UFC women’s flyweight fighter Katlyn Cerminara (née Chookagian) opened up about the tragedy she has been through in the past year. Cerminara went through multiple rounds of IVF and also had two miscarriages. She last fought at UFC 280 in October 2022. The “Blonde Fighter” is finally returning almost a year and a half later and her hiatus was not for normal sports injuries.
Cerminara opened up her UFC 299 media day with explanations about her name. She claimed she was married around five years ago and legally changed her name from Chookagian to Cerminara soon after. However, she kept Chookagian in the UFC for her dedicated Armenian fans. At UFC 299, she is fighting under her legal name Cerminara for the first time.
Deep into the interview, she was asked about injuries that kept her out of fighting. Cerminara opened up about the true reason for which she was out. She said, “Actually, so for the past year, I’ve been going through fertility treatments. It’s been a long year, that’s kind of why I thought I was going to be taking [time] off from fighting a little longer. For the last year, I went through three, four rounds of IVF, and I had two miscarriages.
“It’s been a tough year, but I wanted to take a break from that, not just mentally but physically. And going through fertility is so hard. It’s so hard that I’m taking a fight to take a mental and physical break from fertility treatments. I’m taking a fight, because this is way, way easier than dealing with that.”
Cerminara was skeptical about opening up about her issues during media day. She felt that it would be seen as gaining sympathy.
Katlyn Cerminara weighed 170 lbs when she decided to take up a fight and get back in shape
As said by the “Blonde Fighter”, the fighting process was easier for her than what she was going through in her life. Soon after she received the news about her second miscarriage, she went on a dinner with her manager. She asked him to get her a fight because she wanted to get her mind off her personal issues.
She said, “In the summer after I had my second miscarriage, I was 170lbs from all the hormones and everything. Taking this fight wasn’t just ‘okay, here’s a camp, let’s get in shape.’ It was dealing with the mental load of that, getting over that, and then it’s like ‘Okay, I’m already big for 125, so now I’m even bigger.’ So I had to kind of reset my body, I needed a little bit of extra time to get back into fight shape.”
CHAMPIONSHIP VIBES. 🏆
🇰🇬 @BulletValentina vs. 🇺🇸 @BlondeFighter
Get the E+ PPV ➡️ https://t.co/AjIbEjcpmG #UFC247 pic.twitter.com/4Q0dYK8wIS
— UFC (@ufc) February 9, 2020
Katlyn Cerminara made her UFC debut in July 2016 and even went on to fight for the flyweight title. She faced defeat against Valentina Shevchenko in the title fight at UFC 247. Currently, she is #4 in the rankings and hopes to get back in the title race.
Katlyn Cerminara believes she is a few good fights away from the UFC Flyweight Title shot
Cerminara faces #6 ranked Maycee Barber at UFC 299 on March 9, 2024, in the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Barber is on a five-match win streak while Cerminara lost her last fight against Manon Fiorot.
Barber believes Cerminara is gatekeeping the champion. A win over the “Blonde Fighter” should have “The Future” in the title conversation.
UFC 299 Fight Card 🏆 🏝️
Main Card:
Sean O’Malley (c) vs. Marlon Vera 2 for the UFC bantamweight title
Dustin Poirier vs. Benoit Saint Denis
Kevin Holland vs. Michael “Venom” Page
Gilbert Burns vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Petr Yan vs. Song YadongPrelims:
Curtis Blaydes vs.… pic.twitter.com/BBYQC7cXqS
— MMA UNCENSORED (@MMAUNCENSORED1) March 7, 2024
Katlyn Cerminara, however, does not think she is too far away either. She has been in the top five rankings for the majority of her career. She said, “I think that I’m, always kind of, you know, one or two good fights away from a title shot.”
Cerminara claimed that their fight was scheduled for December then it got pushed to January and later March. She believes she has gone through two camps and is ready to take on Barber. An exciting fight awaits us in the prelims of UFC 299.