Las Vegas, NV — Former Invicta FC atomweight champion Jinh Yu Frey picked up her second consecutive win inside the octagon at UFC Vegas 33 on Saturday night.
Now riding a modest win streak in the 115lb division, it feels like a weight has been lifted from Frey’s shoulders.
“I was in a pretty dark place. I’d never lost two in a row in my career, and obviously never on such a large stage,” Frey told Cageside Press following the her unanimous decision victory against Ashley Yoder. “So it took a while, I just really had to dig deep and figure out what it was I wanted to do.”
Asked if she had doubted herself during that dark period of her career, Frey replied saying “absolutely, but at the end of the day, I decided that that wasn’t going to be how my story ended.”
It certainly hasn’t ended yet. With back-to-back wins over Gloria de Paula (who was also in action Saturday) and Yoder, Frey has set herself up for a bigger fight moving forward.
There was plenty to like about Frey’s performance, particularly in the stand-up department. Though Frey herself would find room for improvement.
“I felt like I did pretty good. My coach said I did pretty good,” said Frey, who admitted there were a few things her coaches really wanted to see more of in the fight. “They really wanted me to open up with my hands, but I was a little bit hesitant, just because I knew she was going to shoot, and I didn’t want to get stuck in a long combination, and her shoot underneath.”
“I felt like I could have let my hands go a little more,” she added. On at least one occasion, Frey appeared to have her opponent hurt, but she opted not to pursue the finish guns blazing.
“I didn’t want to rush in there like crazy, with my hands down, my chin up, and then get caught,” she stated, “because all it takes is one punch to change the momentum of the fight.”
Frey herself was hurt at least once by a Yoder punch. “Maybe like two or three, it feels like.” Frey admitted to being a little stunned after the first punch landed, then told herself in a bit of an inner monologue that she needed to move.
“There’s some things I want to tweak. I really felt like I could get a finish in this fight. I’m a little let down that I didn’t get a finish, but a win’s a win,” Frey said of her performance. “I’ll take it.”
As a former atomweight, Frey was asked about bringing the division into the UFC. Dana White has publicly stated he’s open to the idea of a women’s 105lb weight class in the UFC. Frey, however, has moved on it seems.
“I think there’s a lot of great 105’ers out there,” she said, before adding “at this point, I think I’m getting a little bit too big to even make 105, so it’s kind of beyond my realm of care.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 33 post-fight press scrum with Jinh Yu Frey above.
