Justine Kish - Bellator 298 - Credit: Matt Davies
Justine Kish to be Bellator’s Barbie, send message to the flyweight division at Bellator 298
364 days ago was the last time Justine Kish competed inside the Bellator MMA cage and nearly one exact year to date, she’ll return with a top-10 ranked matchup against No. 8 Diana Avsaragova at Bellator 298. The fight will give Kish an opportunity to not only get back in the win column, remind the flyweight division of her contender status, and additionally, take on a new brand as Bellator’s Barbie.
Speaking to MyMMANews.com following weigh-ins, Justine Kish discussed her opponent’s weight miss, her excitement to return to the cage, a powerful review of the Barbie movie and how the movie has influenced her to want to be known as the Bellator Barbie.
No stranger to adversity herself, Kish acknowledged that things happen leading up to fights like missing weight, but with Avsaragova having missed consecutive times now, there’s a level of frustration.
“It happens, missing weight does happen. Two times in a row, that’s a bad look. Again, I’m here to fight, I told her let’s continue it, I hope she’s okay, this is two times in a row, that’s a bad look. I’m here for a different reason.”
Despite the weight miss, Avsaragova came in a pink dress that certainly caught the attention of Kish, who rocked her own pink, Barbie-influenced jacket, and said if it’s a showdown to be Barbie, she’s here for it.
“Hey, if this is a Barbie-off, I’m going to be the first Bellator Barbie. Barbie represents so many amazing things, amazing qualities for a woman, empowerment, women to be intelligent, empowered, successful in their careers, I think I can do a much better job representing the Bellator Barbie.”
Looking to make up for lost time and remind the division of who she is, Justine Kish is looking to make a jump up the flyweight rankings with a win over Avsaragova.
“I want to get up on the rankings, absolutely. I want to dominate this fight, there’s no decision about it, I win this fight. I want to control every aspect of it. Doesn’t matter where it goes, I see myself being successful anywhere this fight goes.”
Returning after a one-year layoff back to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she last fought, Kish not only predicted domination, but that the crowd will get to see a completely different fighter they didn’t see last time out.
“I think South Dakota is going to be very surprised because my last fight here, I was on one leg. I had a torn ACL, I still wanted to fight so bad and I knew I was going to have to go to surgery again, but I wanted to take one more fight. I didn’t do enough in that fight to get the win, it did go to a decision, so I think the fans in South Dakota are going to see a much different fighter in this fight. I feel like this is going to be a great performance. I’m here to be the first Bellator Barbie.”
Empowerment, intelligent, and successful, that’s what Justine Kish feels Barbie represents and as she returns with a plan to reassert herself in the division, that’s what she plans to showcase at Bellator 298. Now healthy and looking to come into a new version of herself, Kish will look to take on all the superior qualities a Barbie has, mix it in with her professional skillset as a fighter, and Bellator MMA will be introduced to their own version of Barbie.
