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Yazmin Jauregui Back Where It All Began
Strawweight Eyes A Chance To Get Back In The Win Column On Home Turf At UFC Mexico City
Breezy and lighthearted, Yazmin Jauregui is all smiles as she sits down to talk to UFC.com in the city where it all began. She’s not at home, per se, but she gives off those comfortable vibes.
A native of Tijuana, Mexico, Saturday will mark her first fight in Mexico City since her first professional bout at an event called “Fearless Fight Night 4.” That was 2018, and she won that debut by TKO, as she would many of her next nine outings. But it’s less the fight that comes to mind when she recalls the week, and more of the city itself.
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"The people...lovely people, everybody caring for me and also the street food. It is so good to be here because of that."
She’s not lying, if you’ve ever been to Mexico City, you know the street food here makes the street food of other cities beg for forgiveness. But at least for the next few hours, the tortas and the elote will have to wait while she finishes the weight cut for her tilt versus Sam Hughes at UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval 2.
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The stage will be much bigger on Saturday, of course. Mexico City Arena is sold out and the crowd—full of Jauregui’s family, friends and countrymen—will be in full effect by the time she makes her main card walk to meet Hughes. It will be quite an audience for a crucial bout, a bout where she hopes to bounce back from a loss in her most recent bout to Denise Gomes. It was the first loss of her professional career, and it halted some undeniable momentum she’d established in her first two UFC wins over Istela Nunes and Iasmin Lucindo. She had been heralded as one of the brightest prospects at 115 pounds, and she’s determined to not let that slip away.
"Obviously, no one wants to have a defeat, no one comes out wanting to actually be defeated. I learned a lot about myself in that fight. We unfortunately have to taste the bitter taste of defeat in life. And it happened to me. But we learned a lot of what things that we can do in training for this fight and future fights. Also, the mental aspect, which is so important to fighting, to actually have that ready," she explains via interpreter.
She’ll put those tough lessons to the test on the second bout of the main card when she stands across from Hughes. After a bumpy start to her own UFC career, the Fortis MMA product seems to have been putting the pieces together, grinding out three wins in her last four fights. A tough striker and BJJ blue belt, she has a well-rounded attack that Jauregui has been studying carefully.
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"I think it's going to be a very interesting fight that people are going to enjoy. I think she's an experienced fighter and she'll bring that to the table. I think it’s going to be a fight full of adrenaline that everybody is going to enjoy. I'm ready to take on Sam."
She sounds ready when she says this. Her friends and family that have made the trip to watch her are certainly ready, and when she comes out of the tunnel on Saturday, she’ll likely have the roars of thousands of voices cheering her on. But of all those, there’s only one she cares about: her son Matias. As she has time and again, she dedicates everything she does to him.
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"He's now seven years old, so he has a notion and idea of what his mother does for a living. He's going to be there with me. He's going to be in the crowd enjoying this. And all I want is actually for him to enjoy it, get the win, come out with my hand raised and, as I said: get some street food afterwards."
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Royval 2 took place live from Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico on February 24, 2024. See the Prelims / Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!