Little by little, Yazmin Jauregui is settling in her new home.
The unbeaten strawweight prospect is days away from making her second walk to the octagon. Jauregui (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) meets Istela Nunes (6-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) on Saturday at UFC on ESPN 42 in Orlando, Fla., which airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+.
She looks to follow up a successful UFC debut, which she made back in August, with another win and continue her climb up the division. As she takes this next step, Jauregui is feeling much more comfortable in her shoes as a UFC fighter.
“I feel more complete, more confident, with more game,” Jauregui told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “And that’s very good, very good. I don’t feel as pressured as the last fight, which was a debut.
“I already know the UFC cage and the audience who lights everything up, so now I’m just waiting for the moment to show what I’ve been working on these last few months ahead of this fight.”
The 23-year-old Jauregui had to deal with a lot in her UFC debut. She had a short-notice opponent, fought in the featured bout on the main card just prior to the main and co-main event, and was the crowd favorite, as there were plenty of Mexicans in attendance.
All this put a lot of pressure on Jauregui, she said.
“The truth is that for my fight, the debut, it was really important for me,” Jauregui said. “For me, it was everything. I had already visualized for many years entering the UFC and fighting with the best fighters in the world. For me, it was really important to take that victory.
“Another reason (why I felt pressured), was because I was in San Diego – a place that’s very, very close to Tijuana, so there was a huge Mexican crowd. You could feel the vibe super strong on August 13. And also, they switched the opponent on me at most like a month away from the fight, so there were those three things in play that I had to consider. But at the end of the day, I took home the win and I did the best job that I could do. Dana White was very happy.”
Jauregui doesn’t want to be known for her talk outside the cage, but for what she can do in it. She is not underestimating her opponent, but she feels something special is brewing for Saturday night.
“I don’t like to talk a lot, but I do believe something great is going to happen, I feel it in me, I’ve visualized it,” Jauregui said. “I believe in my myself and my team, and something big is coming. I’m visualizing it. I just want to fight and let all the work that I put in give me another win this year.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 42.
