Days before Felice Herrig battles #12 ranked women’s strawweight fighter Alexa Grasso in Houston at UFC Fight Night 104, she had a chance to speak on The Luke Thomas show with the man who announced her MMA debut — @SBNLukeThomas. Herrig talked about how she started her MMA career, the marketing of women in mixed martial arts, and the future of women’s mixed martial arts.
How does Herrig feel about using sex to promote the sport of mixed martial arts?
“I think in the beginning, you’ve got to get yourself out there,” Herrig told Luke Thomas. “You have to give people a reason to watch, so to speak.”
Herrig always thought female athletes were always going to be a draw in MMA, even back when she was headlining smaller shows a professional kickboxer.
“It’s not necessarily selling sex, it’s selling ‘Girl Power,’ being a woman, and being strong confident woman and being comfortable in your own skin, and being happy with who you are and embracing it — not afraid to show the world ‘This is who I am, this is what I’m about.'”
Felice says it’s an honor to be featured as the co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. Korean Zombie on the Super Bowl weekend, but she’s not surprised because she feels like she’s put in her dues building the sport of women’s mixed martial arts.
“This is actually a fight, in it’s entirety, that deserves a co-main event status.”
Herrig (MMA record 11-6) thinks that on Saturday Grasso will charge in and be overly aggressive, but stopped short of revealing her gameplan for the fight.
Grasso won her UFC debut back in November at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America 3 Finale against Heather Jo Clark in Mexico City via unanimous decision. Even though Alexa Grasso has only had one fight inside the octagon, she will be the favorite to win at UFC Houston.
MMANewsline.com’s own Matthew Kirsch got the chance to do an exclusive interview with Alexa Grasso earlier this month ahead of UFC Fight Night 104, which can be read here.
Felice Herrig’s full appearance on The Luke Thomas show can be listened to above.
