“Anything, of course, is exciting, but I feel like Montreal is especially exciting seeing that it’s where Georges St-Pierre is from, and he really paved the way for Canadian mixed martial arts.To be able to follow in his footsteps and fight where he fought, it’s such an honor.
Clearly, this is no mere business trip for Jasudavicius, who opted to make the five-hour drive from Ontario instead of a flight, but when it comes down to business, this is a biggie, especially with the flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot in the co-main event slot, and a pivotal matchup pitting former 125-pound champ Alexa Grasso and rising star Natalia Silva also on the UFC 315 main card. In other words, if you’re a flyweight looking to make a statement, there’s no better place to do it than on Saturday night.
“I keep on having these visions in my head, trying to manifest that I have a spectacular performance and the other girl fights are kind of a bore, so that just keeps my trajectory going because I want to fight for the title,” Jasudavicius said. “When I started in this sport, I didn’t know where I would end up. I didn’t know what my path was going to be. And I always had the vision of being able to fight for the title one day and to watch it happening and understand that this is like a video game and Andrade is one of the bosses that I have to beat in order to beat this game. And so I’m not looking past her, but I also am very excited for my future within martial arts.”
WATCH: Jasmine Jasudavicius’ Fight Week Interview
If you’re reading this, you’re probably a Jasmine Jasudavicius fan already. If you weren’t when you started, you are now. In fact, the only people who aren’t fans of the Canadian contender are those who have to meet her in the Octagon with the possibility of being taken to some dark places for 15 minutes. After that, they’ll probably be on board, too. So how does one of the most likeable fighters on the roster get mean for those three rounds?
She laughs.
“I’ve been thinking about that because, yeah, once I get in the cage, I definitely turn,” Jasudavicius explains. “Everything leading up when I’m in camp and every little sacrifice that I have to make, I feel like I internalize that and I take that in. It’s like, okay, I have to sacrifice my diet. I have to wake up early and run. I have to go to these practices when my body is mangled and that doesn’t feel like going to practice. And all of these things that go on in my life, I take these hard things, these negative things, these mad feelings, all of these feelings, and I think about putting them into a jar and then finally, on fight night, I can open that jar up and just unload it. Everything that I’ve ever been pissed off about for the whole camp, for everything, I can finally unload it on this girl in front of me. And so, I think that’s kind of how I’m able to be so vicious in the cage once I get in there.”