"She could be a target and I think it’s stupid if we don’t even fight. I think if anything, it will cause a lot of attention, especially on this platform. I think it would be cool if we would fight in the cage and then after that, we could fight in the ring...They are about to have a woman’s title fight coming up in November. That’s something that I’m going to be shooting at. But like you were saying, I’m not looking past this fight, but I’m going to do my job at the same time. I’m ready to play," stated newly-signed Bellator flyweight Ana Julaton, who talked about her upcoming debut this Friday. Check it out!
PC: On Friday night, you return to the cage after a 2-year absence. You will be in the Bellator cage for the first time. How is training going?
AJ: Training has been phenomenal. I’m telling you, Percy, I’m so happy that we have a fight lined up. We have been looking at this for a while now and I’m just glad to have a date and have someone to sign a contract to fight me and we have a platform. We have a stage to showcase this to everyone.
PC: Was there anything in particular that you focused on specifically for your cage return?
AJ: In this game, there are so many ways to win and so many ways to lose, I focused a lot on everything. I had this whole process that I ended up going through (laughing) where I focused in the wrestling room for a couple of years. You don’t see many world-class boxers go into a wrestling room and try to get down and try to work their way up. I did that and I noticed that my striking was suffering a little bit, so I went back into boxing and when I got to that, it was a little confusing time because the range is different, the ring is different, and the mentality is different. I kind of had to step away from both aspects to get a fresh perspective, so I jumped into my karate gi and started doing my karate techniques and my kicks and went through that and all of a sudden, things just started to align. I started to see the technique form the different arts connect. So I started trying different things and bringing the wrestling component to it and the kicks and the boxing to it and now, for the past year, I’ve been focusing a lot on the Jiu Jitsu aspect of it. It’s interesting to see. Despite how different each art is, there’s a lot of similarities. I just feel like if every art is willing to check their egos and be willing to sit down and talk to each other; like Freddie Roach talk to a Gracie and not talk so much about fighting, but the history of strategies, they’ll realize there are a lot of similarities. I got to work a lot with Frank Mir in the grappling aspect of it. We were able to break down the Jiu Jitsu components of it. It’s been an amazing ride and it’s still educational and as a fighter, it’s brought a lot of enthusiasm.
PC: Is there a fine line between wanting to show that you are a complete martial artist while not forgetting or straying too far away from your boxing and strengths?
AJ: I think it was like that in the beginning when I separated all of them. Then I got back to my roots, which was the karate kicks and Kempo Karate. For whatever reason, things just started to open up for me and the dots just started to connect. It was so influential to me to have it all come together and just work with my body type. It’s been a hell of a ride; I feel like I’m better for it, although it was an uphill climb. Just to be able to get to this point and have a fight and Friday night will be the icing on the cake.
PC: Do you know much about Lisa Blaine, your opponent?
AJ: I just worked on me. I focused on that and that makes it easier. I really just worry about what I need to do and not so much what my opponent is doing.
PC: You are 37 years old and I’m sure you get asked about your age a lot, but what keeps you motivated to continue this journey?
AJ: Just facing the odds of people saying, “You can’t do this” or “You can’t do that.” Who says you can or can’t do what you want to do? A lot of people feel like 37 years old is old for a woman. There isn’t a lot of research out there, but I was looking it up and talked to a few doctors that specialize in it, both male and female. Men obviously are a lot different than women, but around this age, women tend to peak a lot later in life. And from what I was told, women go through peaks and weaves; high peaks where they feel really strong and then there is this low peak when the body starts to change. But after a certain point, it gets stronger again. I could identify with that. It is spot on. It’s been fun having these realizations of myself and hopefully I could contribute in some way down the line that age is only what you make of it. If you believe your body is strong, it’s going to come out that way.
PC: I think it’s amazing that you have competed in both boxing and MMA and you have never been stopped. What do you attribute that to, just how tough you are and your durability?
AJ: That’s crazy because I have never thought about it that way. I credit it to martial arts. In martial arts, if you have a good teacher, a good school, and a good foundation, that’s half the battle and they give you challenges while you’re in the dojo. Not just physical challenges, but mental as well. You have to be able to understand life and see how you could succeed and just understand where you are and what part you play in the world. I feel like I was able to transfer that over when I got into boxing. The boxing grind is so different than the martial arts grind. The attitude and the culture is so different. In martial arts, you learn how to give respect, and in the boxing world, you have to earn your respect. But the discipline of martial arts, I feel, carried me through the tough times. I could give you countless stories of just going into WildCard Gym while being trained by Freddie Roach. I had to protect my position every single day. It wasn’t a lot of women back then. There is right now, but back then, it wasn’t a lot of women and I remember when Amir Khan would go in there, Manny Pacquiao obviously would be there, Shawn Porter, Danny Jacobs was there, Paulie Malignaggi was there, Jorge Linares, and Chavez Jr. was there. So many great fighters there and I was just telling my team, females there was pretty much obsolete.
Now, if you look at a lot of these elite fighters, they have their own personal gym and train on their own. Back then, when I was going through the ropes, it was an open gym. I may have to go put in work with Joseph Benavidez. So say like Amir Khan, if you’re ready to tape, people are going to tape you and you may have to go in there and spar and people would put it on YouTube. It was almost live action there every day. But with that said, I knew my place. If I wanted time with Freddie, I had to be on point. I had to be 10 times better than someone else. It was with little things. I remember one time, it was the end of the week and it taxes the body and it’s all about being able to push through and get the job done. I was just a little bit laxed and my arms and legs were tired. One of my main sparring partners was Rodel Mayol and at that time, he was an active fighter with an incredible record, but I just jumped in there and boxed this guy. And the next day, I would be in there with Freddie and Freddie whacked me so hard with a left hook. My right hand just dropped a little bit and my ear rung the entire session. I just had to suck it up. And I appreciated it so much dealing with Freddie because if you wanted to box, man or woman, you had to deal with it. It’s just the school of hard knocks and I learned a lot and I feel like I’m better for it and I think that it’s something I can pass down if someone wanted to know what’s it like to be a boxer and especially a female boxer. I have stories that I feel like could help them follow their dreams.
PC: I know you’re not overlooking Blaine, but I also know the ultimate goal for you is a fight with Heather Hardy. Is that an accurate statement?
AJ: It has to be an accurate statement. Muhammad Ali wouldn’t be Muhammad Ali without Joe Frazier. Sugar Ray Leonard wouldn’t be who he is without Duran, Hearns, and Hagler. You have to have these names that stand out in order to make these good fights. She could be a target and I think it’s stupid if we don’t even fight. I think if anything, it will cause a lot of attention, especially on this platform. I think it would be cool if we would fight in the cage and then after that, we could fight in the ring. That’s something that hasn’t been done before. At the same time too, this is why I love Bellator, they have a lot of competitive fighters on their roster. They are about to have a woman’s title fight coming up in November. That’s something that I’m going to be shooting at. But like you were saying, I’m not looking past this fight, but I’m going to do my job at the same time. I’m ready to play. I’m ready to get people interested in watching us fight and staying in the gym and doing the best that I can.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]