Las Vegas, NV — By flyweight Katlyn Chookagian’s standards, it’s been ages since she last fought, in an October match-up with Manon Fiorot.
Chookagian (18-5) is a perennial contender in the women’s 125lb weight class, so it does feel odd that she’s been out of action so long. But as she told Cageside Press during Friday’s UFC X, much of that is because she’s kept a busy schedule for years.
“I fight so often that I think people are like ‘oh my god you haven’t fought forever.’ But a lot of people who fought on the last card I fought on haven’t fought, and they don’t get it,” Chookagian observed. “I’m used to fighting three, four times a year, but I just have a couple of injuries that, I’ve been fighting three, four times a year for the last five years. So I just took a little bit of time off just to heal the injuries and stuff.”
That said, “Blonde Fighter” appears ready to jump back into the pool. “I’m ready to go, and it’s kind of nice that I waited a little. Now things are mixed up in the division. There’s a lot of great match-ups coming up.”
Chookagian, who for years fought the best of the best in the weight class, has seen a wave of new blood enter the ranks over the past 12 months or so. And that has made things rather interesting.
“I’m kind of in this weird position where I don’t know who I’m going to fight next. I’m kind of like, dropped down a little bit,” said Chookagian. “So I’m like ‘ooh maybe I’ll get some lower-ranked girls to fight, or maybe I’ll go to 35. I don’t really know, I’m open to everything.'”
The division, however, is “super-exciting” these days, noted Chookagian. “We have, like you said, all those people, and also Rose [Namajuanas] moving up, which is another that threw [her name] in the mix. For so long it felt like ‘oh the flyweight division’s a little boring,’ but it was the newest division. So I feel like now that the ball is moving, it’s really exciting, where even if it’s not the title fight, other match-ups are super-exciting, and can either main event for Fight Nights or co-main event.”
“Thug” Rose is one name that stands out to Blanchfield — she makes her flyweight debut this September in Paris. Then there’s the rest of the emerging contenders at 125.
“I would love to fight Rose. I’ve always said that, but she was at 15, so I didn’t think it was an option, then she moved up. I was like ‘oh, okay.’ She’s one of my favorite fighters. I would like to fight her, [Taila] Santos, [Erin] Blanchfield, all those girls. [Alexa] Grasso. All those girls I haven’t fought, and they’re all in the top five. So anyone, anyone is exciting.”
With options a-plenty, Chookagian is hoping she can get in a big card in November: UFC 295, in New York City. Already, Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic has been announced to headline. “Ideally that’s like, every New Yorker wants to be on that card. That’s the best one. That seems far away; time goes by really quick but for MSG I’m willing to wait a little bit longer. So if that’s an option, I definitely want to lock that in.”
Check out our full interview with women’s flyweight contender Katlyn Chookagian above.
