Ahead of Combate Americas: Reinas, Kyra Batara discusses her confrontation with ex-UFC fighter Angela Magana, and moving up to strawweight.
Kyra Batara has the distinction of welcoming former UFC fighter and Ultimate Fighter alum Angela Magana to Combate Americas. Magana will enter the night on a six fight losing streak, but she does hold wins over Barb Honchak and Jessica Aguilar from her time before the UFC. Batara (7-4), however, is bound to be a heavy favorite in the fight, taking place at Combate Americas: Reinas on April 26.
When Magana is involved, there’s usually some sort of controversy, whether it’s a promotional effort or not. The fight with Batara is no different, as Magana posted a video clip to twitter showing a confrontation between the two at Whole Foods.
“No matter who they put in front of me, there’s always going to be a little scuffle going on,” Batara later told Cageside Press at the Combate Americas: Reinas media day this week. Batara has had this happen before, enough to question if she was the problem. But no, “I’m not the problem, not me,” she said with a laugh.
The good news is, “fight’s still on.” As for the confrontation, “my face still looks good,” Batara said with a smile. Mum was the word on exactly what else went down after the video cut off.
Batara’s last outing was supposed to be in Sacramento. Instead, “I ended up having a really bad back injury. There was just no way that I could have had that fight. It was a huge fight for me, it was in my Grandpa’s back yard. He’s my biggest fan. I was so excited, I had all my family that was going to go. And I just had too much to lose to lose on that fight to go in there with such a serious injury.”
Batara took some time off, a few months from her day job as well, to heal. “I really did some self discovery. I got a whole new camp, moved out, I really grew as a person and as a fighter.”
As a result, Batara has not fought since December of 2017. However, thanks to her growth both in and out of training, “you’re going to see a whole new ‘Mogwai'” at Combate Americas: Reinas later this month.
This fight, of course, will be at strawweight, and will see Batara moving up from atomweight. While she has had issues making 105lbs in the past, Batara insists that this move was her choice. “Combate was not asking me to move up in weight. They’re totally confident in me making 105.”
“There was just some incidents that happened with my last fight,” she admitted. Still, she added, “I can make 105 for sure. With this fight though — I beat all the 105’ers. Who’s going to beat me at 105? Nobody. And Lisbeth is pregnant.” That would be Lisbeth Lopez Silva, which was going to be the next big fight for Batara at atomweight.
“There’s no reason to cut weight if there’s no one to go against at 105,” Batara said with that in mind. “Put me at any weight class, I’ll fight anybody.”
Watch the full interview with Combate Amercias’ Kyra Batara above! Combate Americas: Reinas takes place at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, CA on April 26. The event airs live on DAZN.
