Jillian DeCoursey Focused on Task at Hand for Invicta FC 53
Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Jillian DeCoursey will be making her first title defense at Reelworks, Denver Colorado on May 3 for Invicta FC 53. There are a lot of “firsts” happening that night. It’s the first of many combat sports events in Colorado for the beginning of May; DeCoursey’s first match as champion, and the promotion’s first time featuring an all-women commentary booth.
The road has been long and hard for DeCoursey and this is the first time she finds herself at the top of the hill as opposed to fighting her way up it. The challenger, Rayanne dos Santos is coming for what DeCoursey has worked hard to get, but fighting is fighting and the champion has prepared enough that she is just about ready to go.
“Everything’s already scheduled. Everything’s laid out,” DeCoursey said when she spoke with MyMMANews last weekend. “So when it gets to the point where you’re just like, “I just got to kind of go,’ it’s like easy just to kind of keep that routine and be like, ‘Alright, well, everything’s already set. So I just have to do them.”
Her path to being champion was not easy, which made her realize she had to balance preparing for opponents and focusing inward to become the “Queen of the Atoms” at Invicta FC. She knows being a champion means everyone is coming for you, but the change is nice to not have to make a case for a title shot anymore.
Still, she knows as a former challenger staying ready was a big part of her success so she keeps the same focus as the Invicta FC 53 date nears. When asked if being a new champion added any pressure or stress to this fight camp, DeCoursey said, “I kind of just deal with it at the moment and then try and put it out of my head and not really think about it or focus on it too much. Because I feel like that’s when you get distracted when you get sucked into thinking about all of that. Then, that’s where you can’t focus and you can’t perform at your best.”
She sees the challenges and call-outs come her way, but she focuses on the task at hand, and on May 3, dos Santos is the task at hand. On paper, her opponent looks like she brings a lot of experience to the match, but that isn’t something DeCoursey has not dealt with before.
“I really don’t think into it too much because, the last two fights I was a major underdog, and especially the last fight which Jessica [Delboni] had way more fights than I did, way more pro fights. At the end of the day, it didn’t make a difference.”
The most well-known of DeCoursey’s many names is “Lionheart” and she has certainly lived up to it so far. Check out her full interview above and event info below.
Invicta FC 53 airs at 8:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. MT. The night’s main card begins at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT and airs live on Invicta’s official YouTube Channel and Facebook Page, AXS TV in the U.S., Fight Network in Canada, Fox Sports in Mexico, Globo’s Combate in Brazil, DirecTV across Latin America, Viaplay and Match TV in Europe and Star Times across Africa.
