Katie Perez Calls For “Beautiful Violence” in Big RIZIN Debut, “Looking for a Finish” Vs. Kate Lotus
Katie Perez will debut in Rizin FF against Kate Lotus on May 10th. With her first fight in one of the biggest promotions in the world coming against a surging contender with a lot of combative cache in Lotus, when discussing this opportunity, all factors considered, Katie Perez said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, it’s a big deal for me. It’s very exciting. It feels like a natural culmination of a lot of effort, time that’s been put in consistently. It’s kind of one of those like you keep grinding, grinding, grinding, keep your head down, and the reward for that is opportunity. You just kind of have to keep working at it. I definitely have a checkered record in terms of my overall success. A lot of that has to do with the mind space I’ve been in and the way I’ve been able to apply myself in my fights.”
“But I do believe that the quality of training I have, my skill level, this is exactly where I’m supposed to be. This is just the next step on my journey. It’s not like a finishing point. It’s like the next step for the next chapter. So, I’m very excited.”
When asked if she is working with a sports psychologist and if not, what has made the difference in overcoming this mental hurdle, Katie Perez stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“No. Yeah, absolutely. I think people say it a lot that like fighting is 90% mental and 10% physical. All of us focus on the physical. We’re training six days a week, hours every day, classes and learning. But then like hard application whether it’s sparring, or rolling, or strength and conditioning programs. So like we all you know pay lip service to the fact that it’s 90% mental and 10% physical.”
“But I think the training tends to reflect an emphasis on the physical and you just sort of forget to cultivate that mindset. I know throughout my career, I’ve struggled a lot with imposter syndrome. With not believing that I’m capable of this. I still have a hard time sometimes thinking of myself as an athlete. Like I’ll be like I’m an athletic person.”
“I’ve been a pro athlete for like six years and like getting paid to do a sport. So, it’s not like a fake thing, and I’m doing at a high level with really intense competition. Absolutely loving it, dedicated my life to this. My sleep schedule, my diet, everything is around this. But I still sometimes have a hard time kind of clicking the gears on ‘I am a professional athlete.’ I am an MMA fighter, these things.”
“The labels have a hard time like jelling with the identity of the person, I think for me anyway. A lot of it has to do with self-worth issues [and] kind of like where I came from when I started fighting. In a lot of ways, I started training to find myself again and to sort of reclaim me a bit. I may not have intentionally done that but it was definitely the subconscious effort has been learning to invest in myself. Care about myself, self-discipline as a form of self-love.”
“So yeah, in previous fights I’ve sometimes been hesitant, tentative, afraid of messing up, not really afraid of getting hurt. I’ve been fortunate in my career to not really sustain any terrible damage or anything like that. Knock on wood because it’s combat sport. It’s going to happen at some point to somebody, but it’s not something that like I live in fear of. It’s definitely like a fear of messing up, of making a stupid mistake.”
“Of embarrassing my coach, my team, of putting on a performance that’s like, oh my gosh, and I’ve done performances like that. I’ve guaranteed those performances by being afraid of them. That’s something I’ve been grappling with really intensely. Not just for this fight camp, but like life in general over the last few years. Like I said, seeking out a sports psychologist is a great effort.”
“I actually just do a lot of one-on-one time with my coach. Like I do private sessions with him, and like one of those per week minimum is an hour of just like talking through stuff. Stuff that’s on my mind, stuff that’s like praying on me. It’s like the questions you can’t ask during training because the why doesn’t matter when it’s time to work. But the why does matter when you’re trying to chip away at the nonsense in your head. So we do have dedicated time set aside for that.”
“I’m doing a lot of reading and a lot of reflection, journaling, work on myself in a very active sense to overcome and functionally embrace those aspects of myself that I’ve shied away from. So that I can use the correct things at the correct times. Like there’s a time to be ego driven, and it’s in the cage. There’s a time to be egoless, and that’s training and learning. In training, you don’t need to be worried about looking stupid cuz you should. You should be trying new things.”
“You should be outside of your comfort zone so that by the time you get to the cage, you’re in your comfort zone. You’re in your element. I’m used to being uncomfortable. I’m used to being tired. I’m used to being in a constant state of extreme struggle. So, this is just home. So, that’s what I’ve been working on. That’s what I’m excited to embrace and really showcase for this fight because the stakes have never been higher.”
