—After receiving the offer to fight, and then flying to Japan, how is your mental state leading up to the fight?
I feel so happy to be here in Japan. My body condition is great and my preparation for the New Year’s Eve event is perfect. This will be my MMA debut.

—When did you start practicing MMA?
I started about 18 months ago in Charlotte, North Carolina. I then moved down to Florida to train with an ATT (American Top Team) member in preparation for this match.

—You also trained with King Mo?
I met King Mo when we both were attending a pro wrestling school. Now we are both training as MMA fighters and he is really helping me a lot.

—How do you feel right now leading up to your MMA debut?
If I wasn’t confident I could win I wouldn’t be here. My experience in wrestling is a huge plus for me, and I have an abundance of match experience as well as having played a lot of sports. I come from a very athletic family, who played everything from football to wrestling to rugby. Growing up in that environment under proper guidance has really helped me get ready for this fight.

—Can you give us your thoughts on your opponent, Gabi Garcia?
Gabi has a Jujitsu background and is a great athlete. I have some experience in Jujitsu too, but compared to Gabi I’m not as experienced. In saying that however, Gabi has never fought any woman like me before. I think it’s going to be a tough but great fight.

—What do you think you are better at than Gabi?
I don’t really know a whole lot about her so I can’t really comment. The most important thing is to fight the fight I want to fight. I want to take the confidence I got from my training and fight the way I know I can fight on NYE.

—Did pro wrestling training help you with your MMA?
Pro wrestling has so many aspects to it, I think it’s definitely a huge help to have it. Everything from making your entrance to getting in the ring, everything helps. But it’s not just that, it’s everything else I have done up until this point. When I was a child I did a lot of sports like volleyball, basketball, and I was also a professional female football player.

—What is your top move in pro wrestling?
Takedown. This time after I take her down, I’m going to pound her.

—And what happens if Gabi, with her long history of Jujitsu, takes you down?
I don’t think Gabi has ever been punched in the face before, and when I start pounding her, she’s really going to hate that. The only thing is, I don’t know what is really going to happen in that ring. Nobody wants to get hit in the face, and think I have to prepare myself mentally for that too.
If she takes me down, I have worked on a few situations with my coaches but that’s why it’s so important to fight the fight I know I can fight.

—Having such a great lineup of fighters and coaches at ATT can only be a plus right?
Come to think of it, there are so many good coaches at ATT. They cover Jujitsu, boxing, muay thai, wrestling, everything really. Another plus point about being in ATT is that so many top athletes from all over the world come to train at ATT, so I have the chance to train with champions. I’ve had such good training, that I am very confident that I can beat Gabi.

—Are you going to continue fighting as a MMA fighter in the future ?
There aren’t many heavyweight female fighters so I think this is a really big chance for me. I am thinking about my future, looking globally too. I always wanted to crossover from pro wrestling to MMA, it was my dream. Because this fight is such a big chance for me, I want to get the right result.