Issue 194

January 2021

The BJJ specialist on strengthening her standup and making a mark in the UFC.

You seem to be evolving as a mixed martial artist and not just a BJJ practitioner. Can you speak to the level of activity in MMA and your growth in the sport in the past few years?

I had my first loss in October of 2019 after my pregnancy. In 2020, I was able to get three wins and two performance bonuses, with different styles and finishes. It’s good. I am showing what I need to show within the division. My self-confidence is high in standup and feeling like my jiu-jitsu is on a different level from these girls in the strawweight division. With (Jason) Parillo these last few camps I have been sparring all the time. I have been getting used to being punched in the face. I feel really prepared. When I went into the UFC, I was just fighting to make money, to have fun, and have that lifestyle of attention and things like that. Now I am fighting to be the champion. I can see the belt now in my future. Before I wasn’t looking at the belt. I didn’t see it. Now I feel that it is close. It is on the horizon. I am focused. I have the blinders on like the horses wear to keep their vision straight. Nothing can take me off the path now. I am really excited. I feel like I have gained a lot of maturity as a fighter and I think that is dangerous for the division. 

What was the moment you had that mindset change from fighting for fun to fighting to become a champion?

I think when my daughter was born that was a big push in that direction. I was thinking this was serious. I could be a stay-at-home mom and be with my husband, who is a professional surfer and support him and be his life. I could support him and his career or do I want to really go after the belt? I asked my husband and we decided to do this as a team. That was the biggest push I had. Honestly, after my first loss, that changed everything. I had never felt that in MMA. It’s definitely not something I want to taste again. I felt things change. In jiu-jitsu when you lose it’s not a situation where fans think you are never coming back. It’s not that drastic after a loss. When I saw this in MMA, man, I can’t let this happen again. I needed to change a lot of things if I want to make sure people see me in the way I want to be seen. 

We hear that a lot in MMA, when a male fighter becomes a father for the first time. It’s even more special when a woman becomes a mother. Can you speak to the point of becoming a different fighter once your baby was born?

There are a lot of obstacles we as women go through, body-wise and hormones-wise, and you get pretty emotional. Man, this little person is watching me. Everything she does comes from our energy. It takes your mind to a new level. The little things that we were thinking were a big deal before really aren’t a big deal anymore.

If we can be ready to fight in the UFC, at the highest level of the sport, after having a baby and going through all of these things, we are ready for anything. That is definitely the mentality that she gave me. It just makes everything easier. 

At UFC 256 you had a unanimous decision victory over Virna Jandiroba. As we often see, a fight between two grapplers turned into a standup battle. What are your takeaways from the fight?

I went into the fight very confident in my ground game. Although she has her submissions and a great record, I didn’t really expect her to want to go to the ground too much. I thought it was going to be a situation where I was chasing her more. During the fight, I was thinking both of our strengths are on the ground.

I kept thinking if I keep submitting all these fighters I’ll never know how good I am standing up and how much I can take. I didn’t want to get to a championship fight and not know what I can withstand. If there was someone for me to be taking advantage of the standup experience, then it’s with her. I was enjoying it. I took a kick to my face. I put my head down a little bit. I was glad I was able to feel things and say ‘Hey, that’s not that scary.’ 

Why is it, as an incredibly talented and accomplished ground artist, you always seem to find yourself in those crazy exchanges in each fight? 

People can watch most matches from my jiu-jitsu career on YouTube and see that I have always been an aggressive person, style-wise. I am trying to learn that patience in a fight. If I hurt a girl they get wobbly and I am anxious to try to finish the fight. I know am going to get a better finish if I am patient and see the opening instead of ending up in the clinch again and the person recovers. It’s just my personality and it’s a case of me trying to hold that back a little bit so I can see things clearly. 

In a fantasy world who would you choose to share the Octagon with?

I think, one day, I would like to fight Amanda Nunes. With everything she has accomplished, with the two belts, I think that would be a crazy fight. That would be a great experience to be able to show my jiu-jitsu against the best in the world, a legend in Amanda Nunes. Her style is so aggressive I never see her trying to win by decision. She is a very forward fighter and that is what people like to see. Imagine a forward-fighting fighter like her against me. I have a lot of energy and I’m blitzy. That would be a really cool fight. 

By Tony Reid