Unbeaten Julia Jones Expecting a War in Invicta FC Debut | MMAWeekly.com

For much of her life atomweight prospect Julia Jones has been the underdog. Going from a Russian orphanage to coming to America and now into the fight game, things haven’t always been easy, but she’s persevered.

Most recently in her MMA career, Jones played the underdog to highly-regarded Paulina Granados last December, and as she has done before, she was able to come out on top, picking up a unanimous decision victory.

“I went in there and did my thing – I’m not a pretty fighter – I just go in there and fight,” Jones told MMAWeekly.com. “I think I surprised a lot of people when I won that fight, especially a decision like that. I’m not taking it away from (Granados), she was a solid opponent, but I just had a better night that night.”

Jones was rewarded for her win by being picked up by Invicta FC this year. However, not even that was easy. As after the initial excitement of her signing set in, Jones was sidelined with an injury and forced to miss her originally scheduled debut against Tessa Simpson in May.

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“I’ve wanted to fight for Invicta since my first fight. I’ve been gunning for tough fights – none of my fights have been a walk in the park at all – so I’ve been working and busting my butt for it all,” said Jones.

“I feel like there’s a point in every career, as a person, you do have those big falls that reawaken you, and shows you where you are supposed to be. It was really tough, but I had really good people who helped me, and I’m back at it now.”

Jones (4-0) will finally make her Invicta debut on September 23 in Kansas City, Missouri, against veteran Stephanie Skinner (4-5) in a main card 105-pound bout.

“We are very much alike when it comes to style. She’s been in the cage a lot more, she’s got more experience in that area, but that doesn’t matter much to me. I’m not there to make the fight pretty, I’m there to fight, so it comes down to who wants it more towards the end of the fight,” Jones said of Skinner.

“I’m just going to have to be one above in everything: the striking, the cardio, the submissions, the ground game. We’re definitely going to have a war, that’s for sure.”

Now that she’s finally made it to a major stage in MMA, Jones is out to prove that she’s more than just a great underdog story, but deserves to be here and is a legitimate threat in the atomweight division.

“I do feel a little bit of pressure of having my story overshadowing (my Invicta debut),” said Jones. “But I’m comfortable with my background and it’s made me who I am.

“When it comes down to it, I love to fight, and I feel a completely different individual than what people see in the story. It doesn’t define me at the present moment. I am comfortable where I am at, I’ve just got a little bit more of a story, I guess.”

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