Randa Markos forecasts “brawl” in Montreal ahead of Aisling Daly bout

Aisling Daly seems to have ruffled a few feathers by claiming that her latest opponent Randa Markos, who she meets on April 25 at UFC 186, is a “weaker version” of Claudia Gadelha who the SBG fighter was initially meant to meet in Krakow last weekend.

Markos was adamant that there is no such thing as an easy fight, and insisted that if Daly is anticipating the same fighter who she trained with in the TUF house she has “another thing coming”.

“Yeah, it does kind of offend me,” said Markos. “You know, I’m a hard working fighter like everyone else is and I don’t think there is easy fights, I don’t think that ever happens in my experience as a fighter.

“I’ve never had an easy fight before, I’ve never had an easy opponent or an easier opponent. I’ve come a long way since my last fight and if she thinks I’m going to be the same girl that she knew in the house from The Ultimate Fighter, she’s going to have another thing coming at her.

“What she said doesn’t surprise me at all, what we do in practice is different from what we do in the cage. Grappling practice will give you a lot of different situations that are different to what happens in a fight. They’re two different things.

“We did spend a lot of time together and for her to say she beat me every time or that she had the upper hand every time – I don’t remember that at all. She can say what she wants it doesn’t really matter. What matters is when we get into the Octagon and they shut the door.”

Markos will hold the hometown advantage in Montreal on April 25. Citing UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs Brandao as her favourite event as a spectator, Markos is hoping that the Canadian crowd will provide her with similar support at UFC 186.

“That fact that it’s in Montreal is really, really awesome. I’m really excited to see the fans and I’m excited to show all of the Irish fans how we do it over here in Canada. Our Canadian fans really back us up too.

“I watched that Irish card with Conor McGregor and that was an absolutely amazing show, probably my favourite one to watch. Just seeing how the crowd got behind the Irish guys 100 percent, that was amazing. Hopefully we can show you guys the same kind of thing in Montreal,” she stated.

UFC 186 has suffered a fair share of casualties to the card along the way, but Markos is confident that she and Daly are going to put on a show great show on the night in the event’s curtain raiser.

“I think it’s going to be a great fight. Aisling is a well-rounded fighter and so am I. Anyone can take this fight. We’re both relentless, we’re going to put on a show and I’m ready to brawl, I know she will be too.”

Markos was quite complimentary when asked if there was any weak link she believed she could exploit in Daly’s game.

She said: “I don’t really see a glaring weakness in her game. She’s got that awkward style that really seems to work for her, but sometimes it can leave her open for some things. Other than that, no, she’s a tough fighter and she’s well-rounded. It’s going to be a good fight.”

Enjoying her first real break since the filming of TUF, Markos is confident that the lack of travel and spotlight on the strawweight division as opposed to December’s TUF Finale will reflect positively in her performance.

“It’s been really relaxing, I’ve been able to focus on training,” she said. “Even for the finale we had to travel and do so many interviews, and that was really stressful when you’re trying to focus on your fight. So it’s going to be a lot more relaxing this time around, we’ll see how it goes, but I expect there to be a lot less stress this time.”

Finally, Markos explained how she doesn’t like to think of what a win over Daly could do to her UFC trajectory.

“I’m not really focused on where a win will put me, I’m never really focused on that. A win is a win. If I win this fight I’ll just focus on what’s next. I don’t like to think about where a win will put me – it’s not necessary to think that way. I just need to focus on doing my best. I really don’t care who I fight,” claimed Markos.

@PetesyCarroll