Following injury setbacks and the birth of her daughter, bantamweight Julia Avila returns to the cage at UFC Austin this Saturday.
It hasn’t been the easiest road back, but Avila (9-2) never had any doubts that she’d get here.
“It’s a long time in the making. I never stopped training thorough. Even through my injury, through my pregnancy, through my recovery, I never stopped training,” revealed Avila, who later admitted that she lost 100lbs over the past year, during this week’s UFC Austin media day. “It was just a matter of time— I knew I was going to be here.”
The excitement for Avila, however, is not just being back, but getting to fight in front of fans again. UFC Austin goes down at the Moody Center in Austin, Texas and should have a vastly different atmosphere compared to a UFC Apex-based Fight Night.
“It’s being in the arena. I haven’t been in an audience since 2019, when I first fought in the UFC, because everything else was at the Apex. So being able to compete in front of thousands of my best friends, that’s going to be the big excitement for me. It’s not just getting back into the cage, it’s getting back to an audience.”
Then there’s the opponent Julia Avila has drawn for her return: former Strikeforce and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate.
“Absolutely that’s exciting for me. I mean, she’s a former champion. She’s amazing, she’s done wonders for my division, and for women’s MMA,” Avila said of her opponent.
Asked whether Tate was still in her prime, or perhaps on her way out of the sport, Avila replied by saying “Listen, I just became a mom, she’s only two years older than I am. We good, we still hot moms. We’re okay. She will figure out when it is time for her, and when her passion for this sport and competing is over. If she still wants to be in her prime, it’s not for me to judge.”
Watch the full UFC Austin media day appearance with Julia Avila above.
