French flyweight prospect Iony Razafiarison talks about her beginnings, the state of women’s MMA, weight cutting, and more.
Iony Razafiarison stands as one of the brightest French prospects in women’s MMA. The 33-year-old moved down from featherweight division to flyweight division in late 2017 and racked up an impressive win over Diana Belbiţă to win the Superior FC flyweight belt. Ahead of her next move, she took time off to answer a few questions:
Paarth Pande: How did your journey as an athlete begin? When you look back and realize that this is how far you have come, how does it feel?
Iony Razafiarison: I was walking down the street one day and it was raining so to get some shelter, I entered the nearest building, which happened to be a gym where Daniel Quoniam was teaching an MMA class in Madagascar. At the time, I knew nothing about MMA, but Quoniam saw potential in me and offered me the opportunity to train MMA in France six years ago. I didn’t want to waste my time so I devoted myself completely to training in my aspiration to become a professional MMA fighter. Looking back at the effort and drive it took to get me this far, I can feel nothing but pride. This has taught me that nothing in life comes easy and in order to become the best you can be you to be willing to sacrifice what others won’t.
PP: Did people around you support the decision of making MMA your career?
IR: I feel thankful that my loved ones were nothing but supportive of this decision knowing that others weren’t as lucky as I am.
PP: An opinion which comes out, again and again, is that MMA isn’t meant for women. As someone who practices MMA, what are your thoughts on the opinions of people who refuse to accept that women too can fight?
IR: I challenge the people who are stupid enough to believe this to fight me. In all seriousness, those who truly believe that women can’t or shouldn’t do MMA are very small-minded. I didn’t know you had to be a man to fight. After all, it is human nature to do so. Despite the fact that women and men are biologically different, this does not mean we are any less skilled, strong, or fast.
PP: You went 2-0 in 2017. You were the underdog in both fights. Did that affect your confidence? What are your plans for 2018?
IR: It didn’t affect my confidence in the slightest. In fact, this only pushed me to prove them wrong and work even harder. I usually try to not let it get to me. I want 2018 to be my year. I want to fight as much as possible, I’m not looking to fight in any specific promotions, I just want to fight the best out there, push myself to my limits, and of course, defend my belt.
PP: You have moved down from featherweight to flyweight. Why? Do you plan on to stick to flyweight?
IR: The main reason I moved to flyweight was due to my height and the fact that my coaches said it would be better suited to me. I won my first flyweight belt and felt good fighting at this weight so I will definitely be sticking to flyweight.
PP: You have been a part of the MMA world for some time now. What are your thoughts on the evolution of women’s MMA? Have you ever found it difficult to
get recognition in MMA world because of being a woman?
IR: It’s not ideal but it’s getting there. I’m happy to see that many new weight categories are being opened in promotions such as UFC, Bellator, Invicta, One Championship, etc.
More and more female fighters are getting the recognition they deserve and are getting
noticed by the media, this means that more fights than ever before are being seen on TV. Personally, I’ve found that that being a female MMA fighter has never been much of an issue except for the fact that we don’t receive as much attention as male fighters do. The media still needs to get used to women fighting and actually being skilled at it.
PP: Who do you believe are the five greatest female fighters of all time and why?
IR: In my opinion, the greatest women MMA fighters are Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey, Cyborg, Cat Zingano and Amanda Nunes, but these are still only five out so many who have done so much for MMA but it’s more than that. They are role models for all those aspiring to have a successful career in MMA. they worked hard and dedicated years of their lives to the sport. Take Ronda Rousey, for example, she opened the doors of female MMA and made it possible to prove our skills in the first place. In general, I find women who do MMA inspiring since it is such a hard sport to dedicate yourself to.
PP: Who is the best opponent you have ever faced and why?
IR: I would have to say that the best opponent I have ever faced was Sinead Kavanaugh. She was strong, confident, and a powerful striker, but I didn’t let myself be intimidated by her stature. I kept a cool head, didn’t let myself become overwhelmed and fought her as if she was just another obstacle in my path to win the fight.
PP: One of the most discussed topics in MMA today is fighter pay. What are your thoughts on the pay made by an average MMA fighter? What are your thoughts on a potential fighter’s union?
IR: This is a very sensitive subject since I think some promotions don’t pay their fighters
enough. This is not entirely their fault since fighters need to be able to “sell themselves” after all, a big part of MMA is the media. If there was a fighter’s union I would definitely join. As fighters, we need to stick together and protect our rights. Too many fighters have been “screwed over” by promotions or screw themselves by spending their money mindlessly.
PP: What is your message to aspiring MMA fighters?
IR: I would say that the most important part is to never give up hope and to believe in yourself, because if you don’t, who will? Some days you might feel like you’re the best in the world and others like it’s simply not worth it, but you have to keep going in order to achieve your goals. So work hard and try to have as much fun as possible along the way because that’s how you’ll do it.
PP: Lastly, what message to you have for your fans?
IR: I would like to thank everyone who has supported me, everyone who has been to one of my fights, everyone who has said something nice and everyone who has been there for me, even in the smallest way possible. It means a lot when someone simply believes in you.
