November 30th marks the return of Yurivia Jimenez Zepeda to the cage, this time on Swedish soil as she competes at Superior Challenge 27 in Stockholm, Sweden.
She will face Aitana Alvarez in a pro bout on the main card, and for Jimenez Zepeda, this is an opportunity to extend her undefeated record to 4-0.
In an interview with Maximum Sports, the Nicaraguan MMA pioneer shared her martial arts journey and thoughts ahead of this pivotal match.
“I’ve been training MMA for over seven years now,” says Yurivia Jimenez Zepeda when discussing how it all began.
“It was my first coaches and wrestling teammates who inspired and supported me unconditionally. They introduced me to this beautiful discipline.”
Coming from Nicaragua, a country where MMA is still a growing sport, Jimenez Zepeda explains the development for both men and women in the martial arts community.
“MMA is growing step by step in Nicaragua. We’ve had a few organizations, but only NFC is still active, hosting regular events every month. Only the final match at the NFC events is a pro fight, so the chances for a woman to get that spot are quite low.”
The last time we saw Jimenez Zepeda compete was against MMA veteran Maiju Suotama in Finland—a comeback after a three-year hiatus. She shares why she took such a long break and what motivated her to return.
“I love combat sports and always train with a lot of passion,” she says.
“But you need a team, and during the pandemic and due to the instability in Nicaragua, many of my training partners emigrated.”
“I ended up without a team, and so I focused on creating stability for my family instead. Returning to the cage feels like returning to life.”
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