CASEY O'NEILL'S CELEBRATION 😅 #UFC305 pic.twitter.com/1OXarBr2VT
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 18, 2024
O’Neill bounced back from a two-fight slump with an emphatic unanimous decision victory over Luana Santos at the RAC Arena on Saturday night in Perth, Australia. “King” celebrated her victory with a mockery of Gunn’s Olympic breakdance performance, which has recently been in headlines.
Speaking of her celebration, O’Neill considers her performance better than the Australian academic-breakdancer known as “Raygun,” who has been dealing with serious online hate for her bizarre show at the Paris 2024 Olympics. O’Neill even joked about taking a hiatus from MMA for a detour into breakdance to represent Australia in the 2028 Olympics.
“I give that a 10. I think I did better than she did in the Olympics,” O’Neill said in a post-fight media scrum. “I think if they do bring it back for 2020, I might need to take a MMA hiatus and go get a gold medal.”
A lecturer in the Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature at Macquarie University, Gunn made her Olympic debut in breakdancing, which also made its debut at Paris 2024. Gunn was widely slammed online for moves like the “snake” and “kangaroo” after losing all three of her round-robin battles with a combined score of 54-0. The 36-year-old defended her performance claiming she had to be creative, as she couldn’t athletically compete with her younger opponents. The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has since come to Gunn’s defense and criticized the severe online backlash she has been facing.