Most MMA fans remember Gabi Garcia from the third season of The Ultimate Fighter Brazil, where the 205-pound BJJ blackbelt helped Wanderlei Silva coach his team against arch enemy Chael Sonnen's. Garcia's MMA debut has long been talked about and was originally rumored for the Brazil-based Jungle Fight promotion. Now Garcia has revealed that she will have her first fight at the New Year's Eve event in Japan, that will be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko.
"This is a secret, but everybody told me, 'You fight in Japan, you fight in Japan'. But yes, I fight in Japan, December 31," she told GNP1.de.
Garcia is a multiple-time BJJ world champion and it won't be easy to find female fighters who can match her size and physical power. But Japanese MMA promoters wouldn't be Japanese MMA promoters if they couldn't find a suitable freak opponent. In fact, Garcia revealed that she will face a Chinese women with a Judo background whose even heavier than herself. You read it right, even heavier than the 6' 2" giant, who walks around at over 230 pounds at times.
"That will be a problem for me saying this, but maybe... I don't know the name of the girl, but it's a judo girl from China," she said. "The fight will take place at 90 kilos (198 pounds), but the girl (is) more, because of the show, I don't know why. But I'm training for me, I'm training hard, not for the opponent. For me it's no problem (if) the opponent is bigger, fatter, skinny, whatever. I'm ready. And I fight side (by side) with the legends, and I'm the first girl entering the ring in this show. I'm so excited."
Garcia's English might not be the best, but you should definitely check out the video above, where she also talks about her first MMA practices in Rafael Cordeiro's Kings MMA gym, after 22 years of pure BJJ training, and her disappointing performance at the last ADCC tournament.
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