Kaitlin Young Looking to Add to Back-to-Back Successes at Invicta FC 1

After starting off her career with four straight wins, former EliteXC fighter Kaitlin Young suffered through what could have been a career crushing five-fight losing streak.

According to Young, her losses were a combination of an incompatible work and training schedule, as well as the fact that she was not as developed as some of her opposition.

“Let’s be honest, I didn’t have that much ground experience,” she said. “I won four fights in a row with stand-up pretty early, but I hadn’t been training MMA really that long. I think I sort of had a lot of catching up to do with other aspects of MMA.

“I think now that I’ve had a little more time to not only get better at the aspects of it, but also to understand what I need in a training camp; the kind of rest I need and diet I need to perform at my best. I think that’s made a huge difference for me and that it’s really starting to come together.”

Since making changes to her routine, Young has won back-to-back fights and thus is carrying good momentum into her Invicta FC debut this Saturday in Kansas City, Kan., against Leslie Smith.

“I think it’s probably going to go one of two ways: It’s either going to be a Thai-boxing match with four-ounce gloves, or because you have two strikers, we could cancel each other out and it could turn into a ground battle,” said Young of her match-up.

“I’m not a huge person on laying out a specific game plan; I like to go in there and use my strengths, but also go with the flow. I think that if I decide to play my game, I perform much better. I think trying to react to the other person kind of makes you a little slower and you’ll be a step behind.”

Young told MMAWeekly.com that while she was initially unsure of what to think about Invicta, the more familiar she’s become with the promotion and those involved with it, she feels it could turn into something really solid for women’s MMA.

“Being 100-percent honest about it, at first I was not sure about this because it was a new promotion, and I had had such bad luck with new promotions the previous year,” she said. “I started talking to more people in the industry in the know about it and I heard nothing but good things about Shannon (Knapp) and Janet (Martin) – especially with how they treat the fighters.

“It’s put me at ease knowing that if something falls through, it’s not going be because of a mistake on their part.”

Having made a name for herself in her 2008 bout with Gina Carano, Young knows eyes may be on her more so than others on the card, but says it won’t affect the way she performs come Saturday night.

“I don’t feel overly nervous about it; anxious, yes, but in a positive way,” she said. “I don’t think having a little more recognizable name makes it any better or worse for me.

“I hope people want to come see me, but really for me, personally, the pressure comes from knowing my coaches and teammates are watching. I think it’s a good pressure. I feel 100-percent ready, so at this point I feel like I just have to go out there and let it flow.”

(Photo courtesy of KaitlinYoung.com)

Invicta FC 1 streams live for free on Saturday, April 28
at InvictaFC.com

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