The Fight of my Life!

I just got back from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I got asked to fight last Thursday, flew in on Friday and fought on Saturday- February 28th. The fight was for 135 pounds- I was at around 127 (I understood that was a lot of weight to give up, but I wanted to fight). I thought I'd "bulk up" for weigh in by putting 4 pounds in my coat pockets and wearing heavy pants and shoes. At weigh in, they made me take off my jacket and shoes. Dang! There went 6 good pounds. I still managed to weigh in at 129. She came in at 137. As long as there's less than a 10 pound difference, it's all good in Oklahoma.

I looked up at my opponent. She was 5'7" and Native American (Crow to be exact). Her name was Tonya Peery, and she looked tough. It was here that I thought- why do I have to be so cocky and fight out of my weight class? But I figured, I'd still go in and fight tooth and nail. I was thrilled to be able to use elbows and knees- first match for both. I thought- I'll probably be able to do some good damage to her with my sharp elbows.

We come out to the ring, and the crowd goes WILD! (People love women fights- we're so much more vicious than men!) We tap gloves, and I run towards her- I have to get past her punch- her arms were like 6 feet long! We start banging eachother with hard punches, and I was using my knees and kicks for all I was worth. I could barely get an elbow on her. She had me against the cage, and I heard "Stomp her feet!" So, I did... over and over again, hard. I was wondering how it wasn't breaking her foot. The bell finally rang, and I was glad. I was tired as hell- totally out of breath (I'd come down with a nasty cold prior to the fight).

Round two, same thing. We come out banging heads. She hits HARD. I think to myself- I'd better get her to the ground. Amazingly I do. I get on top of her and start doing my ground and pound for all I'm worth. The ref is watching us close, and I'm looking at him after several seconds like- "Are you gonna stop this carnage, or what?" Then the bell rings. I'm in my corner feeling like death warmed over- I could not catch my breath for the life of me. I was pissed that they didn't stop it- as I blew my wad trying to knock her out.

Round three, I figured I'd better change my game plan. I can't knock this girl out! I figured I try a submission. I pulled her down, accidentally on top of myself. From there, I tried to secure an arm bar. I didn't, and she thanked me with some ground and pound of her own. I grabbed her arm again, and miracle of miracles, I got it! I bowed as far as I could to hyperextend her elbow. I thought I felt her tap, but I waited until the referee broke us up before I let her go.

I fell to the ground, exhausted, happy and in pain. My lungs felt like they were going to burst. I didn't think I could stand up. My cornermen (my husband and another guy from Oklahoma) came in, hauled me up, congratulated me and took me over to the referee to raise my hand in victory. I hugged my opponent and dragged my tired behind back to the locker room.

I layed on the floor with an ice pack on my head for around a half hour. My head hurt (it had some gooseeggs on it), my left eye was swollen near shut, and worst of all- my lungs still hadn't recovered. I was asking myself- it is worth it? I had to answer- hell yes!! I was so excited! I had my hubby go call my mom, my new manager (Mike Chu- who got me the fight) and my buddy, Debi. He had to go outside- there was no reception in the building. Everyone was so happy for me- especially my hubby. He could not stop telling me how proud he was of me and how good I did. I was just in a daze, and very relieved that it was all over.

I had a chance to talk to my opponent after the fight. Nice girl. I told her how tough she was, how hard she hit. She was wondering why her foot hurt. I told her it was because I'd been stomping on it. We laughed. She invited me out to have a drink, and I would have- but we had to fly out first thing in the morning. That, and she drinks hard alcohol- and I wans't sure if she wasn't mad that I won and might have started a fight with me once the buzz hit her (I'm kidding- kind of).

I look at my year so far, and I'm feeling a bit like Goldilocks. Last month I fought at 115- too light. This month I fought at 135- too heavy. I feel like once I get a fight at 125- it'll be just right! I have to stop this insanity and fight in my true weight class. I'm really looking forwrad to the Kathy Long fight. We agreed to come in at 125. It'll be a hard fight, but at least we'll be near the same size.

So, here I am, glad to be back in good old Red Bluff. I have to take couple of days off of training- I've been coughing non-stop since the fight. The doctor says it's just a viral infection, but I feel terrible. It's 2 days since the fight and my eye is still black and blue, my foot hurts from stomping, my neck hurts, my knees are bruised and my shin is swollen from kicking. I'm a mess- but my pride is in perfect shape!