Coming off her first loss in two years, flyweight Katy Collins made some changes to her game and was able to get back on the winning track with her unanimous decision victory over Bruna Vargas at Bellator 181 in July.
“I trained and prepared for that fight a little bit different than we did for any other fight,” Collins told MMAWeekly.com. “You use your strengths and that’s what I did. I slowed down, took my time, grinded her out and took the decision.”
Having previously fought a more frenetic pace in order to finish fights as quickly as possible, Collins took her time against Vargas and didn’t overextend herself, which has cost her in loss to Emily Ducote.
“I’m not the type of person who takes a loss too much to heart,” said Collins. “A loss sucks, and nobody wants to lose, but I took that and I firmly believe I learned a lot from that (Ducote) fight.
“I really felt like I was in it, and I just got caught. Things like that happen. It showed me that I could hang with those girls and I could do it, all I need to do is slow down, take my time, secure my position and just go about things a different way. Against Bruna I think I showed that.”
Collins (7-2) will look to pick up her second straight win when she takes on Shannon Sinn (3-5) in a main card 125-pound bout at LFA 21 on Friday in Branson, Mo.
“I know her record is 3-5, but I don’t think that record should reflect on her as a fighter; not in a negative light anyway,” Collins said of Sinn. “She comes to fight and is really well-rounded. I know that I’m going to do whatever I need to do to get the win. I just really feel like I’m going to get to show a lot of what I’ve worked on.”
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Though her opponent may not have an impressive record on paper, Collins is not going to overlook Sinn, which is an approach she not only applies to this fight itself, but to her career overall.
“I would never overlook any opponent because anything can happen on any given day,” said Collins. “I don’t look past anyone. I’m the kind of person who likes to focus on one thing and one thing only. I think that’s healthier for me as a person and my mental state as far as fighting. I don’t look past anything.
“I do try to stay as ready and stay in the gym as much as I can for any opportunity that could come up. I don’t have anything set in stone for the rest of the year, but I do have a couple of ideas that could be in the works later on. I just kind of wait until that opportunity comes up and we’ll go from there.”
