23-year-old Russian Victoria Dudakova shocked even seasoned Dana White with her resilience. He sees her potential as a champion which helped her defeat her more experienced opponent at the Contender Series tournament. In her interview, Dudakova spoke about her injury, her disappointment after the fight, her prepared rival, undressing at the weigh-in, and strong competition in the Strawweight division.
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"I had problems with my ligaments before"
— What do you feel now when the bout is over and your goal has been achieved?
— Frankly speaking, at first, I was unsatisfied after the fight because I didn't do all the things I had wanted. But now I realize that I had the required results and everything turned out well. Now I feel relieved and happy that I got a contract with the UFC.
— What exactly were you dissatisfied with?
— With everything. Almost nothing worked. The whole fight didn't go the way I wanted it to go.
— But you had a good reason: a knee injury.
— Of course, the situation before the fight wasn't perfect. When I prepared for the bout, I didn't have enough sparring partners and had no opportunity to bring myself to the needed state. As for my knee, I have yet to determine what's wrong with it and do an MRI.
— It wasn't the first time you had it, you had a relapse.
— Yes. I had problems with my ligaments before. At that time, I didn't have surgery. Now I need to see if these problems are serious and I need it. Of course, my leg bothered me and made itself felt, but that is an old chronic injury.
"White commended me, noting my fighting spirit and commitment"
— What can you say about your opponent? Is her level higher than that of other athletes you have fought against in Russia?
— She definitely surpasses them in terms of experience. She had clearly prepared for me and didn't let me apply my signature technique, crucifix, and do many other things in ground fighting that I did before. In general, the Brazilian is very strong, but I've fought against physically strong athletes before, like Marina Shutova, who was also not easy to fight with.
— What do you think of Dana White's praise words after the fight that even noted your potential as a champion?
— I think he noted my fighting spirit and commitment in this bout and therefore, commended me. It was nice.
— How long do you plan to recover and rest?
— I don't like resting a lot, lying on a sofa, and lazing around. Several weeks after my fight, I train actively and work on sparring. I did it even when my jaw was broken. Soon I came to the gym and worked there. But this leg injury should be taken more seriously. I planned to have a bout on September 11 if everything went as planned, but it didn't happen. Now I need to understand if surgery is required and how long the recovery will take. After that, I will be ready to fight.
"Zhang Weili is the strongest in our weight category. There are still a lot of fights ahead"
— You barely fit into your weight category during the weigh-in and had to take off literally everything. Did you have problems with weight cutting?
— There was nothing special. We just approached the last stage with a little more w than usual, so I had to cut more weight in the final days. I fit my weight category limit like a glove, having shown 116 pounds on the scale. But it wasn't a championship fight, so this weight cutting was enough.
— Do you plan to perform in the strawweight category?
— Yes, I feel comfortable at this weight and weigh not so much for it. Even my coach Gasanali Gasanaliev tells me to gain weight, tries to feed me in the offseason, and chooses my diet himself, but it doesn't always work out. He tried to cook for me and chose a special diet even in the training camp. He is a very caring coach, paying attention to every detail.
— In this weight category, champions change all the time. Who of your potential opponents appeals to you most of all?
— I would name Zhang Weili. In my opinion, she is the strongest strawweight. But there are many worthy rivals and in general, this weight category contains most of the UFC girls, so my path to the championship title has just begun. There are still a lot of fights to get the belt ahead, but this is my main goal.
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