Emily Ducote breaks down her kick-happy mindset in UFC debut win over Jessica Penne

ELMONT, N.Y. – If Emily Ducote regards her performance in her UFC debut as something that needs to be improved on, future opponents probably need to watch out.

Ducote (12-6 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took a unanimous decision from Jessica Penne (14-6 MMA, 3-4 UFC) to open UFC on ABC 3 on Saturday in Elmont, N.Y. Ducote came to the UFC as Invicta FC’s women’s strawweight champion. She defended her belt there just two months before her win over Penne, a former Invicta champ herself.

But Ducote seemed to think her win, which included a 30-27 score to go along with a pair of 29-28s, wasn’t much to write home about – despite a game plan that had her trying to make sure Penne won’t walk right for a while thanks to relentless leg kicks.

“I feel good,” Ducote said at her post-fight news conference. “I feel like I could’ve had a little bit of a faster pace, which is what I wanted. I came out a little slow – my debut (in the UFC), I wanted to make smart decisions. I’m pretty happy with it overall. I’m really excited.

“… In the cage, I felt really good. I didn’t feel like I was hesitant because of nerves. I just wanted to be smart. We saw (the opportunity for kicks) watching film. When she jabs, she’s pretty heavy on that lead leg, so I kind of wanted to attack that. It worked out a little bit better than I was thinking it would, but I definitely noticed it was hurting.”

Check out Ducote’s full post-fight interview in the video above.