Alex ‘Astro girl’ Chambers will be making her return to the Octagon this Sunday Australian time, taking on the dangerous Paige ’12 Gauge” VanZant.
This fight is Chambers first fight since defeating Kailin Curran on the UFC’s Adelaide card, her first UFC win and the first time that she had won in Australia since 2012.
“I was very happy especially not feeling great in the fight, it wasn’t going as planned that’s for sure,” Chambers said, speaking from Florida where her camp for this fight is based at American Top Team.
“Fights don’t go as planned sometimes and you have to be prepared, and I was definitely happy (with the outcome) and that’s what counts”.
“To experience my first win in UFC, in front of an Australian crowd did make it that much more special”.
For her biggest test to date, Chambers took her fight camp to one of the biggest MMA gyms in the world American Top Team, though she is no stranger to the gym. “I have trained at American Top Team Aventura which is local here in Miami a few times in the past and they have always been really welcoming to me”.
It was while she was taking a break in Miami after her fight with Curran that Chambers started to hear about the opportunity to take on VanZant. “ I was actually in Florida on holidays after my fight against Kailin, and that’s when I got news of the fight against Paige and I was welcome with opened arms to American Top Team”.
Chambers also points out that quality of training partners that are available at the gym “ To be able to train at such a top facility, with so many other females that are on top of the sport, I believe there are four other strawweights that fight in the UFC that train at ATT”
While Chambers is no stranger to fighting in Las Vegas, She spent time a lot of time there filming The Ultimate fighter: A champion will be crowned, but this marks the first that Chambers will be on the main card and it’s on a pay per view non the less. She is excited to show case her skills to people that might have missed her on the The Ultimate Fighter and to the rest of the world.
“It’s pretty exciting to be fighting on the main card and to be opening up the pay per view its just really exciting, I’ve been part of the crowd at pay per view events at the MGM and the crowd really gets behind the fighters”.
Chambers also says that she hasn’t shown the fans her capabilities “I feel like I haven’t shown what I’m capable of and I’m really looking forward to this fight, I’ve been preparing in all areas and I’m feeling ready I’m looking forward to September 5th”.
VanZant will be Chambers toughest test to date and is coming off a big win over veteran fighter Felice Herrig and while she is currently ranked in the top 10, Chambers points to the unpredictable nature of MMA and assures that she and her opponent are training hard.
“She is a very good fighter and I believe that everyone in the strawweight division are good fighters and I believe that’s why we are seeing such exciting fights” Chambers says.
“She’s training hard, I’m training hard and it’s about training on your strengths and improving on your weaknesses so I’m preparing for all areas, wherever the fight can go it’s MMA and anything can happen”.
Though she is not looking past the VanZant fight, Chambers would like to be part of the UFC’s first card at Etihad stadium, which is now being headlined by Ronda Rousay vs Holly Holm.
“I’ve never lost in Australia, I would love to fight again in Australia how exciting is it to have a pay per view in Australia like that it’s going to be huge”.
“It’s difficult for me to say, I’m not looking past this fight but to fight in front of the Australian crowd again is definitely something that I want to experience again.
