Once upon a time in Mexico: Irene Aldana reflects on her MMA homecoming
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One of Mexico’s most notable fighting daughters hails from the city of Guadalajara and fights out of Lobo Gym. While the gym homes three of the sport’s biggest stars in the making out of the country, the most experienced displays her skills at 135-pounds.
Beginning her career in 2012 and fighting at home in Mexico until just her third pro fight in the following year, Irene Aldana wouldn’t get to fight at home again until 2019. But this time, the stage was significantly larger than it was back in the day.
Aldana is now a staple of the UFC’s bantamweight division as she’s currently ranked comfortably inside the top 10 of the weight class sitting at the No. 9 spot.
Having had such a big occasion ahead of her, it wouldn’t be surprising to find oneself with a case of cold feet in anticipation. In Aldana’s case, everything was built to perfection.
“Not at all, I think totally the opposite,” Aldana told The Scrap in regards to feeling pressure fighting back at home. “I enjoyed a lot of my fight week and my training camp there. When I went out to the fight, I saw all the people cheering at me and screaming my name and I was so excited, so relaxed. I took it for a positive way and it motivated me for a better fight.”
After having her three-fight winning streak snapped in her fight prior to her last in a close fight with Raquel Pennington, Aldana would rebound impressively. Finding her flow early and often, she would pick apart her opponent, UFC newcomer Vanessa Melo, for a shutout win on home turf.
Even though it was a unique case for the Culiacan native, another obstacle that required hurdling was that of the always discussed high altitude of Mexico City – something that every fighter competing there has to deal with.
Despite Aldana being a Mexico resident living in Guadalajara, the altitude difference still greatly differs. Mexico City happening to be a whole 2,244 feet higher above sea level than its western counterpart.
To combat this extra element, the Lobo Gym product took her training to the Mexico City mountains ahead of fight night.
“[That was] Just to fight in Mexico,” Aldana said of her specific preparations. “Because it’s so hard, the altitude there, that we had to live in Mexico [City] for like three weeks. Just to adapt to the city, the altitude. Because it’s hard to fight there.
“I felt really good. I think my physical conditioning was on point and I’m glad I felt that good. I was a little scared of Mexico.” she finished with a laugh.
From fighting back at home and doing so in the world’s largest MMA promotion to adapting to the climate, those weren’t the only challenges thrown in Aldana’s way for the event.
Originally she was set to take on a fellow ranked fighter in the No. 8, Marion Reneau. Unfortunately for Reneau, an injury would force her out of action with just under two weeks to go. Thus leading to the aforementioned Melo stepping in to replace her.
Already having to deal with everything previously mentioned going into this huge personal moment, it just created another scenario for Aldana to adapt and overcome.
“I had to get more relaxed in the fight because I needed to figure out in the moment what you were going to do because I didn’t have enough time to study her,” she explained. “And there’s not enough material on the internet about her. So it was her debut, she was hungry, she was going for the kill and I didn’t know if she was going to enter with a quick pace in the fight or if she was going to slow it down.
“I had to figure it out in the moment but it was a great journey for me. I like the challenge because it makes me have more experience now in the fight, now I know I can resolve a problem in the moment and I had a great corner so she came tougher than I thought. She was receiving and she never stopped coming forward and I think she deserves to be in the UFC.”
In the lead-up to Aldana’s UFC tenure, she crafted a beautiful highlight reel of finishes in Invicta FC as all four of her wins came in the opening round (two submissions, two knockouts).
Since then, they’ve been understandably harder to come by as only one of her four UFC wins has ended by finish. In regards to her last two losses, Aldana found herself on the wrong end of a split decision in each outing. Two results that could have arguably gone in her favor.
Despite going to the judges’ scorecards once again in Mexico’s capital, this time was a lot different for one of the country’s finest.