When asked if that is a similar mindset she has within other endeavors like being a musician, writer, and painter, or maybe not so much the same mentality because she is not attached to the income as in the same way, Katie Perez quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“That’s actually a really cool way to put it. I think it definitely falls into a category all its own for me, and I think that just is the application. A musician could absolutely be in that same space of like I don’t want to let my bandmates down or my symphony. Whatever group that they’re working with or my teacher, you know. If they have a tutor and they’re trying to perform this beautiful work that they’ve practiced and practiced and practiced. They’ve put work in together on.”
“It’s almost that yes, one person is performing but it’s the work of many people being expressed through the artist in that moment. So like any type of live performance art or live performance anything, I guess. An athletic performance would count as well. Definitely you know theatrical performance anything like that, it’s; absolutely you could be in that space.”
“It’s not that for me because those artistic endeavors have very much taken a hobby space in my life. There was a time when I was performing violin and fiddle. Whether it was for weddings or live in bars for fun or when I was in the orchestra of the symphony, like those times. Yes, there would have been an element of that. Kind of tha holding back because I’m afraid of messing up. I’d rather play safe than play excellent. I think that showed up more in things like auditions.”
“There’s something about jelling with a group because it’s not a solo performance that it’s a little bit different. I don’t know. You’re catching the wave of the group rather than relying solely on yourself. Painting, nah, cuz for me it’s 100% controlled. I can just not post something. I can just keep it to myself like that was awful. It’s not going on the wall.”
“I’m just going to paint over it and start over. I do that a fair amount. I’m trying to get better about that and be more honest. Like posting things that are in progress or I’m not proud of or I’m like I’m going to go back and rework this, but my technical skill isn’t there yet.”
“Like I took on too ambitious of a project here. So I’m trying to be more honest about those things where I feel less perfect. But yeah, because I have more control over that. Like I don’t do any live painting sessions. I just curate what I do or don’t make available for people to see. So I think that kind of layer of control takes that element out of it. But yeah, anything that’s live and at a high level is absolutely capable of of feeling that way.”
In the context of previously fighting for promotions Combate, Invicta, CFFC. After being asked when the dialogue with Rizin specifically began ramping up, Katie Perez said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Well, so it’s kind of funny that you mentioned those things. I have been given these amazing opportunities in the past. Every single time I kind of like built the pressure and built the pressure and built the pressure like this is it. This is my chance, my one shot and if I blow it, it’s over. That’s kind of made me freeze and lock up. So, it’s embarrassing. CFFC, I actually didn’t even know how big that show was until I was present at it.”
“I was just like, “Oh, it’s my pro debut. Here we go.” I got out there, and I was like, “This is a really big deal.” Walking out of it. Of course, it’s not a nothing [event], you know? No show is a nothing [card] because a fight is a fight. End of the day, no matter if a thousand people are watching or a million or just 15. But I didn’t know how big CFFC was really until I was present at it.”
“Invicta, of course, I knew. I looked up to the women’s promotion. It’s kind of like, as a female fighter, it’s going to come up, and it’s going to be like a dream. It’s really cool. Honestly, if they had more frequent shows, I probably would [fight more there] because that’s what I want. I want to fight, before this very short window that we get to work with is over. I want to get my face in. I want to see who I am in the cage.”
“I want to develop and grow. Be the best that I can be. The only way to do that is to be forged in fire. So that’s like; I want that fire. Which is why I ended up going with Combate for a while there. I had a grasp of how big of an opportunity Combate was. But I was kind of able to mentally make it smaller for myself. Just for myself like peace of mind be like, oh, like yeah, we have to do it on like a TV schedule, but it’s just how it’s done here. It’s just timing, timing, timing.”
“So that, a cage is a cage, fight is a fight, and that helped me make it a little bit smaller. But in my mind, yeah, I know that these were big opportunities. When I parted ways with Combate, and I know they’ve been going through kind of a little bit of a change there, as well. In terms of frequency fights and things like that. Rizin is a promotion that I had dreamed of but never really kind of figured would come through. Because I know you have to have like good connections.”
“You have to have all these things working for you, going in your favor. Fortunately because I’m not the smoothest person. I’m a little awkward… But my coach handles all of that for me. My coach is also my manager and he has made those connections. Outreach and obviously because he is so consistent and his fighters are so consistent. Team Phoenix, we’re a small team coming from a small school in Greensboro, North Carolina.”
