“I almost felt like it was the Olympics” - Alyse Anderson talks about her first experience with ONE Championship

Alyse Anderson made her debut in ONE Championship in one of the most challenging positions. The American MMA fighter first fought for the organization in 2021 and made her debut as part of the ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Anderson suggested that ONE Championship felt like the biggest show on Earth when she first arrived, even comparable to the Olympic Games.

"I just remember being, 'Oh my gosh, this is huge.' I almost felt like it was the Olympics and I was fighting for my country and almost started crying because I was so excited just to be a part of it. Like, representing the United States. It's like,, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe, I'm the one here representing the US.'"

In the Atomweight Grand Prix, she made her ONE debut against Japanese MMA fighter Itsuki Hirata. Anderson admitted the pressure of the first show weighed heavily on her.

"The actual experience of ONE, and the production, and how that was run was super professional. And I think that's what made me nervous, it's because it is a big stage. And like when they do the 'We Are ONE' with the fireworks at the beginning, you just realize like, 'Oh, you're like, not in Kansas anymore. Like, this is the big time.'"

Arriving from another MMA organization to ONE Championship, with the fireworks and incredible production that came with it, Anderson realized that she had made it.

She told Sportskeeda MMA:

"There were real fireworks. So like there's practice, say, a bunch of times, because like, the fireworks obviously can only go off once. And then like they didn't want us to flinch for the fireworks. So they were like, it's gonna be a really loud noise and, don't flinch, and we're standing really close to it."

At ONE X, Alyse Anderson will have her second fight in ONE Championship against 'Knockout Queen' Asha Roka.

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Extreme sports with Alyse Anderson: MMA fighter and dirt biker

As if being a professional MMA fighter was not exciting enough, Alyse Anderson also loves other extreme sports, such as dirt biking.

Anderson made her professional MMA debut in 2015 and won three fights in a row. Her very first fight was a TKO victory. She later signed with Invicta FC and earned a record of 2-1. In the gym, she has also been able to earn a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

She is clearly an extreme sports expert, covering jiu-jitsu, MMA and dirt biking. If that wasn't exciting enough, she was also working in the emergency unit when the COVID-19 outbreak began.

Staying true to her extreme nature in a recent Instagram post, Anderson wrote:

"My game plan never changes: win this fight -> rip my dirt bikes -> back to the grind"

Alyse Anderson often posts about dirt biking on Instagram. While we can enjoy that content on social media, we can enjoy her MMA fighting at ONE X on March 26.