“It sucks to lose,” Chookagian said. “And then especially it being such a close decision where I think that fight could’ve went either way, and I know I didn’t fight to my best ability in that fight, so it really sucks. I just wish it got finished in the first and then been like, ‘Damn, she was so much better than me,’ but I know I could’ve won that fight.”
That said, she finds herself in a rare circumstance after the loss: exactly where she was before. In Chicago, she takes on Joanne Calderwood in yet another fight that could determine who gets to go for the flyweight belt once it’s all said and done at UFC 238, and Chookagian knows enough to appreciate her position.
“I see some of the guys I train with, lose a No. 1 contender spot, and it takes them like a year or two years to build back up to there,” she said. “I’m very fortunate to be in the position that I am where it’s just, ‘Oh, you had a bad night? OK, do it again this night.’”
