Photo courtesy of Spencer's Instagram accouont
Despite hype, Felicia “Feenom” Spencer focused on title fight at Invicta FC 32
The waters that are the women’s featherweight division are a bit murky these days, no one truly knows where the division stands, the UFC and Bellator each have a dominant star as a champion in Cris “Cyborg” Justino and Julia Budd respectively. The UFC is currently in the middle of a season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring featherweights and Bellator had an intriguing fight between Arlene Blencowe vs. Amber Leibrock. But one of the most intriguing fighters in the division doesn’t fight for either organization, no, Felicia Spencer fights for Invicta FC and looks to capture their vacant belt on November 16.
In a shallow division, those who succeed, get to rise to the top quickly. “Feenom” Spencer is doing just that as she has obtained an undefeated record at 5-0. During that stretch, she has proven to be too much for her opponents, finishing three of them, including Helena Kolesnyk who she defeated in her last fight by rear naked choke in the second round, a performance she was happy with, despite it not ending in the first round which she strives for.
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“I was really happy with how it went, I always say I want the first-round finish and everything but, I’m glad to feel patient in the cage now, like I feel I’m not in a rush for something that might not be there. Even though it was in the second round, I feel like everything went my way, pretty well and I’m very happy with it.”
That fight meant a lot to Spencer as she overcame a tough camp with injuries (she prefers not disclose what they were at the moment) and the win earned her a title shot.
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“It was just that camp in particular had a few hurdles to go through and it was a really trying time and to have it come together in that way just meant the world to me. To get that win, and to be able to have that platform to still be undefeated and take a big step forward, it was definitely emotional.”
As she mentioned, that win gave her a big platform which she took advantage of. She called out Megan Anderson, who happened to be in attendance (she didn’t know she was even there), called for a title shot against Pam Sorenson, which she was able to get.
To put herself in that position, Spencer decided not pursue a spot on The Ultimate Fighter and she has no regrets about it.
“I’m happy it all worked out the it did, everything went exactly how I planned as far as pushing my career forward and not be stuck in that tunnel. The end game, whether I end up in the UFC, which would be awesome or not, if it just fell apart tomorrow, I don’t think I missed out on anything.”
She hasn’t had much time to watch the season though she intends to because of her upcoming fight which has her full attention. And winning the belt means she would be becoming part of history.
“It meant the world, the closer it gets, the more I realize how important, I’ve always known Invicta’s been an important part of the women’s MMA world but, this belt hasn’t been held by that many people and just to be part of this lineage and honestly, I feel so grateful I didn’t skip out on this opportunity. Now this is going to be a part of my history and then I still have a history at other places if it works out that way. If not, it would be the pinnacle of my career, this belt is all I care about right now. I feel it’s the most prized featherweight belt, at least for me, it’s what I want more than anything right now, more than any other belt.”
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That belt and her undefeated record has brought more attention to the Feenom. To her it’s not a distraction, it’s just part of the fight game.
“It’s not distracting, I mean, sometimes it’s hard to find extra time to talk but I’m always open to answering any questions. I’m always going to try and be as honest as I can and try and be available as much as possible no matter how busy things get. It’s part of the game.”
With a lot of attention on the fight, Spencer is focused on getting the result she desires. But Pam Sorenson is in her way. Sorenson is a tough fighter having defeated the likes of Nicco Montano, Jessica-Rose Clark and Helena Kolesnyk. But despite how tough Sorenson is, Spencer likes the matchup.
“She’s really tough but I feel like everything in our skillsets, I can find pieces of my skills that will work around hers, counter her pressure, put my own pressure on her and show her things in a fight that she might not have seen in a fight before. I think I have sort of a unique skillset that might be harder to train for me than for other people.”
Spencer would like a fast finish but believes that patience will be her key to victory.
“I feel like I’m more and more patient and not searching for the kill every second of the fight anymore and I also go back to when knockouts happen, when you’re not looking for it, when the technique is just flawless, when you have that perfect shot. I’m always hoping for a nice knockout to add to my resume but I’ll take anything, whatever is open, I’m definitely going to capitalize on it.”
