Sixty-four months removed from her first professional fight and defeat at the hands of Lisa Ward-Ellis, Jessica Aguilar is primed to avenge that loss.
With 15 fights and 11 victories to her credit, Aguilar’s a far different fighter than the lady Ward-Ellis faced in 2006.
“There’s a huge difference between the fighter before in me and the fighter now,” Aguilar recently told BleacherReport.com. “I respect Lisa, she’s a top athlete and she has a lot of skills. Now, I have five and a half years under my belt and I have a lot of experience now too, so it’s going to be a way different fight (on) Saturday November, 19 and I’m excited about this fight. (I’m) looking forward to Saturday.”
For Aguilar, the opportunity to avenge her first career loss comes in arguably no larger stage for female fighters.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney allowed the fans to cast votes in order to decide the fourth and final main card bout which airs on MTV 2. Aguilar is thankful for each vote cast.
“Well, first of all I’d like to thank all of the fans for all of the support I got on Twitter in voting for my fight to be televised Saturday the 19th. That’s why I got the TV spot, so I want to shout out and say thank you to everyone who was a part of that.
“I’m so excited, so excited to showcase my skills in the cage on MTV 2, so all my friends, family, and fans can see that we women train and fight as well as the men. For them to ask for more fights and hopefully this will help bring more female fights to the main card.”
A perfect record in 2011 and seven victories in her past eight fights is what Aguilar’s shooting for on Saturday night, and she’s prepared for the task at hand.
“It’s very exciting, I’m honored and grateful for the opportunity to be back in the cage and to work. I’m excited for this fight and this is actually the most important fight of my career. So, I’m focused and ready for Saturday and I’m just excited to also be showcasing my skills and avenge my loss on live TV.”
If she’s successful in defeating Ward-Ellis, she’ll be in line for the number one ranking in the division and a shot at Megumi Fujii.
“Lisa’s number three and I’m number two and my goal is to be number one. Megumi’s number one, so right now my focus is on Lisa and after my victory I’m focused on being in the number one spot and that’s Megumi.”
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