Lion Fight 14's Jorina Baars: I'm here to kick 'Cyborg's' ass

The idea of fighting Cristiane Justino isn’t rattling to Jorina Baars. She’s happy just to get back in the ring.

Baars might not be an MMA powerhouse, but she’s undefeated in kickboxing. And so, she has something in common with her soon-to-be opponent: a tough time getting fights.

“I train, and it’s hard to go on training, but not fight,” Baars told MMAjunkie Radio.

Maybe that’s what happens, though, when you’re well-known for adding losses to your opponents’ ledgers. Baars hasn’t stepped in to the ring since 2011, but that’s about to change.

On Friday, Baars meets “Cyborg” in the co-main event of Lion Fight 14, which takes place at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and airs live on AXS TV. The women meet for the featherweight title in the muay Thai-centered fight promotion.

Deceptively innocent-looking, Baars hails from the coastal town of Den Helder in the Netherlands and has worked with the same trainers since she first walked into a kickboxing gym at age 7.

“I started when I was 7, and I fought my first fight when I was 12,” she said. “I was in school, and some guys in my class were doing Thai boxing. They asked me to come and watch them, so I came and started training. That was it.”

Over time, Baars developed the reputation that eventually made consistency a struggle to maintain. According to a website dedicated to women’s kickboxing, she is 18-0 in muay Thai bouts. She flirted with MMA in lieu of kickboxing fights, but struggled to make the transition from striking to grappling. She said she also suffered an injury that now keeps her from fighting in the cage, she said.

Nonetheless, Baars’ reputation in her hometown was such that she was able to become a head of security at a large dance club. She manages a staff of men but also helps out when there’s trouble on the floor.

“I think my MMA helped me because I’m calm and relaxed,” she said. “I’m not a fighter in my work. I can speak well, and that’s the most important thing in security.

“You be calm and listen, and when they need to go out, I help them.”

When she first got the call to fight Justino, she was training four to five times a week at her gym and finding it difficult to maintain focus. She soon doubled her training to where she was working out twice a day, five days a week.

Justino’s reputation as a relentlessly aggressive, brutal fighter is enough to give most opponents pause. But Baars simply got on YouTube and started studying.

“I think it’s hard for her to find MMA fights, so that’s why she’s doing Thai boxing right now,” Baars said. “It’s an opponent for me, and I do my own thing. It’s no different.”

Baars is convinced that Justino’s aggression doesn’t make up for her technique inside the ring, and she plans to exploit gaps in the Brazilian’s attack when they meet in the striking-only fight.

“I think it will be hard to knock her out because she is so strong, but I have the technical (advantage) in muay Thai,” Baars said. “She’s an MMA fighter, and I know she trains hard in muay Thai, but I can beat her if I fight in my own style.”

A loss for Justino wouldn’t mean anything for her MMA resume, but it might give ammunition to her critics, including UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Justino is building a campaign to fight Rousey by year’s end, and any setbacks could be seized upon by the champ as a reason not to take the fight.

Baars isn’t fighting for anyone other than herself, of course, but her role in the bout might be bigger than she thinks. The upset role is one she said she’s ready to take.

“I step into the ring to kick her ass, and she wants to do the same,” she said. “So I think it will be a very strong fight. And I think I’ll win this world title.”

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