Sarah D’Alelio Aims to Make it 3-for-3 Under the Invicta FC Banner

After her loss to Ronda Rousey at Strikeforce Challengers 18, Sarah D’Alelio decided the best way to get herself back on track was to stay the course.

As she told MMAWeekly.com, “I know it’s on my record, but we were just kind of like that was kind of screwed up. So we’re just going to keep doing things the way we do things and it’s worked out.”

Worked out it has, as D’Alelio has won back-to-back fights heading into Saturday’s Invicta FC 3 event in Kansas City, Kan.

The way the promotion handles its business has also helped her rebound, according to D’Alelio.

“You go out there and they pretty much take care of everything and you don’t have to worry about anything,” she said. “They give us a schedule on what to do and where to go, and if you need anything to call them. They’re very, very good about making sure we just have to focus on the fight and the fight only. It’s very refreshing and I like it a lot.

D’Alelio points out that the pressure she felt was what she was putting on herself and it definitely was a hindrance in the past.

“It makes things a million times more difficult,” she said. “When you can get out from underneath that and look at things from the correct perspective, it’s very freeing.

“You should trust your coaches, trust your training and trust the fact that you know what to do in every situation and it will work out for the best.”

Having previously been viewed as an underdog in previous fights, D’Alelio feels her win over Vanessa Porto at Invicta 2 in July puts her more on an even stage with fighters that she’ll be facing in the future, including her opponent on Saturday night, Shayna Baszler.

“That (win was) pretty much what it was, the next step,” said D’Alelio. “I don’t put it as a feather in my cap, but it was a very good win. I’ll take pretty much whoever they give me, but it proves that I can fight with the best.”

Conventional wisdom says that D’Alelio might be able to overpower her more finesse-based opponent, but she doesn’t see it that way.

“I train with people who are bigger than me, who I can out-muscle, and people that are smaller than me that I can’t out-muscle, so I don’t really look at it like that,” she said.

D’Alelio, however, did say she feels confident playing to Baszler’s biggest asset if need be to pick up her third win in a row.

“I’ve never really been afraid to fight on the ground with anybody,” she said. “My last fight was proof of that. I’ll fight anybody wherever they want to go.

“Yes, we want to keep it standing in terms of what I want to do in this fight – I do want to work my stand-up a little more – but I’m not afraid going to the ground with her.”

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