UFC 223 winner Ashlee Evans-Smith admits much to learn but wants top fighter next

Following her win at UFC 223 over Bec Rawlings, Ashlee Evans-Smith admits she wasn’t entirely pleased with her effort, but she also wants to keep advancing up the women’s flyweight ranks.

“Bec wasn’t ranked, so I feel like it might be kind of cocky of me to be like, ‘Give me a top-10 person,’ but I’m going to say it because I believe I’m that good,” Evans-Smith said after the win. “I want a top-10 person because I just want to keep on moving up the rankings.”

Evans-Smith (6-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) picked up a unanimous-decision win over Rawlings (7-8 MMA, 2-5 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 223 event in New York with a trio of 30-27 scores.

At the end of the 15-minute contest, the result seemed secure, but Evans-Smith admitted she was just a little nervous until the moment her hand was raised.

“If you leave it the hands of the judges, you cannot stand there and go, ‘Oh yeah, I won for sure,'” Evans-Smith said. “You don’t know. You’re not deciding anymore. I was just trying to be hopeful.”

But once the victory was secure, Evans-Smith said she was happy to have picked up a win in her 125-pound debut but also immediately realized there are improvements to be made. More specifically, she hopes to be able to be more fluid in her transition between the different phases of the sport.

“I would like to be able to string my striking and my grappling together a lot more,” Evans-Smith said. “I think my striking won the fight, which is ironic because I’m a grappler by nature.

“I’m happy that I got the win, but I have a lot – a lot – to learn.”

Still, the win was much-needed following the first two-fight losing streak of her professional career, and “Rebel Girl” said she will take some time to appreciate the accomplishment.

“I’ve never lost twice in a row, at least in my professional career, and it hurt, because those losses, one was a unanimous decision, which I felt like a few little minor tweaks and I could have won that fight against a very, very tough opponent, and the second one, man that sucked the most because I felt like I was such a more well-rounded fighter than that girl,” Evans-Smith said. “So, to come in and get my hand raised after two losses and in a new division in this beautiful city, I’m ecstatic.”

Evans-Smith said she plans on taking a little time to heal up, and then she’ll looking at booking a return. She’d prefer not to volunteer for any short-notice fights just yet since she prefers the opportunity to “gameplan and prepare adequately.”

But she believes she’s on the proper path now and sees big things on the horizon.

“A few more fights, and I believe I’ll be in title contention,” Evans-Smith said. “I have amazing people that I work with, and the championship is in the near future.”

To hear more from Evans-Smith, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC 223, check out the UFC Events section of the site.