Fatal Femmes Fighting lightweight champion Roxanne Modafferi talks about her upcoming clash with Vanessa Porto and much more.
PC: How's training going for your fight against Vanessa Porto?
RM: It's going great. I'm sharpening my game and making my plan for fighting her specifically. I'm confident.
PC: One of Porto's biggest strengths is obviously her Jiu Jitsu. Would you like to keep this fight on your feet?
RM: Ideally, yes, but I've been preparing for all cases. Anything can happen in a fight so I'll be prepared.
PC: How much does having that title in your possession mean to you?
RM: To be honest, at first, when I heard it would be a title fight for a belt, I thought "Oh, that's nice." But I'm all about the actual fight and the opponent. I want to fight strong fighters. I was the first to be named Lightweight Champion of FFF [Fatal Femmes Fighting] so it's not like I was aspiring to wrestle the belt from someone. But then when I went back to Japan, everyone started calling me "Champion" as a nickname. I was embarassed at first...of course there are people I've lost to so before I can be a "real" champion in my mind, I must beat them.
Then, upon further thought, the title became a symbol of my hard work, my motivation, something to remind myself I had when I felt down for whatever reason. I wouldn't have that big shiny belt on my bookshelf if I hadn't worked hard, if I hadn't done something amazing. So now it means a lot to me and Vanessa is gonna have a hell of a time trying to take it away.
PC: What do you think of Porto as a fighter?
RM: I haven't seen too much of Vanessa, but based on what I've heard and seen, I'm thinking of her like me early on in my career - strong on the ground, taking it to the ground, undeveloped stand-up but high potential in that area, never backing down. And my teammate Hashi, who fought her in the Abu Dhabi, said she was strong. So I respect her as a fighter.
PC: How would you like to end this fight?
RM: Easy...KO!
PC: How are you health-wise Roxanne?
RM: My health is great! Thanks for asking.
PC: What do you think of Fatal Femmes Fighting as an organization?
RM: FFF spares no expense for fighters and truly calls in the best women. But they need to market more. I want to see the promotion get the attention and audience it deserves for such a high-quality production. They do a great job getting exposure to fighters from other countries too.
PC: Do you think female fighters are finally getting the respect they should be?
RM: It's getting there. Step by step. Not a steady upward curve. For example, now Elite and other major promotions are adding women fights to their cards, but then they didn't want Amanda Buckner because of her looks, so it's rumored, and she's one of the best female fighters in the world. But it's definately looking positive.
PC: When you're the champion, everyone is gunning for you. Have you changed anything up since winning the title or do you pretty much train the same?
RM: I changed it in the wrong way - MORE, HARDER TRAINING - which lead to being hurt and getting sick so the key was balance and knowing when to leave the gym at the end of the day. It was a weird paradox.
PC: Who are some of the people you are training with to prepare yourself for Porto's Jiu Jitsu?
RM: Gen Isono is a skilled jiu-jitsu player at Keishukai so he's giving me good ideas on how to beat her jiu-jitsu. Him, as well as Hideki Kadowaki, one of the top grapplers, and pro Shooto fighters at our gym. My training partner, Sakura, has been instrumental in these months of preparation, working with me individually.
PC: If you're successful in your fight against Porto, is there someone out there you would like to fight next?
RM: Yes. As you can see, there are blemishes on my record so I need to go about erasing them ASAP. Shayna Baszler, Laura D'Auguste, Tara Larosa.
PC: You're coming off of a couple of wins by decision. Would you like to win this fight by submission or knockout?
RM: Yes! KO or TKO. I like ground and pound, or as they say in Japanese, simply "poundo". I like pound!
PC: How does training in Japan differ from the States?
RM: Nowadays in the USA, pro fighters get specific individual attention from different coaches I've heard. There are nutrition coaches, cardio coaches, striking coaches, etc etc. In Japan, at Wajitsu Keishukai, I do learn good technique in the technique class, but it's not always the MMA fight prep I need. I have to go out and look for good coaches, sometimes begging for private lessons. I pull Kenji Osawa or Yasuhiro Urushitani aside and say, "Hey, give me advice on my striking." I go up to Kadowaki and say, "Hey, teach me how to crush someone into the ground like you just did to me in our last sparring match." There is so much talent and so many pros at Keishukai so they break off into little groups and train with themselves. Once I learned how it works, I started getting better training.
PC: Thanks for the interview. Good luck in your fight next month. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
RM: Yes, thank you. I'd like to fight in EliteXC and be televised. There are women with less experience out there getting more attention. If promotions want the best, they should be willing to fly me in from Japan.
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