Las Vegas, NV – “The Warrior Princess” has gone back to the gym that saved her career, Xtreme Couture.
Cheyanne Buys didn’t have the UFC debut that she had hoped for. In fact, according to her, it was one of the worst nights of her life. Back in March, she faced off against Montserrat Ruiz and lost a unanimous decision. Then, earlier that night, her husband, JP Buys, lost his UFC debut as well.
“It was a bad night. It wasn’t my night, and it wasn’t my husband’s night. You know, I went into that fight with a bad injury that happened two weeks before the fight,” Buys said during her media day interview on Thursday. “I never spoke about it after the fight because I didn’t want to blame my injury. I went into that fight knowing my body was still messed up and still wholeheartedly believed in myself.”
For the last few years, Buys has been at Fortis MMA in Texas. However, she revealed that she has moved back home to Las Vegas to train at Xtreme Couture, a gym that saved her career when she was on a three-fight skid when she was an amateur.
“There were multiple and personal reasons why I left, but basically the main reason is, you know, I missed my coaches here. When I talk about coaches, I talk about a team that built me. The first time I came to Xtreme Couture, I was 18-years old; I’m 26 now. I came to them when I was on a three-fight losing streak as an amateur, and those coaches, Ray Sefo, Dennis Davis, Eric Nicksick took me under their wing, and we went on a four-fight winning streak together,” Buys said. “And then, you know, I met my husband, and I, unfortunately, had to go to South Africa to go be with my boyfriend at the time, now husband. When I called them to let them know I was going to venture off to South Africa, to try and see if this would work, Ray Sefo and Eric Nicksick told me, ‘Listen, this is your home here and whenever you’re ready, come back.’ I was always told them I would be back.”
Buys went on to say that she didn’t have a residency in Vegas anymore, and she was stuck in Dallas because of Visa issues. While in Dallas, she joined Fortis MMA and trained there, but she admitted she never wanted to be in Texas.
“I never wanted to go to Texas, if I’m being honest, like I love the team, and because of the team is why I stayed for so long. There is a great group of people there, and I built a friendship. But deep in my heart, I knew I wasn’t home,” Buys said. “My husband was my main coach out in Dallas, and I knew at this level, I couldn’t do that. He was my wrestling coach; he was basically my striking coach because we didn’t have a striking coach there, so we held pads for each other.”
“So, you know, I left a really good group of guys over here at Xtreme, and it’s not anything against Sayif [Saud] at Fortis, but they were the ones who made me, and before I made my UFC walk, I saw Eric Nicksick in the back, and I knew I was on the wrong side.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 33 media day scrum with Cheyanne Buys above. The event takes place this Saturday, July 31, at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, NV.
