Casey O’Neill doesn’t care what you think of her overall, but deep down — no matter who you are — getting booed by an arena full of people after putting it all on the line certainly stings.
O’Neill won a split-decision victory over Roxanne Modafferi, now retired at UFC 271.. The victory was celebrated by the Houston Toyota Center crowd, who booed O’Neill, prompting a passionate response from O’Neill, a flyweight prospect.
” If you don’t want me to be the evil guy, then f*ck yourself. I’ll just be the f*cking villain,” O’Neill shouted. “It’s clear to me and to everyone, Roxanne put everything she had left into that camp. All the best for her after this sport .”
Comparisons of O’Neill’s reaction to the boos, and Al Iaquinta’s after Jorge Masvidal’s decision victory in April 2015 was noted nearly immediately during the pay per view event.
“After everyone was tagging him in it, that was fun because I love Al Iaquinta,” O’Neill said on The MMA Hour. That’s what you feel afterwards. It f*cking sucks when they start booing you after going out there to entertain them, and then they just want to boo you for no reason. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
There are pro-wrestling roots in MMA, so when responses like O’Neill’s take shape, fans use terms like “heel” and “babyface” to describe the moment. O’Neill believes she wasn’t taking either side — she was being unapologetically herself.
“To be honest, I wasn’t playing anything,” O’Neill said. “I was just being myself. I am a little bit edgy, I guess, and if people love me or hate me, they’re still talking about me regardless. I don’t play it up for either side. I just want to be who I am and say what I feel. If that makes me the heel, [then] that makes me the heel.
” I think that I am polarizing from both sides. There are a lot of people who do love me for what I say and who I am, and a lot of other people that hate me for what I say and who I am. It doesn’t matter what other people think. Of course, I’ll be honest, it doesn’t feel great to get booed or anything like that when you go out there and give your heart, put everything on the line. It was a fight that I gave my all, which I felt raw and emotionally. Getting booed kind of sucked, but I quickly turned around and was like, it doesn’t really matter.”
Modafferi competed for the 50th and final time of her career in the UFC 271 fight. The Happy Warrior’s nearly 20-year-long pro career was ended by three consecutive losses to a trio legitimate contenders in the division, O’Neill Taila Santos, Viviane Arujo and Taila Santos.
The narrative surrounding the fight was more about Modafferi’s exit than O’Neill’s rise in the UFC, which admittedly annoyed the 24-year-old undefeated pro. From the get go, O’Neill always had respect for her legendary opponent, but she isn’t one to let that be fully shown before the octagon door locks.
” I have always loved Roxy but, in my mind and as a person who is fighting another, I cannot be their friend when they are hurt,” O’Neill stated. “I don’t want to be doing all of that buddy-buddy stuff, and it’s so hard because she came up to me during the week and was like, ‘I can’t wait to fight you,’ and was so nice, and I was like, ‘Stop it. You’re getting in my head.’
“She was trying to shake my hand before the fight, but if you watch back all of my fights, I never touch gloves at the start of the fight. It’s just something that I’ve never done. I save being friends until afterward, and full respect for Roxy. That was a great fight. We’ve had a lot of good conversations since that fight. I hope to be able to continue training together in Vegas soon. I wish her all the best.”
