On December 2, ‘Raging Panda’ Julia Avila will make her first walk to the Octagon in more than two years as she meets former UFC bantamweight world champion Miesha Tate.
Avila, a 9-2 prospect in the 135-pound division, will return to action for the first time since becoming a first time mother, giving birth to her daughter in October 2022. Welcoming her back to the Octagon will be Miesha Tate, a name fight fans are more than familiar with thanks to her iconic rivalry with Ronda Rousey and her world title-winning performance against Holly Holm in 2016.
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Julia Avila spoke about her excitement to fight someone as popular as Miesha Tate and how she matches up stylistically against the former Strikeforce and UFC champ.
“I’m really excited. She obviously has a lot more experience than I do,” Avila said. “She literally has as many losses as I have wins so she’s got the experience. She’s gone the distances, but so have I, and my lack of experience in the cage, I don’t think it’s going to be a factor. I don’t think my time away is going to be a factor. I train really hard and I train often. People don’t let up on me and so I think it’s going to be a really good fight.
“Stylistically, she’s a little bit the opposite of what I’m known for. I know my loss against [Sijara Eubanks], she pretty much took me down at will so a lot of people are looking at it and they see my wrestling as something that’s lacking, but they also don’t know what I’ve been doing these last couple of years.
“I think it’s a really great matchup. She’s spectacular. I grew up watching her and being like, ‘Oh my god, she’s great!’ I say grew up, but she’s only two years older than me. I grew up in the sport watching her and being in awe and it’s kind of cool to fight your hero, so to speak.”
As for how she sees things playing out, Avila will undoubtedly look to make a statement in her long-awaited return and hopes to share the victory with her daughter in the center of the Octagon afterward.
“I have my plans. Everyone has a plan until they get hit, but I have my daydreams of finding that finish and really showing the world what I’m capable of doing,” Avila added. “And then, after I want, all I want to do is hold my baby up in the center of the cage so the entire state of Texas can cheer for her.”
With Tate currently occupying the No. 12 spot in the bantamweight rankings, ‘Raging Panda’ knows that an impressive showing against ‘Cupcake’ could get her one or two wins away from a potential title opportunity.
“I do definitely want to focus on this fight, but I’ve also thought that if and when I do get a finish, I do feel another strong showing would put me in contendership for a title shot, but I have to have a good strong finish,” Avila said. “If I don’t, I think that would look more like three fights [to get a title shot], but I need a finish. I need to show that I’m the one they forgot to look at.”
Julia Avila Offers Her Take on Ngannou vs. Fury and the UFC’s Split with USADA
Shifting gears, Avila offered her thoughts on the epic crossover boxing clash between former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and WBC titleholder Tyson Fury.
Ngannou came up short on the scorecards, suffering a somewhat controversial split decision after knocking Fury down in the third round. Despite the loss, Avila believes ‘The Predator’ showed the world that mixed martial artists can be just as deadly in the sweet science as they are in the Octagon.
“I saw the highlights, but I didn’t get an opportunity to watch the fight,” Avila said. “I think it’s really wild [that Ngannou knocked Fury down in the third]. People tend to overlook MMA fighters because we’re not specialists anymore. We’re true mixed martial artists so the crossover people are just kind of frivolous. They think we’re just throw-away fighters or money fighters, which I mean, for a lot of people it can be. But Francis Ngannou really showed them that we can do this. That we can be boxers.”
Another hot topic as of late has been the UFC’s very public break-up with the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Initially revealed by USADA CEO Travis Tygart, the organization will no longer partner with the Las Vegas-based promotion after eight years of working together.
Offering her take on the situation, Avila was mostly complimentary of USADA but did express some concern over what the future may hold with the promotion’s sudden change in testing protocols.
“I loved USADA. I had a really good working relationship with them. I never had anything to hide so it’s not that big of a deal. It was frustrating sometimes because I would have to skip out on class, but that’s not on them. This is part of my job as an athlete is to comply.
“I’m nervous because I don’t know what the future holds. I know that the UFC wants to protector their fighters, but I’m just concerned for fighters like myself that are natural fighters who don’t have anything to hide. That don’t worry about stuff like this. As long as I’m safe, I’m okay, but if you see a lot of these 125’ers coming up to 135, I’m gonna be quite nervous.”
Watch the full interview below:
