“It has been fun to miss having fight camp because I think it’s something that everyone dreads. When you’re fighting back-to-back, you’re like, ‘Oh God, this is so hard every single time,’ but when you don’t get it for a little while and then just being able to come back and still be able to do it, you don’t take it for granted anymore,” O’Neill said.
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Not only does O’Neill feel that she is coming back physically stronger than she was before, but she also believes that she is coming back mentally stronger, as well. Injuries are a part of being an athlete, but it is a mental struggle to be away from something that you are used to doing every single day.
“When you’re someone like me who only lives (in Vegas) for training, trains four times a day and is just a little bit crazy with it, fighting non-stop and then having that all be put on pause is a little bit daunting,” O’Neill said. “It teaches you a lot of mental strength and you have to overcome things.”
Only 11 months after her surgery, O’Neill is ready step back into the Octagon inside the O2 Arena in London against former title challenger Jennifer Maia. This is the third time in 12 months that the Octagon will touch down in London, and when she found out that this card was happening, she wasn’t going to miss out again.
