“She and I have been working together and she’s someone who is at the same point in their life,” she said of Buys, who earned a UFC contract with a unanimous decision win over Hilarie Rose at the start of August. “I can go to a gym and train with people, but some people are just doing it as a hobby, some people aren’t looking to win world titles, but Cheyanne is young and she’s hungry and she’s in the UFC now and we’re at that same point where we both want to train hard and with intensity and make each other better.”
In addition to getting in quality rounds with the talented 25-year-old prospect, this weekend’s bout with Lookboonmee also marks a couple key “seconds” for Frey, as it will be her second time competing in the 115-pound weight class and her second time through the UFC Fight Week experience, both of which bring her a little more comfort.
“I know I’m not going to be the biggest strawweight and I’m used to being the larger one in the weight class, but I will say, it’s a lot more enjoyable trying to gain weight and being stressed about trying to gain weight than being stressed about not being able to lose weight,” she joked. “That’s a new thing for me.
“It feels great to train hard and then be able to go home, eat your fill, and have a nice, full, satisfied belly, and then go to bed versus fighting off hunger most of the time.”
As for navigating her new surrounds, Frey was quick to point out that some athletes make a seamless transition when they arrive on the UFC stage, but that she’s someone who only truly feels comfortable after having experienced things a time or two.
“Some people, it doesn’t bother them; it’s water off a duck’s back,” she said. “Some people, myself being one of them, the more times I do something, the more I’m comfortable.
“Once I start learning everybody’s name and how we do things and I learn ‘when I get to Fight Week, it’s going to be this, this, and this’ and I don’t have to think about it — it’s business as usual.”
