Canadian Jessica Rakoczy returns to the Octagon for the first time since November 2013 as she is set to make her strawweight debut against fellow Canuck Valerie Letourneau at UFC 186 in Montreal.
Fans will remember the Hamilton native for her run on The Ultimate Fighter 18 where she advanced to the finals, defeating Roxanne Modafferi and Raquel Pennington. Ultimately losing to Julianna Pena at the TUF 18 Finale, Rakoczy hasn’t competed since. Which begs the big question, why has she been on the sidelines for so long?
“I was supposed to fight a few times, but the cards were falling through,” Rakoczy told Sportsnet. “I was supposed to fight at UFC 178 in Toronto [which was moved to Las Vegas] in September [but it didn’t work out]. Then over the Christmas holidays, I was talking to [Dana White] and he said ‘I think you’d be a beast at 115 pounds.’ I was all for it.”
Dropping down two weight classes is no easy task. Rakoczy enlisted Canadian strength and conditioning guru Joe Arko, who has worked with a range of professional athletes from the New York Islanders’ John Tavares to fellow UFC fighters Chuck Liddell and Patrick Cote. Surprisingly, the transition has been seamless for the 38-year-old.
“135 pounds was getting too big for me. I was having a hard time [keeping] that weight [on],” Rakoczy explained. “I’ve been making weight for [15 years] in boxing, but I didn’t know these little tricks and everything. Just the things I should have been eating and needed to be eating. How quickly my weight dropped from [Arko] alone, it was unbelievable. That gave me a lot of confidence. He changed my diet for one week and I dropped so much weight, instantly. You just need to eat properly and eat the right things.”
The eight-time world boxing champion also made a major adjustment in her personal life. Rakoczy, a single mother, had lived the past 15 years in Las Vegas after growing up in Hamilton. However last year, she decided to move back to her hometown so she could be closer to her family.
“It’s been quite an adjustment. I was in Vegas for 15 years and to go from that nice hot weather to freezing cold it was really different and an adjustment for my son too. All my family is here, I was [in Vegas] by myself. My coach, his family, they were my family, but there’s nothing like your [own] family. I had been away for so long. [My son] Jessie needed to start school and I wanted him to be in Canada with my family and have some support.”
Ahead of her UFC 186 matchup, Rakoczy is no stranger to her opponent. The two became friends during taping of TUF 18, where the Montreal native Letourneau failed to make it into the house after losing by submission to Modafferi in an elimination match. While their 115-pound encounter has been regulated to the Fight Pass prelims, Rakoczy believes fans will get their money’s worth.
“I know her kicks are great and she’s a great Muay-Thai fighter. I know her striking; she’s doing a lot better with that. It’s going to be a great fight, we’re going to stand and bang. I definitely think the fans will be excited.”
In preparation for this matchup, Rakoczy has been training primarily at Academix Martial Arts & Fitness in Burlington with the likes of Canadian flyweight standout Adrian Woolley. One of the key elements for her training camp has been her work with Canadian jiu-jitsu ace Dan Hale, who has been drilling extensively on her ground game. It’s no secret coming from a pro boxing background that Rakoczy’s weakness is on the mat. But she believes her ground game has made significant improvements and she’s banking on her opponent underestimating her.
“She thinks I’m still standup fighter and I don’t know anything else. But I’ve really been working on my ground game, that’s going to be a surprise [for her].”
Even with six professional MMA bouts and 37 pro boxing fights, this will be the first professional fight for Rakoczy in Canada. Competing in Montreal for the first time is a bit of added motivation for TUF 18 finalist, who can’t wait to get back in the cage.
“I feel really proud that this is my first fight in Canada. I’ve only fought amateur boxing in Canada. My whole career has been in the United States. It means a lot to me and my family is very excited.”
Another mystery with Rakoczy has been the inactivity from her personal Twitter account @JessRakoczy, where she’s only tweeted once and that was back in September of 2013. So fans aren’t confused, Rakoczy wanted to set the record straight.
“I have been trying to get [my Twitter] passwords because [the UFC] set the account up for me,” Rakoczy said. “They have the password and I can’t get it. I swear to you, everyone, my coach, we’ve called every single person that we know from the UFC. The only person I haven’t called is Dana, because I feel like I don’t want to bother with that. This is the first time my whole camp that I’ve wanted to put things up and post things. We’ve literally called almost every other day – and we’ve had no answer.”
