Vancouver — Bantamweight Melissa Croden certainly made an impression debuting in her native Canada at UFC Vancouver on Saturday.
As promotional debuts go, it was a good one — a bit of a slow start, but a solid showing in the second frame, a near-finish, and finally a TKO victory over Tainara Lisboa in the third. Not a bad start to her UFC career for the now 7-2 Croden.
“I think the first round, on very much both ends of the cage, was a feeling out process. We both kind of agreed to play there a little bit. And then I think I was just kind of a little overzealous with my shots,” Croden said of the opening round of her performance, noting backstage that she’d been throwing her weight forward and missing her shots. “So I really needed to adjust and trust my footwork, and move in and out.”
Her coach gave her that exact advice between rounds, “so I started listening, and started to find connection on those punches, because every shot wasn’t 110% from there.”
Croden came close to a finish late in the second, then put an end to Lisboa’s night in the third, already up in the bout. While she’d love to follow up UFC Vancouver with a spot on another Canadian card, Croden is game to fight anywhere.
“I’ve traveled a lot for this sport, so I’m willing to travel. My best friend Hailey Cowan and I have traveled all throughout the States for training, and we’ve been by each other’s sides. So I’ve got a travel buddy for that. I’ll go where ever the wind may take me.”
In terms of timeframe, “if a fight comes up before the year is up, I’ll be ready, but I’m just happy to be here. Just being honest with you,” she told Cageside Press.
Speaking of Hailey Cowan, the two could easily be mistaken for sisters. Or each other. In fact, they have been. “I’m not Hailey, I know we look the same,” joked Croden, before explaining how that played into UFC Vancouver’s Fight Week.
The pair are mistaken for sisters “all the time,” she stated. “Every single day, they’re like ‘ya’ll sisters.’ There were people walking around [in Vancouver] like ‘good luck on your fight’ to Hailey.”
It even came up at the host hotel this week. “We lost the keycard to the hotel room, and I was somewhere, and she didn’t have I.D. And Hailey went downstairs and was like ‘we need an extra room key.'” When Cowan said she was Croden, the hotel receptionist decided to Google her – and then said ‘okay, here you go’ still believing Cowan was Croden.
Her opponents probably won’t make the same mistake. Probably.
Watch the full UFC Vancouver post-fight press conference with Melissa Croden above.
