Jennifer Maia has claimed that the reason she was unable to showcase her grappling skills at UFC 286 was that her opponent Casey O’Neill was “very greased up.”
This wasn’t a direct accusation from Maia nor did it seem like an attempt to take any credit away from O’Neill, but Maia asserted that she would have been more in control and dominated in the grappling realm if she was able to grip her opponent.
“It was not just sweat”: Jennifer Maia accuses Casey O’Neill of being “greased up” during their #UFC286 fight.
Full interview: https://t.co/HIViuoit9l pic.twitter.com/FpWGAta7kt
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 19, 2023
The scorecards were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 in Maia’s favour as she became the first fighter to have beaten O’Neill in a professional MMA bout.
Jennifer Maia hands Casey O’Neill her first loss in a unanimous decision victory at #UFC286 😲 pic.twitter.com/GvUQCvsG4j
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 18, 2023
“I’m happy with my performance, but I have so much more to show,” the 34-year-old winner told media after the fight. “I really wanted to show you guys my ground game, but Casey was very greased up, very oily, very slippery, and that really threw me off.”
“Listen, I don’t want to take shots like this – it can be skin moisturizer – but definitely I know it was not just sweat.”
“The first time we locked bodies (I noticed) – as soon as we locked bodies against the cage,” she said. “I have a very strong game against the cage, and I felt it extremely difficult to get a hold of her and keep a hold of her because she was so slippery. So I had to abandon that and go to boxing.”
O’Neill hasn’t yet responded to the claim.