Katlyn Chookagian Says Not Many of The UFC Women Are Well Rounded

– Katlyn Chookagian recently spoke with mmajunkie.com, here are the highlights…

On Taking Her Career Slowly: “Literally everyone was telling me just go right into it except pretty much for my coach Jamal Patterson,” Chookagian said. “I trust him, and I trust my other coach Mark Henry and whatever they say. If they’re the only ones that say it, I’ll do it. It worked out perfect. I think I could have went pro right away, but I think I needed more time to get better at wrestling and learn a couple other things. For the women it’s different,” she continued. “You go pro, and it’s so much faster and a faster track because there’s less than half as many girls in the company as guys, so I wanted to go into the UFC and go pro knowing I could hang with anyone in this division. I didn’t have that confidence maybe two years ago, but now I do. Going slowly was the best option for me.”

On Her Recent Fight With Lauren Murphy: “This was my first fight at 135, and Lauren’s a pretty strong, tough girl,” Chookagian said. “She usually pushes people against the cage the whole time, and being able to turn her right away definitely gave me confidence in the division. Obviously 125 would be ideal to me. I would go right there and love that and hope that they do, but I’m not going to wait around. If they don’t, I’m confident in saying I could well at 135.”

On The Skill of The UFC Women: “For the women’s divisions, I don’t think the top 10 is that important – I think the top five is more important,” Chookagian said. “I’m in the division, and I don’t even know all the girls that are in the top 10. I’m aware of them all, but I don’t know them off the top of my head. I think what’s more important is the top five, and to get in there, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing and get better and stay well-rounded. That way I could fight any one of those girls. Besides Miesha, I don’t think any of those girls are super well-rounded. I think they’re all tough and aggressive, but if I keep training the way I’m training and get better at each individual part, I think eventually I’ll be able to win my way into that top five.”