Belt Back in Hand, KOTC Champ Danielle Taylor Taking Over Flyweight Division

Over the course of her first five fights, it appeared as if nothing could slow down strawweight up-and-comer “Dynamite” Danielle Taylor.

Taylor picked up wins in all five of those bouts and captured the King of the Cage 125-pound championship, but then things did not go well in her first title defense.

Against Jamie Colleen last August, Taylor suffered her first loss by TKO. Luckily, Taylor came back and on March 5 she reclaimed her lost title by picking up her own TKO victory over Colleen in the rematch.

“The way I fought in the first fight, I was a little off,” Taylor told MMAWeekly.com. “It didn’t feel like me. I watched the video a couple times and didn’t like what I was doing.

“I felt like this next fight with her that I knew what I wanted to do. I knew my cardio had to be pretty good and I knew if I moved a lot, I could slow her down and pick her off, I could get her.”

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Regaining her lost KOTC title is a big thing for Taylor, and it was a big motivational tool she used as she worked her way back towards earning a shot at it.

“I’m extremely happy that I got my title back, it meant a lot” said Taylor. “I was on a five-fight winning streak and was doing my thing and had an undefeated record, which was beautiful, but I think I learned a lot from that loss.

“I knew what I wanted; I wanted my belt back. I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work and training. I was able to accomplish that.”

As one of the top prospects in women’s MMA, Taylor would not be remiss if she thought about what could be ahead of her. Instead, she is focused on the here and now and improving steadily and she works he way up the ranks.

“I feel like in the future those are high possibilities, but I like to take it one step at a time,” said Taylor. “It’s no point in looking so far in the future. I have to worry about what I have in front of me.

“Of course I want to keep the belt, keep fighting, and training hard. I want my game to get even better, be more well-rounded, work better off the cage and just from this point on keep growing.”