Exclusive: Claudia Gadhela has only revenge on her mind

Claudia was candid about her feelings for Joanna during UFC 193 Media Day

UFC 193 is a landmark event for various reasons, but most importantly, four women will headline the PPV, selling out a stadium which will see a turnout of 63,000 fans come Sunday. Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm will be the main attraction for the UFC Women’s bantamweight title, while Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her UFC Strawweight title against Valerie Letourneau in the co – main event.

However, one fighter would feel hard done by looking at the monumental event, and she is none other than one of the most talented strawweights on the roster, Claudia Gadhela.

Claudia faced both Joanna and Valerie in the past, and while she defeated the challenger in Sunday’s fight, her bout with Joanna ended controversially. While Joanna won their fight via split decision, most of the fans and pundits were left scratching their heads, as they believed Claudia did enough to get the judges’ nod in the fight.

However, Claudia still remembers the way she lost her bout against Joanna, and looking at Joanna and Valerie on the card, one can’t help but feel sorry for Claudia. ‘Claudinha’ was present for the Media Day this past Friday during the UFC 193 fight week, and we caught up with her exclusively for her fans in India.

Talking about her previous fight with Joanna, and what she thought about the upcoming fight for the Strawweight title

I’m cheering for Joanna to win, because I want to fight her again. I’m very excited to see that (fight) live.

Her thoughts about Etihad Stadium being the venue for the fight between Joanna and Valerie

I think it’s great, and I think it’s great for women’s MMA. I think we deserve that; we train as hard as the men do. I think it’s our time to come here and show what we do best.

About her troubled past and how MMA helped her in fighting her demons

Oh, MMA changed my life so much. Before MMA, I used to fight in BJJ, but I barely made money to survive. So I had to switch, and I became an MMA fighter. When I signed up with Invicta, my life changed completely, and now in the UFC, I can survive just fighting. I’m just so happy with what is happening in life right now, and as everybody knows, I’ve been through a lot, a lot of difficult things to be here today. And that has what inspired me to be here, to be fighting and to fight with my heart and soul.

About UFC changing its “no women” policy a couple of years ago

It’s like I said, it makes me very happy. When I started, I used to train as hard as the men do, so I always thought that our time was going to come, because I was there, working hard every day, and our time had to come.

Whom she favors between Joanna and Valerie this Sunday

I think Joanna has more chance to win the fight, because she made the weight for the strawweight a bunch of times, and Valerie, she has had a hard time making weight. She used to be a bantamweight; when I fought her during Fight Night, she weighed in at 155 and I was 135, and I was way smaller than her. And now, she is losing a lot of weight to get to the division, so I think she’ll lose a lot of performance doing that.

Message for the younger girls who emulate her and Joanna

I get that every day on my social media, girls asking, “What do I have to do to be a UFC fighter?” To get there somehow, I just want to tell them to work hard, train hard, twice, thrice a day, every day. Don’t give up, it won’t be easy. Nothing is easy in life, but keep going and you will get there.

UFC’s decision to give her the next crack at the title

I’m the number one contender. I’m here for a reason. I’m not at the back of the line, and I didn’t get here because nobody put me there. I got there, so that’s my chance and I’m very excited to represent (the division).

Message for the Indian fans

I just want to tell them that I love them, and I’m very happy for the messages I get every day, and that makes my day special.

You can catch UFC 193 this Sunday at 8:30 AM IST, live and exclusively on Sony KIX and Sony SIX HD. Tune in to Sportskeeda for more updates, as we cover UFC 193 live from Melbourne, Australia.