Flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius punched her ticket to the UFC octagon on Dana White’s Contender Series last season. It’s an experience the Canadian believes has helped prepare her for her promotional debut at UFC 270 this Saturday.
“That was a crazy experience. I mean like, what weighs on that fight is so significant. If I win the fight and show well, I get to be in the UFC, like my dream. If it doesn’t go my way, I’m back on the regional scene, and pushed back who knows how far,” Jasmine told the Top Turtle MMA Podcast on Cageside Press ahead of UFC 270. “The nerves for that fight were crazy. It’s a life-changing thing, to be able to put my whole life into something, and see it through, and get that contract, it felt so good.”
Also, Jasudavicius added, “it’s nice to go through Contender Series in preparation for my UFC debut. Because I got to see kind of how the UFC works. I understand all the media that’s going to be around, I understand kind of the lay of the land, how they do things, because each organization is a little bit different. So it almost feels like that was my debut, and now this is just another fight in the UFC. There’s going to be many more, and this is my home now in the UFC.”
Jasudivicis was originally set to debut at UFC Vegas 46 at the Apex last weekend; the fight was later shifted to UFC 270 in Anaheim at the request of opponent Kay Hansen, who wanted to fight at home. While that might seem as if it would give Hansen an edge, it could play into the Canadian’s hands.
“I love it. The more fans, the better. I hate fighting without a crowd or with a small crowd. I love a crowd. I feel like I feed off that energy,” Jasudavicius told us. “She’s the hometown girl, so I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of boos, but when you’re in there, boos sound like woos, so I don’t really care.”
Jasudavicius is also very happy with the match-up she’s received for her debut. Especially because, despite not having fought for a year, Hansen has a name, and has kept her profile relatively high among fight fans.
“I love it. She has a bit of a name within the UFC, and so it’s nice. I get a little bit, like, to leapfrog. I’m not going in there and fighting against a killer that’s a no-name girl,” Jasudavicius observed. “This girl’s a killer, of course, but she has a name. After a win over her, it puts me on the map a little bit more than fighting someone else. I’m super happy with this match-up, she promotes herself very well, and I’m hoping to steal those fans that she has.”
Jasmine Jasudavicius kicks off the UFC 270 card against Kay Hansen on Saturday, January 22, 2022.
