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KIM COUTURE: "I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A REMATCH!"

By Percy Crawford | June 23, 2008
KIM COUTURE:

"I don't know how long they'll tell me to stay out for, but I'll be looking forward to training and working on what I've learned from this fight and I would love to have a rematch. She said she would love to fight me again, so…she was very respectful and a great girl," stated female mixed martial artist Kim Couture as she made it perfectly clear that despite suffering a broken jaw and losing her pro debut, she fully plans on continuing her career and looks forward to a rematch. Check out what she had to say about her performance in the fight, her broken jaw, her desire for a rematch and much more.

PC: I have to start off by saying I hope you're okay. Everything I read says you showed tremendous heart and almost pulled it out.

KC: Thanks. Yeah, I was in half guard and worked my way to a mount and then the damn bell rang. I almost submitted her a couple of times. I think I had 3 or 4 nice takedowns. I was just distracted and struggling with the fact that I had so much blood flowing through my mouth. The doctor said I broke it in 2 spots.

PC: Sorry to hear that Kimmie. Are you okay?

KC: Yeah, I'm okay. It broke right down the middle so they say that it's real common when it breaks right down the middle that it also breaks on the far right side. That side doesn't hurt, but the one in the middle does. I thought I had broke a tooth because there was a big gap in between my bottom teeth and I thought there was a tooth missing and my teeth, which it's sharp there because they're separated now, was cutting the bottom of my tongue. I didn't know during the fight that my jaw was broken. I thought I just lost a tooth and it kept cutting the bottom of my tongue. It was just distracting. I was trying to concentrate and focus on what I needed to do, but it kept distracting me.

PC: You said you didn't know if it was broken. Were you in a lot of pain?

KC: It was painful, but I didn't know it was broke. My corner didn't want to tell me. They asked me if I could keep going and I said, "Yeah, I'm fine!" I couldn't figure it out because it was pulling me to the left. It was hanging to the left so I think by the 3rd round, I was like, "Yeah, I think something is really wrong with it."

PC: You are a tough chick.

KC: I just wish I could've pulled out a win. I was so close, on a couple of occasions, to submitting her. Damn, it would have been nice to come out with a win, even if I was all jacked up like this.

PC: Was Randy supportive after the fight or was he saying that was it? What was his reaction?

KC: He was supportive. He was surprised that I hung in there as long as I did. He was shocked.

PC: Was she a strong girl?

KC: I expected her to come out aggressive and yeah, she was tough. She was strong. It's funny because her gameplan was to come out hard, and so was mine, so we met in the middle like 2 rams. She did a good job of slipping my jab. My plan was that she was going to eat that first jab and then I could go into the clinch and take her down, but she slipped that jab nicely and when I missed it, it brought me in closer to her and that's when she broke my jaw.

PC: I know you wanted to show a lot of wrestling in this fight, but I'm sure with your jaw being broken within the first couple of seconds, that changed things.

KC: Yeah, I still had some nice takedowns. I should've taken her down right off the bat. I should've slipped everything of hers. I talked to Randy afterwards and with her coming out with the same momentum as me, I should've slipped everything and taken her down. Now I know that for next time (laughing).

PC: So this is not a retirement speech? You will fight on?

KC: Oh yeah! I'll keep going. I'm going to have surgery today and I think they have to wire my jaw shut for about 5 weeks. I don't know how long they'll tell me to stay out for, but I'll be looking forward to training and working on what I've learned from this fight and I would love to have a rematch. She said she would love to fight me again, so…she was very respectful and a great girl.

PC: So you did speak with her after the fight? What else was said?

KC: We were just both thankful for the opportunity. We put on a good show and the crowd was definitely hyped up for the fight. There wasn't one person sitting for our fight.

PC: You always seem to be in these "Fight of the Night" type of fights.

KC: Yeah, too bad I couldn't win this one, but that's okay.

PC: In your debut, you got your jaw broken. Do you think you will be a little reluctant in your comeback?

KC: No, I'll be fine. It's really not that painful. It sucks, but something like that wouldn't slow me down. I think the only thing that would make me not want to keep going is if I felt I wasn't learning anything and I didn't do a good job. I didn't get tired, but I felt like it was hard to breathe with all of the blood in my mouth and when I got on top of her, it was kind of flowing out of my mouth, which made it hard to be quick. I was more aggressive than my last fight, which was my goal, but still not aggressive enough. I started off aggressive, but I think my jaw being broken kind of made me slow down. After that, the start of each round, she caught me with a lot of shots. As soon as she would hit it, I did feel pain in my jaw and it was just distracting. I took a lot of punches looking for that clinch. I knew I would be strong in the clinch and would have no problem taking her down.

