Peggy Morgan Relishes Underdog Status Heading into CFA 145-Pound Women’s Tournament

For women’s 145-pound MMA fighter Peggy “Daywalker” Morgan, turning professional last year was more about necessity than anything else.

“I had two amateur fights and then I wasn’t finding any fights at all and I had a couple of fights fall through, so when Joe Cochrane from Reality Fighting contacted me and asked if I would take a pro fight, at that point I just wanted to fight, so I decided to take it,” she recounted.

Morgan went on to win her pro debut, defeating Kaline Medeiros via majority decision, earning her third win in three overall fights.

Coming from a primarily striking background, Morgan told MMAWeekly.com that she’s been picking up the total MMA game steadily and finding it befits her fight philosophy quite well.

“I think (my growth) has been more incremental,” she said. “It’s been more about adapting my style of boxing to MMA, and it hasn’t been as difficult as I expected.

“I like MMA more and having the option to grab somebody and throw them on the ground if things aren’t going my way on the feet.”

For Morgan’s first fight of 2013, she will be entering the first round of the CFA women’s featherweight tournament on Saturday in Coral Gables, Fla., against highly regarded prospect Revelina Berto.

“I know that’s she’s fast and quite a bit shorter than I am, so I expect her to come out fast and hard and try to push her way inside of my reach. So I’ve been working on my footwork a lot, so I can keep her on the end of my jab and basically out-technique her,” said Morgan of Berto. “I think I can do that.

“If it goes to the ground, I’m comfortable there too. I don’t know how her jiu-jitsu is, that’s the unknown, but I feel like I’m physically stronger than she is and I’m pretty confident and am not worried she’s going to outdo me on the ground.”

At 3-0 as a professional and the sister of MMA fighter James Edson Berto and former boxing champ Andre Berto, Revelina Berto comes into the fight with a lot of hype and favor, which is just fine with Morgan.

“I do feel (like the underdog), which is fine; it’s kind of a neat experience,” said Morgan. “I have a lot of amateur fights, which I think has been overlooked by a lot of people heading into this fight. I have a lot of experience and I know my way around the cage.”

For Morgan, being a part of the CFA tournament is not only big for her upstart career, but it’s also driving force in her continued efforts to grow as a fighter.

“I’m really excited to not know who I’m going to be facing next,” she said. “I’m kind of ADD, so knowing I might have to change my game plan for the next fight is extremely exciting for me. It’s motivation to keep training and working.”

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