“A lot of people have never even heard of. But every show that we go to, we make weight, we show up, we show out, put on good fights. I don’t think there’s a promoter that we’ve ever worked with that hasn’t been stoked to have us back or to offer us opportunities back. I know it’s a small, small world, even smaller fight world. So to my understanding, my coach just received a phone call saying, “Hey, I’ve got this fight offer for Katie. It’s for Rizin.” So it just kind of dropped on the middle of training.”
“Actually one day like we’re in class and coach takes a call. He never takes a call during class. Like that’s not a thing that he does. He’s very focused on what’s going on in the class itself. But it was like a pad work round or something. So everyone could just kind of get work in. He takes this phone call, and it’s kind of like what’s going on? Don’t watch, get focused on what I’m doing. Then after that he’s like hey you got a fight offer. I’m like, “Awesome. Let’s go.””
“He’s like, “It’s in Japan.” I’m like, just honestly don’t know how to answer that question. How did this come to be other than consistency, work ethic, and my coach making the connections, having the conversations. So that someone thought of me when the opportunity arose and was like, “Yeah, this will be a good match. This will be a good matchup.””
Katie Perez has also been armed with certain wisdom from Mario Sperry in the past. That name definitely stands out as Sperry had several memorable Pride fights from back in the day. This holds relevance as Pride utilized the same ruleset that Rizin has instantiated for their fighters today. When asked if there has been any work with Mario Sperry in terms of certain training sequences or iterations for preparing to fight under a rule set that allows for soccer kicks and face stomps, Katie Perez stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So he was teaching a seminar at the Ginsburg Academy in Boston. The Ginsburg Academy is the school under which my coach and our school is affiliated. So it’s Institute of Human Combat, Ginsburg Academy under Professor Dave and then Master Mario. So, it’s this like really nice, tight lineage that we have. Anytime he has a seminar up there, we usually try to make the trip up. My coach will bring a handful of students. We all pile into a van, load up, drive for 12 hours, do the seminar, and then drive back, same weekend.”
“It’s crazy. But it’s a very intense weekend. We were very, very fortunate to get to spend so much time with Master Mario with Mario Sperry. Within the seminar itself in the time, we show up a little late, we stay a little late. You’re on that Brazilian time [laughs] but it was very intensive. Selfishly I was really glad because there was some kind of jiu-jitsu tournament thing going on. I don’t know if it was a NAGA or something.”
“But a lot of people who would normally have been there were unable to come because they were attending that. Which meant that there was just a small handful of us with Mario Sperry for hours. So just asking questions, spending time, and then after one of the seminar sessions, we went out to eat dinner together. We spent time [together] and I just got to sit right across from the table. We pick his brain about what it’s like traveling to Japan, what things to look out for, how to deal with the jet lag.”
“So I got to just sit with this legend among a table of legends. There were like I think 14 black belts at this seminar which just a casual average day at professor Dave’s I guess. But no absolute legends of the sport, and among them my coach. It’s an honor to be such part of such a tight discipline and to have these personal connections. It’s something that I think a lot of fighters can really lose sight of.”
“You get excited to name drop or to work with somebody who’s got that shimmer on their name because of what they’ve done in the sport. But for me personally, like my coach is so tightly woven into all of this. I have access to him every day that as special as this was, and amazing as it was, and as appreciative of the opportunity that I am, I’m not going to say like, oh yeah, I got the secrets from Mario Sperry. I got to spend time with him and with Professor Dave. Like these are heroes that I have.”
“So, it’s amazing. But like my coach is right up there in that kind of echelon of fighters and of people who have been in the sport. Sorry I’m kind of rambling but like I did get to pick their brains and I did get to spend time with them. I got to roll with Professor Dave, and that means I got destroyed by Professor Dave. But like so nicely, so politely. So I got to see like holes in my game expressed in different ways because these people don’t roll with me every day or see the way I work every day.”
“Professor John ‘Doomsday’ Howard, it’s just like the quality of people within this super tight family of jiu-jitsu is phenomenal. Yes, it was a jiu-jitsu seminar, but we do a lot of MMA stuff, too. A lot of the Master Mario, Professor Doom, we are heavily involved in MMA. So, it’s just a really cool opportunity. Just cool perspectives as well, like we’re sitting at dinner and he’s going through his phone sharing pictures with me. I’m like, this is from like Pride days. This is so cool.”
“Like just pictures of UFC legends before they were legends. Back when they were like pimply kids kind of. Just very very cool. To be one of the fighters that he’s talked to, and he’s talked to so many people who have gone on to do great things. It’s just kind of like I’m in pretty phenomenal company. Even if I have lucked my way in here, like that kind of imposter syndrome still talking, even if I’m here by mistake, I’m here. I want to embrace that and be a part of that.”