PC: You definitely have an iron chin; a lot of people on the forums are calling you that.

KC: (Laughing) It doesn't get much tougher than that…to have it broken in 2 places and still not drop.

PC: Everything that you have going on, how do you go 5 weeks without talking?

KC: I'll be writing a lot of notes, emailing and text messaging everybody. I keep teasing all of my staff, telling them at least they don't have to hear me for the next 5 weeks. You know what though, it was electric in there. The crowd was awesome and I don't think I've ever experienced so much love and support (getting emotional), before and after the fight, in my life.

PC: I'm sure the crowd helped you out immensely with you getting pumped up before the fight. I know you told me that was one of your problems.

KC: I was pumped up and ready to go for this one. I was ready to go out and be aggressive and set the pace. I trained hard for three 5-minute rounds with 20 seconds recovery and I was in tip-top shape and really ready to take that fight to her. She had the same gameplan. She threw everything she had and the kitchen sink. She kept clocking me with that overhand right. I was expecting that and I wanted to counter with my jab or come back with my 1-2. She does a really good job of tucking her head and I kept missing my jab. She slipped it good and that kind of screwed up my standing gameplan. I felt like I had good knees and my takedowns…I felt like I was strong on the ground, but her pulling my head while we were down there made the pressure on my jaw pretty excruciating.

PC: How soon after the fight did you know your jaw was broken?

KC: Well, I said, "I think I lost a tooth." They were like, "You didn't lose a tooth, you broke your jaw in half." I wondered because it just didn't feel right after that 1st round, but you just don't know if you never broke your jaw before. It was pretty excruciating, but I was more concerned about my tooth missing because the gap was cutting the bottom of my tongue.

PC: Once it's wired shut for the 5 weeks, you don't have a timetable on how long you will be out?

KC: They'll tell me after the 5 weeks how long I have to stay away from sparring and training. I hope it's not too long.

PC: Boxing and MMA on the same card. How did you like that?

KC: I thought the card was amazing. The crowd was into it; they had a wonderful night. They did a great job. I was just so grateful for all of the support I got. I wish I would have brought a win home. I was happy for her. She definitely was not the same fighter I saw fight 5 weeks ago. I could tell she trained her ass off and took this very seriously. She did a great job and she deserves it. It was great and I loved it. I think I should've gone immediately for the takedown and not stand and throw at all, but like I said, she was a different person. Her boxing was much better than the tape I saw in her last fight, which was only 5 or 6 weeks ago. I was very impressed by how much she improved her standup.

PC: After the fight, when you were leaving the ring, did you feel the support then as well?

KC: I felt the same amount of support after the fight that I did before the fight. They were great. My team was great. Everybody from my team came to the back and was just awesome. They were surprised I kept going. They knew I had broken my jaw in that first flurry and Randy of course knew, but he wouldn't tell me.

PC: Did you get stunned or did you feel the punch and keep swinging?

KC: I can't really remember. I'm going to have to watch the tape, but I'm sure it rocked me. When I missed my jab, it brought me right into her too. You know, I was really happy and grateful that Tara LaRosa made the trip out for my fight. She was in the locker room with me before I came out. That really meant a lot to me. She's very inspiring to me and is such a sweetheart. It meant a lot to me for her to make that travel out there. It was a great surprise. Her and Gina were in the locker room and they got to talk a lot and that was all good. Xtreme Couture did really well. We had 3 wins and 2 losses and the losses were decisions. John Alessio won, he choked his guy out, Brice won by knockout and Kui won a decision. Alessio broke his arm checking a kick, just like Randy did in his fight; the small bone in his arm. I never thought I would lose in front of my team like that. I was so excited to win with them because last time we won in Portland, it was only like 3 or 4 of them there.

PC: Well, it's kind of like Tara told you. All of this is a learning experience. I'm sure you won all of their respect and that's all you could ask for.

KC: The good thing about it is I felt a little more comfortable in there this time than I did the last time and hopefully next time, I will be a little more comfortable. I just have to get that actual mat experience in there because it wasn't that big a difference fighting in the ring as opposed to a cage.



[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]

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