Felice Herrig knows what dark times are like.
Herrig has had many ups and downs in her combat sports career. “Lil Bulldog” has earned multiple kickboxing and Muay Thai championships. She has nabbed five finishes in her 12 professional mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts. Herrig was even featured prominently in the 2011 video game Supremacy MMA.
Despite her success, Herrig hasn’t quite reached the heights she believes she can achieve. After dropping a decision to Paige VanZant, “Lil Bulldog” submitted Kailin Curran in under two minutes. This past Saturday night (Feb. 4), Herrig defeated prospect Alexa Grasso in an upset.
Backstage inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Herrig was interviewed by Megan Olivi (via Flo Combat). She revealed having to go through some mental hurdles to perform in peak condition:
“It’s a lesson too, it’s a mental head case when you look at the scale, and you, ah, I almost felt like I had to top myself. Now I feel like less is more and I shouldn’t be miserable in fight camps. I was miserable for a lot of years and I did a lot of things wrong and I was stubborn.”
The key now is consistency. Herrig has now won two straight and wants to make it a third against VanZant in a rematch or Michelle Waterson. Herrig said she is finally trusting her corner and isn’t just interested in hearing what she wants to hear.
“I have a team behind me [now] that believes in me and kept, even though I was stubborn and I didn’t always want to listen and I hit rock bottom, I started listening and I’m just thankful for everyone that did believe in me. I know I was a three to one underdog, but all you people that bet money on me, I hope you won a s*it ton of money.”
