Undefeated Michelle Montague is growing into her own as an MMA fighter thanks to key advice from some of the best women in the game today.
American Top Team’s Montague (4-0) looks to remain perfect in her young MMA career when she meets Karolina Sobek at Bellator Champions Series: Dublin at 3Arena in Ireland.
On the mats in Coconut Creek, Fla., Montague hones her skills alongside some of the world’s best competitors, including UFC fighters Kayla Harrison and Mayra Bueno Silva, who have handed down a key piece of advice to the New Zealand-born featherweight.
“When you’re in camp, you have to have patience,” Montague told MMA Junkie Radio. “Whether it’s in the transitions or whatever, just the key thing I remember all the time, and I think about it probably every training session, is patience. Like taking that moment to breathe, whether it’s between rounds, during the round, or in certain positions or even waiting for fight news. The term ‘patience,’ I think, covers it all.”
Perfect so far in her pro MMA career, Montague has yet to see the judges’ scorecards. She has finished every opponent thus far with the same technique, a rear-naked choke. Despite her success, she admits her game is still being molded and is confident in her growth thanks to her championship-caliber training partners like Harrison and “Sheetara.”
Her fight against Sobek (4-2) will be her first in 10 months. It’s a longer wait than she would have liked, so her patience has been tested, but it does give her time to fully absorb the lessons from her mentors as she hopes to progress to a more active schedule.
“I think that recipe is forever growing, especially as you get more skills across the board,” Montague said. “That’s never going to be complete for I feel like any fighter, just based on who you fight and who you’ve become. Especially women don’t develop or mature completely in athletics until they’re 30, and I just turned that. It’s an interesting thought, because yeah, (I’m) young in the professional career, absolutely, but not that young in life.
“… Being where I am and having the right people around me and making sure I soak all that in as much as possible is what’s going to add to that recipe.”
