Loopy Godinez has made some big changes in her fighting career, and she’s confident they were the correct moves.
The UFC strawweight changed teams ahead of her return at Saturday’s Noche UFC, which takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Godinez (10-3 MMA, 5-3 UFC) takes on Elise Reed, and she did all her camp and preparation at Lobo Gym in Guadalajara, Mexico alongside UFC women’s flyweight champion Alexa Grasso, who headlines against Valentina Shevchenko.
Godinez has trained before with Lobo Gym, but has now made it her home, and this was the first time she did a full training camp under their banner. The 30-year-old is confident this change was needed for her to achieve her dream of becoming UFC champion.
“We’re taking things step by step, but I can guarantee you that where I need to be, that being with Lobo Gym,” Godinez told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “This is the team that I need to go for the belt, and this (camp) was a confirmation of that. Doing a full camp made me go, ‘Yes. This is where I need to be.’”
Godinez, who is 4-1 in her past five UFC fights, felt honored to train alongside Grasso as she gets ready to complete her first title defense. Grasso is the first Mexico-born female to win a UFC title, and she’s currently ranked No. 1 in the UFC’s female pound-for-pound rankings.
“Yeah, imagine training with her every day,” Godinez said. “The two of us have pushed each other a lot, and you obviously go through ups and downs, that’s normal in a tough camp. So when I’m down she cheers me on and when she’s down I’m there to cheer her up, so we’ve had very good chemistry. Let’s hope that we can share cards more often because it’s very helpful having both of us going through the same.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Noche UFC.
Noche UFC’s Loopy Godinez: Lobo Gym ‘is the team that I need to go for the belt’