On The Radar: Delaney Owen Jumping to the Pro Ranks, a Future with Invicta FC on Her Mind

After a successful amateur career, women’s 120-pound prospect Delaney “Lil Scrappy” Owen is ready to make the jump to the pro ranks.

After winning her first four fights as an amateur, Owen faced the first loss of her career early last year and has since been on a tear, winning three in a row, capturing championships in the process.

“I learned a lot from that (loss to Hannah Cifers last March),” said Owen. “It really taught me that I really need to come back from a hard loss like that; it was really devastating to me; I had to really hunker down and make some big changes.

“After that I knew I wanted to go pro. I was just waiting for the right opportunity because I didn’t want to jump into anything too quickly. My coach and I did a lot of training and focused more on pro techniques like elbows and knees just in case somebody gave me a call.”

Making the transition from amateur to pro is something Owen feels she’s made the proper adjustments for.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that big of an adjustment for me,” she said. “I’m ready to show people that I’m not an amateur fighter anymore. I’ve been training like a pro for a while now and I’m taking things very seriously.

“This is what I want to do, this is my profession. Some girls may do this just for the excitement or whatever, but I really want to do this as my career.”

Owen is set to make her debut on Saturday against third-year pro Sarah Alpar for the SCS women’s flyweight title in Hinton, Okla.

Standing just over five feet tall, Owen told MMAWeekly.com that she’s got to use her quickness to overcome her larger opponent.

“I feel I need to be pretty quick on my feet and faster than her,” said Owen of Alpar. “She’s a little bit bigger than me, so it’s going to be one of my main things to be fast.”

Stepping up into the pros is hard enough, but when you’re potentially facing a 25-minute fight, it can be even more difficult. But not so much says Owen.

“I’m one of those people that have a lot of endurance when I’m rolling and once I get going, I don’t stop,” she said. “I hit my wall and then I just break through it, so I’m confident in the fact that I’ll be able to keep going.”

Owen’s goals for the year don’t stop at a successful debut and title win; she’s looking to make a big step up this year and fill a hole left by recent UFC signings.

“My first goal is to definitely get on Invicta,” she said. “That’s something I’ve had my eyes on for a while now. If I can get on there, it will be fantastic.

“After this fight, I’ll definitely be moving down to 115 pounds because that’s the weight I feel I can compete best at. Other than that I just want to keep a winning record, get more finishes and grow in this sport.”