Every fighter says some version of that sentiment, but it seems completely within the bounds of reality for Jandiroba. Her lone pro loss was her UFC debut, a decision that went to former strawweight champion Carla Esparza. It wasn’t the splash she had hoped to make, but with Esparza knocking on the door of a shot to get her belt back, Jandiroba doesn’t dwell on that April 2019 night in Sunrise, Florida.
“I think when I lost that fight, it was definitely a shock. Professionally, it was a reality check that I needed to change a lot of things.”
The changes were evident, and she followed up that loss with back-to-back submission clinics over Mallory Martin and veteran Felice Herrig, despite the unique challenges 2020 has offered Jandiroba and her peers.
“It has been hard. Obviously in our sport it’s practically impossible to have social distance, so my last camp for Felice (Herrig) had a total of four people, just all in the same house, everyone together. Now we’re able to bring a few more people in, but it has been tough.”
Tough, certainly. But if she can distinguish her skill set from Dern’s on the world stage, the sky will be the limit for the “Carcara.”
