles.
She explained: "When I first started, I soon realised that I needed to learn how to do jujitsu, because I had no background in it. I'd never even watched it. So, it wasn't like I even had a slight idea about it. I had to learn everything from scratch.
"I remember my first sparring session, I was like, kick, kick, kick, and I just got double-legged [a jiu jitsu takedown]. And then I was on the ground and I didn't know what to do there.
"So, I spent a good chunk of the first, probably year and a half, just doing jujitsu. I actually stopped doing striking completely.
"Sometimes I'd take a half day from work to make the lunchtime class. I was sometimes doing jujitsu three times a day, because I just felt like I really needed to catch up. But now, to be honest, if you had to make me choose, and I got paid the same for striking or jujitsu, I'd probably do jujitsu."
She revealed that by the time she turned pro, the Dubliner had a multitude of suitors for promotions, before settling on Invicta Fighting Championships, which is an all-women's series.
She said: "I had one from Ares, I had one from Cage Warriors, I had one from Oktagon, I had one from KSW. And then I had one from Invicta. And there was PSL [as well].
"I had to do the pros and cons, and I wrote out. It wasn't even about the money at that stage because I had to think long term, you know, I was offered more money with different promotions.
"But I went with Invicta because I did see it as the stepping stone to get into the UFC. And luckily it worked out.
"I was originally offered an opportunity for the Contender Series, and then they actually just contacted me again, said they watched more of my fights and they wanted to sign me straight away.
"Then they had an opponent for me and then I fought on the UFC London, so it all happened very, very fast.
"There wasn't a lot of time to kind of digest it, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity that the UFC has given me and Invicta because they were an amazing promotion to fight with as well.
Bannon thanked OnlyFans for the ability to pursue a fighting career as funding can be limited without sponsorship, especially at lower levels.
"The sponsorship that I have with OnlyFans has given me that financial security because fighters don't get paid a lot, especially at the start.
"And since my last fight and the partnership with OnlyFans, I'm financially secure, which takes a huge weight off my shoulders because I'm a single mother. I still have bills to pay.
"It's a good way of getting closer to my fans as well because sometimes on other platforms, I wouldn't be able to connect with them in that way.
"So it kind of gives that other connection with the fans as well that you're not normally able to give."
She is hoping for two more UFC fights before the end of the year.
"I'm hoping to fight again this summer. I'm just waiting on confirmation. And then if I do fight in the summer, I'd love to fight again before the end of the year.
"I like to keep the momentum going and be active, as active as I can."
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