Kalindra Faria ‘stressed’ with passport issues ahead of WSOF 15 title fight

Kalindra Faria will challenge Jessica Aguilar for the WSOF strawweight championship on Saturday night in Tampa, Fla., but she’s still grounded in Brazil.

Fighting outside of her home country for the first time in her professional career, Faria (15-3-1) missed her flight to the United States due to passport and visa issues.

“My weight cut is a little stressing because I’m still trying to get my passport and visa to fly to the United States,” Faria told MMAFighting.com on Thursday morning. “My visa was approved on Friday and I was supposed to travel Tuesday, but the consulate always says it’s something missing. I have to cut weight and go from Taubate to Sao Paulo every day to ask for my passport, so it’s complicated.”

WSOF 15 official weigh-ins take place tomorrow in Tampa, and the Brazilian strawweight expects to get there a few hours before stepping on the scale at 115 pounds.

“I have a flight ticket to leave tonight, at 11 p.m., and I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to cut all the weight before weigh-ins tomorrow, so I’m cutting the most I can now,” she said. “Weigh-in is set for 2:30 p.m. and I’ll get there at 9:30 a.m., so we’ll see. I’m dehydrating, cutting weight, so I’m stressed.”

A few hours later, WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed to MMAFighting.com that all the issues were solved.

“Kalindra just got her visa and is on her way to the U.S.,” Abdel-Aziz said.

Faria makes her WSOF debut in a title fight after racking up 11 consecutive victories with six stoppages, and she’s confident she will finish Aguilar on Saturday night.

“The fight won’t be as hard as this whole madness,” Faria said with a laugh. “I expect a great fight, the fight of the night. She likes to box, works close to the fence and go for submissions, but I trained hard for that. I always fought jiu-jitsu black belts, so I’m used to that game. I’m training so she won’t be able to surprise me with anything.”

“I will bring this title to Brazil,” she continued. “I want to finish her. In order to defeat the champion, you have to really beat the champion. I can submit her, I can knock her out. I have an aggressive style, and I’ll do my best to finish this fight. I know everything she does and how she does. It’s going to be a great fight. I’m coming off a great winning streak and it’s an important fight for me.”

Kalindra Faria will challenge Jessica Aguilar for the WSOF strawweight championship on Saturday night in Tampa, Fla., but she’s still grounded in Brazil.

Fighting outside of her home country for the first time in her professional career, Faria (15-3-1) missed her flight to the United States due to passport and visa issues.

“My weight cut is a little stressing because I’m still trying to get my passport and visa to fly to the United States,” Faria told MMAFighting.com on Thursday morning. “My visa was approved on Friday and I was supposed to travel Tuesday, but the consulate always says it’s something missing. I have to cut weight and go from Taubate to Sao Paulo every day to ask for my passport, so it’s complicated.”

WSOF 15 official weigh-ins take place tomorrow in Tampa, and the Brazilian strawweight expects to get there a few hours before stepping on the scale at 115 pounds.

“I have a flight ticket to leave tonight, at 11 p.m., and I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to cut all the weight before weigh-ins tomorrow, so I’m cutting the most I can now,” she said. “Weigh-in is set for 2:30 p.m. and I’ll get there at 9:30 a.m., so we’ll see. I’m dehydrating, cutting weight, so I’m stressed.”

A few hours later, WSOF executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed to MMAFighting.com that all the issues were solved.

“Kalindra just got her visa and is on her way to the U.S.,” Abdel-Aziz said.

Faria makes her WSOF debut in a title fight after racking up 11 consecutive victories with six stoppages, and she’s confident she will finish Aguilar on Saturday night.

“The fight won’t be as hard as this whole madness,” Faria said with a laugh. “I expect a great fight, the fight of the night. She likes to box, works close to the fence and go for submissions, but I trained hard for that. I always fought jiu-jitsu black belts, so I’m used to that game. I’m training so she won’t be able to surprise me with anything.”

“I will bring this title to Brazil,” she continued. “I want to finish her. In order to defeat the champion, you have to really beat the champion. I can submit her, I can knock her out. I have an aggressive style, and I’ll do my best to finish this fight. I know everything she does and how she does. It’s going to be a great fight. I’m coming off a great winning streak and it’s an important fight for me.”