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ELIZABETH PHILLIPS: "THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT IN MY CAREER"

By Percy Crawford | July 29, 2015
ELIZABETH PHILLIPS:

"It was extremely important. I think this is probably the most important point in my career. If I would have ended up on the other side, I don't know exactly what I would have done. I'm not saying that I would have quit, but it definitely would have made me look at what my options are…I'll get back in there as soon as they want me to. It's really random. You never know when they are going to call…I'll be back within 6 months," stated UFC strawweight contender Elizabeth Phillips, who talked about her recent win over Jessamyn Duke, her future plans, and more. Check it out!

PC: Congratulations on your win over Jessamyn Duke. You had been out of the cage for nearly a year. How do you feel about your performance?

EP: I felt I did very good in the first 2 rounds. I was kind of disappointed that I kind of gassed out at the end, but that's what happens when you're trying to finish, and that's exactly what I was trying to do. If I would have done anything differently, instead of going 100 the whole time, I would have broke it up a little bit more and been a little more patient and then I might have been able to get the finish. But I'm still happy with it.

PC: Was the fast start a timing thing and being off so long, your timing was off, or did you really think you could finish her early?

EP: I felt I could finish her at some point early. I was going for a finish. I had top position the entire 1st round and I was trying to go 100% and finish the fight, get in and out, but the one problem I have that I have done for a long time, it's worked for me in some fights and in other fights it hasn't, but just being impatient. I think that's something that takes a long time to learn and it's something that you get with more experience and I haven't really been in the cage that long. So I think it's something that I just need to work on and that I could get better at.

PC: You were coming off of two very disappointing split decision losses. I know the last one really hurt you. How important was this win over Duke?

EP: It was extremely important. I think this is probably the most important point in my career. If I would have ended up on the other side, I don't know exactly what I would have done. I'm not saying that I would have quit, but it definitely would have made me look at what my options are and if I really wanted to work hard where I had to go back and fight and try to get back into the UFC. I don't know if I really wanted to do that, so I was questioning a lot of things. And it's funny because I actually didn't feel that much pressure on this fight as far as being nervous goes. I was very nervous for my Macao fight in China. I was a little bit more relaxed as far as the anticipation of the fight. I knew how important this was. I was coming off of two losses in a row and I'm not used to that. I may have lost a fight here or there, but I had never lost two in a row like that. I think I just had to dig deep and find the mentality to overcome that and get the win.

PC: Going into the fight, and it was apparent at the weigh-ins, how did you plan to deal with Duke's height advantage? Was the game plan to just close the distance as quickly as possible?

EP: The game plan was to move around and be active and aggressive. Usually I'm the more aggressive fighter in my fights. With somebody that's tall like that, you can't just stand still and exchange in the pocket, which actually I did a little bit and I shouldn't have, but luckily it didn't affect me too bad. But with somebody long like that, you have to move around and throw a lot of combos and do whatever you can to open them up and expose them so I could get a takedown or land some strikes. That's where I wanted it to go, to the ground, because I'm comfortable on the ground. So that kind of worked out for me.

PC: Towards the end of the fight, she was trying to lock an armbar in. Were you ever concerned or were you comfortable in defending it?

EP: I wasn't worried about it. I know everybody else was kind of worried about it, but I was kind of just sitting there holding on because I knew that there was only like 10 seconds left. She did have it pretty secure, but I felt I had a good enough Gable Grip that she wasn't going to be able to pull it away. At the end, I was actually able to extend it and relax. I wasn't worried about it as much as the people watching it.

PC: We can't talk about her submission attempt without addressing the fact that you did become the first female in the UFC to have a nipple slip during that failed submission attempt. Did you know it was out or did you not feel it until the submission was being broken?

EP: (Laughing) It was going on during the fight and it was hard to deal with fighting and trying to adjust it. I kind of knew it was going to cause a stir-up, but guys' asses come out of their shorts in fights all the time and so, even though social media likes to blow things up, it really doesn't embarrass me as much as people think it should. There really wasn't anything I could do about it. I've never had that happen. In an actual MMA fight, I have never had to sit there and adjust it because it kept coming out or something. I think it's a lesson learned. I usually wear my own stuff, so I know how it feels. I think now (laughing), I learned my lesson about that and I will probably just wear something underneath so I won't have to worry about that next time.

PC: It made you very hot on Google (laughing).

EP: Yeah! Yeah!

PC: I'm sure you are not aiming for another 11-month break. How soon would you like to be back in the Octagon?

EP: I'll get back in there as soon as they want me to. It's really random. You never know when they are going to call. I know I have to look into getting lasek eye surgery, which will put me out about a month. I kind of want to get that done before I have another fight. I'm looking to get that done right away. I'll be back within 6 months.

PC: Huge fight this weekend for females. What is your take on Ronda Rousey's fight against Bethe Correia?

EP: I think that Rousey's going to get her early. Correia is a tough girl and stuff, but I don't think she is technical enough to be able to withstand Rousey. And she doesn't have the ground game to be able to defend against Rousey and her Judo and ground game, so I think it's going to be a pretty quick fight just like all of her other fights. I would like to say I think it's going to be a war, but I don't think it will be. I think she will finish her in the 1st round early.

PC: I appreciate your time. Congrats again and I look forward to speaking with you again soon. Is there anything else you want to add?

EP: That's it. Thank you very much for your time.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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