UFC strawweight prospect [autotag]Loopy Godinez[/autotag] is keeping her head held high.
Godinez is staying positive following her defeat to former Invicta FC champion Angela Hill at Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 41 in San Diego. Godinez (8-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) lost a competitive, hard-fought unanimous decision to Hill, which snapped a two-fight winning streak for the Mexican.
Godinez, who took the fight on 10 days’ notice, said she learned plenty and is ready to make improvements to her game.
“She’s up there for a reason, she’s fought the best in the division, and she’s got her experience – you can feel it,” Godinez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “I’m very happy I got the opportunity to fight her. I learned a lot, and my career is just getting started. It was a good test for me to improve.”
Godinez had been preparing for an October return when she got the call to fight Hill. The 28-year-old doesn’t want to take anything away from Hill’s performance, but she did admit she didn’t enter UFC on ESPN 41 in peak condition.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but since you’re asking, yeah, it affected a bit (to take the fight on short notice),” Godinez said. “I was told I was fighting in October, so the coaches and I have a timing geared towards fighting in October. I’m not going to start killing myself three months or four months before obviously.
“We started to work little by little, and in my last fight I had also hurt my hip, and I was recovering, so I was just little by little getting back to training. … So to put it simply, I got the opportunity to fight before (October), and we said yes. You know I like to fight and be up there.
“Many people have asked me if I regret taking the fight on short notice, like the ones I have lost, and no. I’m going to return to the gym and work. Angela did an excellent job, and for my next fight I’m going to be even better and much improved. So it’s all about learning. There’s nothing left to do but learn and move forward.”
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Godinez would like to get a third fight in sometime in November or December before 2022 is over. The only caveat is that she would like to have a full camp to prepare. The fight against Hill was her fourth short-notice bout.
“For this next fight, I need to improve a lot, so I deserve a (full camp),” Godinez said. “I’ve said yes to everything they’ve offered me. I think I deserve one or two complete camps. I deserve it, and I hope I get them.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 41.
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