Winnipeg, MB — Bantamweight Melissa Croden got Canada on the board at Saturday’s UFC Winnipeg, after a rough start for the host nation’s fighters.
Croden (8-3) picked up a unanimous decision victory over Russian Darya Zheleznyakova, though with just a little more time it likely would have been a TKO finish.
“The ref said about three more seconds, I was like ‘dang it.’ But you know, that’s how it goes sometimes,” Croden told Cageside Press after the fight.
Judges in MMA are what they are, but Croden felt confident in her performance on Saturday. And thankfully, the judges got this one right, with “Scare” Croden improving to 2-1 under the UFC banner as a result.
“At the end there, I was pretty confident. I think I dominated whenever we had longer exchanges. I feel like I had more control time, I landed a few takedowns, so that was a big accomplishment of mine. I think those kind of things solidified the win for me.”
In her post-fight interview inside the octagon, Croden encouraged fans to help those they see in need, a message of positivity and hope that seems to be an increasing rarity in modern times. She expanded on that message backstage on Saturday.
“It’s something that I think about often, especially pursuing something like this. I like to think of myself as a deeper person in my faith, and that came from a place of my faith and everything,” explained Croden. “I’ve had a lot of people help me out in my life, and I think there’s always more we can do to pick each other up in life, whether it be a stranger, family members, there’s always more we can do to help each other out. Because the government and everything that’s going on in the world, it’s pretty intimidating.”
“So the only thing that sometimes gives hope is hope in humanity and seeing acts of kindness. And things like that really keep people going. I know it does for me, and it makes me feel good to go out of my way to help people that need it, even if it’s something little. Small waves create big ones.”
Watch the full UFC Winnipeg post-fight press conference with Melissa Croden above.
