15 years into career, all Felice Herrig hopes for is a UFC title shot – but she won't beg

DETROIT – Felice Herrig may not embrace the “veteran” title when it comes to her career, but she hopes her years of work eventually pay off in the form of a UFC title shot.

Herrig (13-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) made her pro MMA debut in February 2009 following a lengthy run in kickboxing. She’s arguably at her best now, though, bringing a three-fight winning streak into Saturday’s strawweight showdown with Cortney Casey (7-4 MMA, 3-3 UFC) at UFC 218, which takes place at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The fight airs on the FS1-televised prelims following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass and prior to the pay-per-view main card.

Although improving her current run of victories to four would be a colossal achievement, Herrig said she’s not going to beg for a 115-pound title shot. She believes she’s put in more than her fair share of work to get a crack at the gold, and while it would be nice to get an opportunity sooner than later, Herrig said she’s not going to shift too far from her humble approach to make it happen.

“I’ve been in the sport so long, I’m not a (expletive)-talker. I’m not petitioning like, ‘Give me a title,'” Herrig told MMAjunkie. “It’s not something I don’t think about. I’ve overcome a lot of battles in the past few years, and I’m very happy to be where I’m at. I feel very blessed that I keep getting better and better. I think a four-fight win streak is pretty big in the strawweight division. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but in the strawweight division it actually is a lot. I think there’s something to be said with that.

“Before I retire, and I’m not talking about retirement soon, but I’ve been fighting for 15 years,” she continued. “For every fighter it’s inevitable that we’re going to retire. I would like to fight for the belt, for sure, 100 percent. Four fights in a row, I think I would petition to be the next contender or fight one more time.”

After struggling on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series, then losing a decision to Paige VanZant in her second UFC fight in April 2015, Herrig took more than a year off from competition. She said she used that time to regroup and find out why her performances weren’t what she wanted them to be.

Herrig said she worked with some doctors to get her physical and mental affairs in order. Once that happened, the results shifted back in her direction.

“A lot of people don’t realize that over the years there’s wear-and-tear on your body, mentally and physically,” Herrig said. “After the loss I started working with a doctor. We found out everything that was chemically wrong in my body, which was a lot. It affected my performance severely, and it was going down, down, down. It took over a year to rebuild it back, and now I feel like I’m going up, up, up. Everyone can see that every fight I’m getting better, and I’m not steadily declining.

“Now I feel like I’m peaking,” she continued. “I feel like I have a lot more potential now. I can go out there and fight to my full capabilities. … I do feel brand new. I have all the knowledge and experience of being a veteran. I’ve learned from all the dumb, silly mistakes in the past. I’m smart enough to not do those things anymore. I did a lot of my learning in the years prior to the UFC. A lot of people are just getting their start in the UFC.”

With some momentum on her side going into UFC 218, Herrig said she’s solely focused on beating Casey and continuing her run. She dismissed the prospect of potentially moving up to the newly opened UFC women’s flyweight division, revealing that her weight cut is easier than most and that strawweight is “the ideal weight for me.”

A victory against Casey would open up Herrig to some massive fight opportunities going forward. That’s exactly what “Lil’ Bulldog” wants, but she said she won’t count her chickens before they hatch.

She knows a tough fight awaits her at UFC 218.

“I never take any fighter lightly,” Herrig said. “I never overestimate my opponents; I never underestimate them. I should be confident in my skills, and I am, but I also know every fighter is a dangerous fighter. Cortney, she’s had success. She wins one, she loses one, but she’s also fought a lot of really tough opponents. You have to give her credit for that.”

For more on UFC 218, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.