Glory “The Fury” Watson (6-0) burst onto the regional New England mixed-martial-arts scene in the early summer of 2018. Seventeen months, two submissions, one knockout and three decisions later, she is one of the hottest amateur prospects in the entire country.
A product of Young’s MMA in Bangor, Maine, Watson is the reigning New England Fights (NEF) Amateur Women’s 125-pound Flyweight Champion. This Saturday night at Aura nightclub in Portland, Maine, she will challenge for the vacant 115-pound strawweight title. Her opponent is a very tough, and seasoned, Oklahoman in the form of Cara Greenwell (9-4).
Watson will have the chance to make history on Saturday night by becoming the first athlete to ever hold two title belts simultaneously in different weight classes in NEF. Many have tried, but no one has accomplished the feat yet. Regardless of the outcome of the bout, history will already have been made as soon as the cage door closes on Saturday as Watson and Greenwell become the first women’s fight to headline one of the promotion’s cards as the main event.
Earlier today, Watson was interviewed by Wayne Harvey on 92.9 FM The Ticket regarding fighting in the main event of “NEF 41: Collision Course” this Saturday night in Portland. She spoke not only on the fight, but on her introduction to the sport and weight cutting among other topics.
“I had no intention of fighting at all,” noted Watson when asked by Harvey about how she got into the sport. “I was in a relationship with a guy who’s not a bad person, just wasn’t good for me. A little bit controlling over what I did. Didn’t want me to work. Didn’t want me to do things. So, I decided it would be a good idea to find an outlet and what boyfriend is going to say, “no, you can’t go to the gym?” So, I reached out to a girl who had been training with Young’s MMA for a couple years.”
“I remember walking in (the gym) and being super overwhelmed. I did a kickboxing class, and after class Coach (Chris) Young came up to me and said, “hey, you really have a lot of potential.” I started doing… I was there every day and maybe three months, actually a month in, I started doing double sessions of jiu jitsu and I did a jiu jitsu tournament after I’d been there for four months. After that, I started training with the fight team and now I’m where I am now.”
One of the major transitions Watson has made in recent months has been the cut from the 125-pound flyweight division to the 115-pound strawweight class after starting her fight career as a 135-pound bantamweight. At “NEF 40” this past September, Watson debuted as a strawweight and looked as dominant as ever, downing her opponent just over a minute into the first round. She spoke on how she cuts weight for a fight.
“A lot of the guys at the gym will diet down a little bit and try to cut more in the last week. I would rather cut my calories progressively throughout camp, so at the end of fight week I don’t have to cut a lot – I have to cut between seven and three pounds.”
“I will sit in the sauna,” said Watson on how she cuts those final few pounds. “I will get some flow rolls in with some local black belts and brown belts and things like that. Just kind of keep a sweat going and then probably cut a little bit in the car (ride to weigh-ins).”
Watson has maintained a perfect record through six fights, only being taken to the judges’ scorecards twice. She credits her team and coaches for her success. Watson discussed her training regimen and preparation for Saturday’s bout with Harvey.
“Training’s been really good. There have definitely been some hardships that have come up that I’ll probably dive deeper into after the fight. But, all in all, camp has been great. I’ve had some really amazing training partners come out for this and travel to me and I travel to them and it’s been really good.”
“I train with a lot of men, just because that’s what we have,” Watson noted of her fight preparations at Young’s MMA. “The majority of my gym is men right now. There are a few women that will pop in, but no woman that’s consistently there every day.”
“I pride myself on my recovery. I have an amazing team behind me. I have a meal prep sponsor. Having healthy meals makes a big difference, significantly more than most people think it does. And I see a chiropractor a couple times throughout camp. I see a therapist almost every other week to help with my recovery. My strength and conditioning coach is awesome. He helps me with any problem areas I might have.”
Make no mistake about it, Greenwell is not coming halfway across the country to lie down and die. She is a finisher in the MMA cage with five submissions and two knockouts to her credit. Greenwell will, undoubtedly, be the toughest challenge Watson has faced to date.
“I have very minimal knowledge on her,” Watson noted of her opponent this Saturday. “That’s kind of how I go into all my fights. I have a lot of faith in my coach and the gameplan my coach puts in place. Because of my style, in terms of how I am mentally, he actually doesn’t really tell me the gameplan. We just train for it and play with it that way. We’ve been training everything just like we would every camp with different twists. I like striking. I like wrestling. I like grappling. I like cage work. For me, my style is MMA.”
With Saturday being her seventh amateur fight, the question has been not if, but when Watson will enter the professional ranks.
“Sooner rather than later I would like to go pro,” said Watson. “It depends kind of on this fight and how I feel mentally, physically, emotionally, the whole nine, and seeing basically where we want to progress from there.”
To listen to the entire interview visit: https://929theticket.com/ticket-to-the-fights-with-6-0-glory-watson/
“NEF 41: Collision Course” takes place this Saturday night at Aura in Portland, Maine. For tickets, call (207) 772-8274 or go to www.auramaine.com.