“I feel blessed. In this fight, I was finally a little more loose in the Octagon,” Aldana shared. “Because sometimes with the nerves and a lot of people seeing you, a lot of thoughts come to your mind. And it’s a different scenario in the game in the Octagon. I have so much more technique than I was showing before and this time I got loose a little more. I felt more confident in there. I felt more secure and started to mix it up a little more. Even if I was taking some risks like, you saw it, like elbows, flying knees, more kicks. So I think it was a great challenge for me this time and I felt really good about it.”
On top of this being a key moment in Aldana’s story, it was just one for her gym overall.
Fighting in the evening’s co-main event was top strawweight prospect, Alexa Grasso, who took on the former UFC champion, Carla Esparza. Being longtime teammates, this card acted as the first time that Grasso and Aldana got to compete together since they both fought on Invicta 11 in 2015. Four years later and they got to do so once again but on home soil.
Unfortunately for Grasso, she wouldn’t get her hand raised but she would, however, pocket a nice $50,000 bonus for her Fight of the Night performance. And still at the young age of 26, Grasso – as well as Aldana – continue to grow together in MMA.
“It was awesome. All my preparation on my training with her makes all the training camp more relaxed,” Aldana explained. “Because you’re sharing that with someone so close to you. Because she is like a little sister for me. Me and her are growing in the same sport almost at the same time. So it was also motivating and we have each other’s shoulder for anything in the fight.”
Grasso handled her loss like a champion following the fight’s conclusion and knew that she put on a good show. And in a sport that can have a rather vile audience at times – as was seen after the night’s main event – it’s important to find positivity in any situation. A reminder that Aldana herself remembers to keep in mind while on her journey.
“I just ignore them,” Aldana said of negative comments. “Everybody is going to have an opinion every day. So I don’t need everybody to agree with me in everything or be happy with my life. I just need to be happy with my life. And I’m so grateful for the people who is watching me fight and is cheering, they are supporting my career. All those people, I take all those comments, I take all those good vibes and take them with me and that’s what really is important. Everybody else, if they don’t agree, if they don’t like me, well, I don’t really care. I can wake up and do my day every day, I don’t really care about that.
“I just stay focused on my goal, my career, and to give a great example for some people.”
As she looks to continue advancing forward and chasing her ultimate goal of becoming a champion, the 31-year old striker in Aldana has been doing so in a condensed time window. The Mexico City encounter with Melo would make for the Mexican’s third bout in just five months.
After such a high level of activity, one would have assumed that she would be looking to take a break after getting back in the win column. Instead, Aldana made it clear that she is definitely open to getting in the Octagon at least one more time before 2019 comes to an end. She even considered an incredibly quick turn around that would have seen her go to the opposite side of the planet to compete.
“I feel good so I think if a good opportunity comes up, I’m ready to take it,” Aldana shared. “I’m not injured, I’m fine mentally and physically good to fight. I think it’s not an issue. A break would be great for me too but I don’t know. It can go either way. I’m open to just taking some time and rest but if a good opportunity comes up, I’ll take it.
“I immediately thought about it,” she said of possibly filling in for Holly Holm against Pennington at UFC 243 in Australia. “When I just saw the news I was like ‘Me, me! I can fight again just in one week!’ But I think the UFC has another plan for them. I think they want to reschedule that fight so I think I’m gonna have to wait for my rematch.”
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Irene Aldana’s potential is visible and her last performance couldn’t have better displayed that. The fighting pride of Mexico is only getting better with each new experience as she continues to gain new and positive outlooks on the sport.
It’s pretty rare to see a dream fulfilled on the grandest platform. And someday, Aldana will be able to look back and tell her loved ones her very own story of once upon a time in Mexico…
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The Scrap’s Drake Riggs is an MMA writer and YouTuber based out of Brush Prairie, Washington who specializes in feature pieces, the women’s fight scene, lists, news coverage, and rankings. Riggs has been a passionate MMA fan since 2009 and has written for various news sources. You can follow him on Twitter (@Dre_Kriggs).
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