In an interview with the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show, Aguilar discussed how she can get better, beating Fujii and more.
On the win over Fujii: “This fight means the world to me. It was my goal from the beginning when I got into this sport to become the best, and here I am today.”
On the game plan against Fujii: “I was trying to keep it standing to frustrate her as much as possible, and when she went to the ground, defend and ground-and-pound and even try submissions.”
On what she was thinking after losing both contacts in the second round: “I’m squinting my eyes a little more. I can’t see. Obviously my corner knows, but I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh.’ There’s different things going through your mind, but once I was close to Megumi, I could see what was going on. … I could see her when I was close to her, but from far away, I couldn’t see her across the cage.”
On the unanimous decision: “My trainer talked about me winning, I think, the first and the second and losing the third round. I did watch the fight actually yesterday. That’s what I thought it looked like as well. I won the first two rounds and lost the third round. … As a fighter, I think of the damage I’m giving and what I’m taking. I wasn’t getting a lot, but every hit I would land on her, it was causing damage. It was connecting.”
On why she boxes but doesn’t kick often: “There’s a lot of things that I need to improve on still and that I’m still working on. … Every time I’m training, it’s for specific fights. There’s no time [for] kind of putting aside some time and just training kicks, kicks, kicks. I would absolutely love to learn how to get better with my kicks.”
On whether she’d give Fujii a rematch: “Just as long as I have work, I’m blessed. Whoever they offer me, and if they make sense and if it’s a good opportunity, I’ll take it. They’ve done a great job. They’ve brought only the best together inside of the Bellator cage at 115 pounds. I’m sure that they’re going to continue doing that. I don’t have any target on anyone.”
On her loss to Zoila Gurgel: “I should have finished the fight. It happened. Whatever happened, happened, and I’ve moved on from that. If a rematch ever comes in the future -- anything that happens in the future and makes sense, then I’ll take it.”
On Ronda Rousey being a flag-bearer for women’s MMA: “I think she deserves it. She’s done her part. She’s a great athlete. She has her skills. She’s doing awesome with everything she’s doing. Congratulations to her. It only helps all of us.”
On being the top 115-pound fighter: “That’s who I am, I think. I kind of still don’t believe it, but you know what? It’s true. I am now the number one female fighter in my weight class and I’m proud of saying that. It’s been a hard six years. I came a long way. A lot of training, a lot of up and downs, but here I am today, enjoying it. Now I’m riding the high.”
Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:09:04).
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