Photo via Jasmine Jasudavicius' Tapology page
Jasmine Jasudavicius Talks UFC Debut and Bets on Tattoos Pre-UFC 270
Jasmine Jasudavicius tests skills against Kay Hansen at UFC 270. This flyweight fight transpires at Honda Center in Anaheim, California on January 22nd, 2022.
I spoke with Jasmine Jasudavicius ahead of her Octagon debut and excerpts from our chat are below.
The great work that is customary at Niagara Top Team
“I decided to stay home for this camp. I have great partners here. I’ve been traveling over to House of Champions. It’s only half an hour, 45-minute drive for me. So I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the girls there. Diana Belbita’s there. So it’s nice. I’m getting rounds in with her as well as the other girls that are there. At Niagara Top Team, I have some girls too which is nice. This is honestly the most girls that I’ve been able to train with here for a long time. So that’s honestly why we’ve decided to stay here this time around. So it’s been really, really great.”
Jasmine Jasudavicius
The growth in international recognition for NTT and where their skillsets are at on a global level
“Yeah, I definitely agree. We’ve been super fortunate to be able to stay active. It’s obviously really hard in Canada, like Pow Pow (Zack Powell) just had a heartbreaker. Friggin put in a whole camp and because the fight was in Canada, he wasn’t able to fight. So it’s nice that at Niagara Top Team, all the guys and the girls, we’ve been able to travel. We’ve been able to fight all over. So we’ve been very fortunate to have those opportunities.”
The work at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas and relatively recent efforts for Jasmine Jasudavicius working with UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno
“It was really sick in Vegas. I trained a lot at Syndicate (MMA). So there was a lot of girls there that I was able to train with. That was obviously great. And we’re actually going a little bit early. Partly because of all this restriction shit, flying, and all that. You don’t want to mess around. Try to cut it too close or anything. So we’re going down early. So I’m looking forward to seeing everyone down at Syndicate again. But yeah, while I was down there last time, I had the opportunity to train with (Brandon) Moreno. He has a group of guys that were training at the PI.”
“I saw him a couple of times at the PI. Just through some interactions, he invited me to have a session with his team. And so it was awesome to see kind of what they’re doing in comparison to what we’re doing. He’s such a good guy. Champion is the perfect kind of adjective for him. Within the sport and outside of the sport, he’s so humble. He’s so nice and yeah, I can’t honestly speak highly enough about him. Being able to be on the same card as him, it’s so cool to me.”
UFC
When Jasmine’s friend is going to get her face tattooed on her as per their bet surrounding Jasudavicius becoming a UFC fighter
“Yeah, she’s still getting it. We did plan on doing it after I got the contract. But life kinda got crazy. Then I got the fight and got into camp and everything like that. So we’re gonna wait until after my debut. Then get a film crew and everything to document it. It’s gonna be nuts. She said she wants to work out a little bit. Make sure her ass looks good for the camera.”
“It’s so cool because it started off as like a little joke. It just kind of grew and now everyone knows about it. After I got the contract, it was like her mom messaged me saying looks like Kylie is getting that tattoo. It’s so funny. Everyone’s so involved with this story and they saw me literally start MMA. I didn’t throw a punch, a kick. Nothing for my entire life and then I just started diving in headfirst. All my eggs in one basket. They watched the whole thing. So they’ve been along in the journey the entire time. It’s so cool to see it from start to I don’t want to say finish but you know what I mean? It’s crazy.”
When the Kay Hansen fight initially popped up on the radar for Jasmine Jasudavicius
“I forget when it was. Honestly, all these days mash together. You get so tired during camp. You don’t even know what days start, what days finish. So I don’t remember exactly when it was. But all I remember is seeing my phone and it said like Mick Maynard. You know how your contacts say ‘suggested Mick Maynard’ or whatever it is? Then I just went (gasp), put down my phone, walked away, and walked right back over to my phone. He said oh fight offer, gave me the name Kay Hansen. And I said thank you so much. I’ll send it to my team right now. The coaches looked at it right away. Obviously, we’re not gonna turn down the fight. They texted me back ‘take it, take it, take it’. Now we’re here.”
UFC 270
The stylistic proclivities of Kay Hansen and what the tape study dynamic is like
“She hasn’t fought in a year. So she could be a completely different fighter. I don’t really watch, I’ll watch their last fight kind of thing. But everyone’s different from one fight to the next. Unless it’s like they fought two months prior, something like that. You can make so many changes within especially in a year like she’s had. So I personally don’t watch too much tape. But I’ve never really watched much tape on my opponents. It’s like going into a sparring session. You figure it out on the fly. Whoever’s standing in front of you. Same as a fight, you just figure it out on the fly. I believe in my coaches 100%. They watch us fight and see what she’s offering me.”
“I just think about my last fight in comparison to my last sparring session yesterday. It’s completely different than what I showed in Contender Series. So who knows what she’s going to be doing? Who knows what I’m going to be doing?”
If the future is at flyweight or if a strawweight return could happen at some point down the line
“For the right opportunity, I would certainly go down. I mean, I’m very happy at 125 and it’s nice. Because my life outside of fighting is a lot better. Whereas when I fight at 115, I’m watching every calorie. It’s a tough cut. Everyone’s got to make sacrifices but it’s tough. I’m dieting all camp and I’m not enjoying it very much. I love food and 125 is really nice for me. I’m a good size for ’25. So right now I’m very happy with it. But I’m certainly not against going down to 115. I like having options. I could definitely see myself doing it again.”
Parting thoughts for Jasmine Jasudavicius
“Thank you so much for having me. It’s always great chatting.”
