Jada Ketley talks upcoming UAE Warriors fight & MMA journey
Jada Ketley spend the last few years making major life decisions.
In 2019, she had her first MMA fight and things didn’t go as planned as Ketley dropped her pro debut to now rising UFC star Casey O’Neill.
After that fight, Ketley decided to move to from Australia to Thailand, where she had previously lived for seven years.
While back in Thailand, Ketley was trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to keep competing in her background of Muay Thai or if she wanted to dedicate all her time to MMA. Eventually she decided her heart was fully into Muay Thai and therefore making a full commitment to MMA.
As she figured that major decision out, she also made another big decision.
One day Ketley ran into O’Neill, who at time was also living in Thailand, and Ketley had a great conversation with her former opponent. Not long after that. O’Neill sent Ketley a message to hang out one day at the beach and friendship blossomed leading to the two becoming roommates.
It was O’Neill’s influence that lead to Ketley changing gyms and working with MMA coach George Hickman. As soon as Ketley went to one practice under Hickman she immediately knew that he was the coach for her.
While under Hickman, Keltey started working on becoming a complete fighter and while she wasn’t competing, she was working hard everyday and improving her skill sets. She also got plenty of high level rounds in the gym while drilling with O’Neill and UFC strawweight Loma Lookboonmee.
After a few years of figuring everything out, Ketley returned to action back in January and picked up her first pro win over Apidet Fairtex.
Now Ketley is working on joining her friends in the UFC and she takes the next step in doing that at UAE Warriors 27 on Friday when she takes on Mona Ftouhi.
Prior to her fight, Ketley spoke with MyMMANews about her upcoming fight, her move to Thailand, training under George Hickman and her friendships with O’Neill and Lookboonmee.
You can watch her interview in the video above.