“Well, allow myself to be a part of it because I already am. So [laughs], that’s kind of where I’m at with that. That was what I wanted to express with that post. Like I got to spend hours with absolute legends and just really rich training time. So very cool. Very cool way to kick off the last week of hard training.”
Katie Perez: “my ideal scenario is some beautiful violence” at Rizin 53
Even though this is a catchweight contest, Lotus is one of the top super atomweights in the company. Also, Seika Izawa recently vacated the RFF super atomweight crown. When touching on the potential opportunities that a win here could net her in a lower weight category later on, Katie Perez quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Yeah, absolutely. That’s definitely kind of where we’re at with this is eye on the prize. The only day that matters to me, the only day that exists is May 10th. If I shine the way I intend to shine on May 10th, yeah, like I am an atomweight. So, making 108 is even easier than 105. Which has always been an easy cut for me. So, it’s not like I’m overly concerned about it. But, yeah. No, that would be the dream would be to get frequent fights with Rizin at; I mean, I’m okay with the 51 kgs.”
“But like I would I would be delighted to fight in the super atomweight. Like you said, pieces are moving. That is a tapestry I would love to be a part of weaving, for sure.”
Broad strokes observations has resulted in many describing Lotus as a striking centric, sprawl and brawler who shows levelling up in her anti-grappling fight to fight, to keep things in the stand up realm. Conversely, Perez’s track record has multiple submission finishes that bolster her ledger. When asked if a submission finish is how we see the story unfurling on May 10th in Japan, Katie Perez said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“So I’m looking for a finish. I’ve never been one to win by decision [laughs]. You could see that right in my record. I’m not picky about how that finish happens. Whether it’s strikes or submission, I’m not picky about it. My goal is to be dominant, be forward moving, be pressuring, embracing who I am. I’m not a counter-fighter. I don’t think that’s a secret.”
“I think a lot of my fights are available to watch. I don’t think in any of them I successfully play the counter striker game cuz that’s just not who I am. I’m a very like ‘bull in a china shop, let’s go get this’ kind of person. Over time, I’ve been able to refine that, and within training do so more intelligently than just like head down, one-two, one-two, straight forward. Like I think I did that in my first fight and as an amateur like that’s what that amateur career was for. Like okay that’s who you are.”
“Let’s learn how to do that better. Yeah, I mean obviously if this goes to the ground, that’s a place I’m very, very comfortable and have a lot of success. But yeah, I’ve been developing my striking just as long as my grappling. I think a big part of why I’ve struggled to perform in the striking side of things is that mindset struggle. Kind of once things are on the ground, and you’re moving, there’s not really space for hesitation. Like you’re just in motion, and you’re in struggle, and you’re in tightness.”
“So whether you’re clinching or you’re just actually grappling, it’s all like; the pieces are already moving. So the gears are interlocked and you’re kind of stuck. In striking, if you are a person who can get that paralysis analysis, you can be stood there and get stung and then be like, “Wait, I’m supposed to respond. Oh, wait. Then get stung again. Then like you can have that kind of slinky effect. Where you’re not in sequence with the way that the timing is progressing. So I think it’s more exaggerated on the feet.”
“That’s why a lot of people will probably look at my fight career and be like, “Oh, she’s like 100% grappler and occasionally not true. I think of myself as an MMA fighter. [Grappling] is MMA-oriented. My striking MMA-oriented. A blend of the martial arts, the mixing of the martial arts. But yeah, the way that looks for me is a lot of forward pressure. A lot of foot on the gas type fighting, which, I think most people tend to like watching anyway.”
“So, hopefully it’ll be a nice exciting fight for everybody. I know that the Japanese fans are some of the best in the world with the way they respect what the coaches are doing and what the fighters are doing. Like the appreciation for the art of what’s happening in the cage. Like, yeah, okay, there’s the violence of it, but the violence is beautiful. That’s what I want to embody here is the beautiful violence.”
“So, that’s May 10th. That’s what to look for. That’s what my ideal scenario is some beautiful violence. My goal is to go out there and make myself proud. To leave everything in the cage. Whatever happens, a meteor could strike, and the fight is over. Like nobody knows what happens. But when I’m in there, win, lose, draw, anything, whatever happens, I want to bring my best. I’m going to bring my best self to that cage. I’m going to leave it all on the canvas, and we’ll see what happens.”
