Jaysla Chavez went from holding playing cards throughout matches to exchanging punches and kicks contained in the cage. On Saturday evening, she is going to make her UFC debut.
Chavez, 29, grew up in Pozoes, a small city within the Brazilian state of Bahia, and went to highschool with the dream of in the future incomes a residing as a geography trainer. Years have handed. She graduated and located a 9-to-5 job within the space. Someday, a buddy from my college days contacted me and requested if I’d be considering incomes cash as a hoop woman at a Muay Thai occasion hosted by his coach.
Chavez answered, opening the door to a brand new world.
“I traded my ring card for a pair of gloves, and that modified every thing in my life,” Chavez advised MMA Preventing forward of his UFC Vegas 118 flyweight bout in opposition to Younesy Duben.
Chavez fell in love with Muay Thai quickly after beginning as a hoop woman.
“Once I had solely been coaching for a month, my coach, who remains to be my coach and runs the promotion the place I labored as a hoop woman, mentioned, ‘Subsequent yr, you are coming to an occasion with me,'” Chavez mentioned. “At first I believed he was referring to the ring woman once more. I mentioned, ‘Okay, I am going to include you once more. I am glad you want my work.’ He replied, ‘No, you may be there as my warrior.’ Lower than a yr later, I had my first newbie Muay Thai match at that event and have become the champion. That was the second every thing modified. I cherished it. I knew that was what I needed in life. ”
After persevering with to hone his Muay Thai abilities, Chavez enrolled in Jiu-Jitsu lessons and regarded a attainable transition to MMA, which he in the end determined to do in 2023.
“Some individuals from my hometown know me as a hoop woman and as a fighter as a result of I labored occasions in my hometown and space,” Chavez mentioned. “I began coaching professionally, however I gave up rather a lot. I stop my job, and I had conflicts with my household. My mother wasn’t in opposition to it, however she did not assist me as a result of she would see me come residence injured and I used to be the one woman coaching within the gymnasium.”
Chavez was working at a shoe manufacturing facility on the time, however handed up a promotion as a result of it meant transferring to a different metropolis and quitting the gymnasium. She additionally turned down a job provide to show geography at an area college. Chavez by no means advised his mom about these alternatives, however every thing in the end turned for the higher now that he is about to step into the Octagon as a UFC fighter.
In September of this yr, Chavez earned a contract with the UFC after a bloody three-round battle with Sofia Montenegro. Dana White’s Contender Sequencea bout that Chavez gained by break up resolution. The UFC has signed each fighters, and Chavez feels extra ready now that he can have his former coach accompany him to Las Vegas after his visa was denied in 2025.
“It confirmed me I am stronger than I ever imagined,” Chavez mentioned of her expertise DWCS. “If that battle had occurred within the UFC, it positively would have given us a (Battle of the Evening) bonus. It was an excellent battle. It was simply my favourite battle.”
Chavez expects the identical in his UFC debut in opposition to Venezuelan fighter Duben. Duben, like Chavez, was 6-0 in his first battle beneath the UFC banner, dropping to Carli Giudice by first-round KO.
“I believe it is going to be a battle that I like,” Chavez mentioned. “I believe there’s going to be a whole lot of motion, a whole lot of interplay and bloodshed and hopefully one thing just like what occurred on the Contender Sequence. I believe that is the place the nickname is.” “A Brava” (Badass in Portuguese). I used to be all the time transferring ahead and exchanging punches with the blokes within the gymnasium. It should be a battle between two girls who wish to strike, it is going to be the form of battle that individuals like to see. ”
