Florida – friends, fight, family

I went to Florida for the first time last week! I’ve always wanted to go but never had the occasion.

I flew myself there to help support my best friend Serena in her fight in Titan FC. They only allowed one cornerman so I wasn’t allowed to be in her corner, but I yelled from the side of the cage and nobody came to shut me up, so that was cool.

I enjoyed seeing Miami. I rented a car and ended up driving all over the city looking for the post-weight cut restaurant. lol Hey at least I got to see the city. It was so humid! And it rained intermittently! I heard these things but it was fun to experience them. Also, there are palm trees everywhere. Hah DUH, right? But Nevada is to cacti as Florida is to palm trees. I REALLY enjoyed being around more nature. I saw so many cool plants and trees and winding roots sticking up out of the ground!

a cool tree *_*

My birthday was September 24th. I helped Serena cut weight and took care of fight stuff. Her mom surprised me by bringing out a chocolate cake at the Pho restaurant! THANK YOU! That really made me feel nice. I was stressed and not feeling very birthday cheery, but that was super nice and reminded me that I have people who love me and appreciate me. <3 Thanks also to everyone who wished me a happy birthday on social media or text. I’m thirty-eight. Can you believe it? 🙂 It was a challenging year but I lived it as hard and as well as I could! I love my life and I’m having fun pursing my goals.

My long-time friend Michael also visited and joined our meal with Gabby! It was so nice seeing you guys again!

Me, Serena, Michael, Billie, Marv, Gabby
pre-fight, locker room pic

The fight happened and Serena fought hard, but the other girl got the decision win. I’m so sad for my friend. I feel like she wasn’t able to fight to 100% of her capabilities. She’s strong and skilled, and all I want is for her to be able to show that! It’s so hard to do what you want in a fight… somebody else is fighting back. Even if you are doing the right thing, the other person is doing stuff, too. Plus nerves, your body’s various conditions, and sometimes fouls like getting eye poked enters the equation. SO much goes on, but you gotta win anyway. I’ve been there plenty of times. I’ve had 46 fights! I’ve fought with injuries, jetlag, feeling crappy, feeling great. In my fight with Lauren, I couldn’t really kick! Nobody knew or cared about that, and I couldn’t win anyway, so I took the L. We can only try as hard as we can. No fighter doesn’t “try” hard. Figuring out how we work is part of the journey as a fighter. I still feel like I have heavy lead feet, and I’ve been fighting for 18 years.

Well, time to make new goals and keep getting stronger. Holy Holm just said, “Every fight has it’s own journey.” So true!

After the fight, Serena went home, but before I returned to Vegas, I went to visit a family member! It was sooooooooooo wonderful! Truly the one of the best times I’ve spent with him in my adult life. It was a ‘vacation,’ rather than a ‘training vacation’ like when I go to Japan, where I run around training and trying to visit everyone. With him this time, I just relaxed, went sight-seeing, swimming, and ate at restaurants. The last time I felt “zero” stress was probably in high school summer vacation, before I knew the stress of college or work.

cool colorful plant leaves

It was so good for me. After my fights, I like to take the opportunity to visit family. I think after my Maycee fight in January, I visited my aunts, cousins, and mom in February. Then Serena fought in Invicta in March. Then the Covid lock-down hit. Then I fought Lauren. I couldn’t visit family because of Covid, and a week later, got offered the fight with Andrea, so I had literally seven days of down-time, which were just physical and mental hell so it doesn’t count. lol I REALLY needed a vacation!

My family member doesn’t like pics or anything posted so I’m being vague here.

We played miniature golf!

I finally started feeling happy again. The UFC win was great. My parents are happy and proud of me. My dad told me he’s proud of me and then in the same breath told me to retire. My mom keeps praying for me. Hah. It’s all good.

aaaaand I have a grappling match in Texas! Submission Hunter Pro. My anterior motive for going to Texas is visiting my close friends Candy and Katie! And this girl Danielle Kelly is supposed to be a beast! I’m honestly excited about fighting her. I’m doing special training for her, and it’s cool to be forced to focus on some techniques that I’ve been putting off learning.

It HAS an audience, so if you’re in Texas, come on down! Or it’s on UFC Fight pass.

I’m excited to get back to hitting mitts with my head MMA coach John, while focusing on grappling and strengthening. Gotta stay somewhat ready in case I get another UFC fight offer soon!

Coach John Wood

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