Athletes
Erin Blanchfield Believes She's Right On Schedule
It's Been A Fast Rise For UFC Flyweight Erin Blanchfield, But She's Confident That She's Right Where She's Supposed To Be Heading Into Her Main Event Bout With Jessica Andrade.
Everyone rightfully saluted Erin Blanchfield as one of the baddest women on the planet when she accepted a fight with number one flyweight contender Taila Santos.
More jumped on the bandwagon when she was willing to up that fight to five rounds when the original Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen main event got moved from this Saturday to next month.
Want more? How about Santos pulling out of the fight and Blanchfield agreeing to face former world champion Jessica Andrade on short notice at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas?
Yeah, “Cold Blooded” is a special kind of fighter.
Fight By Fight Preview | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield
“I know I'm in this position because of how I've won my previous fights and I know I'm at that level to compete against the best in the world,” said Blanchfield matter of factly. “I know I'm relatively young, but I've been training my entire life, so I'm pretty confident. And the confidence comes from preparation, as well. It's not like I'm going in there blind. My coaches have been helping me and guiding me for this, and the next ones that will come. I know being in a main event that a title fight could be next. But I always try to stay super focused on what's ahead of me because if I don't win this one, that title fight won't be next. So I need to beat her first.”
Andrade is as high on the badass level at Blanchfield, as “Bate Estaca” is a three-division contender who won the strawweight title and is now fighting at 115 and 125 pounds. But after a big win over Lauren Murphy last month, a victory on Saturday could put her back in line for a second shot at flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. But getting past Elmwood Park, New Jersey’s Blanchfield is no easy task, and that’s why the 23-year-old is here this fast.
How fast?
Blanchfield only made her UFC debut in September of 2021, and since that opening victory over Sarah Alpar, she’s added three more wins over Miranda Maverick, JJ Aldrich and Molly McCann, the latter two coming by submission. And in the McCann fight last November, despite fighting in her own backyard at Madison Square Garden, Blanchfield silenced a pro-McCann crowd with a one-sided domination that ended with her brushing off her shoulders as the ref pulled her off the Brit. It wasn’t exactly jumping on the fence in celebration, but it was a hint that she was enjoying the whole process.
FREE FIGHT: Blanchfield vs McCann
“Oh, I definitely am,” said Blanchfield. “I've been training since I was a kid and being a professional fighter is something I've wanted to do since I was around maybe 12 years old or so, so I definitely do enjoy it. It is a tough business, and you really have to love the sport to enjoy it. But I definitely do, and I love everybody that I spend the time at the gym with and train with, so that helps a lot, too. And then getting the wins, it's kind of like it's for me, but it's for all of us because everybody puts so much work into me. So I definitely enjoy it.”
Erin Blanchfield Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield
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Erin Blanchfield Fight Week Interview | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield
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It was a question that needed to be asked, because if anyone lives up to her nickname on fight night, it’s Blanchfield, the epitome of all business once the Octagon gate closes. That’s made her a low-key fan favorite in her time in the UFC, but does the flip of the switch from Erin to “Cold Blooded” shock some of those around her?
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“I think when I first became a professional, it definitely surprised my extended family - aunts and uncles and cousins and stuff - a little bit more,” she said. “They always knew I trained, because I've been training since I was a kid, but they only knew me as Erin, their cousin or their niece or nephew. So they didn't really think of me in that way. But I think once they saw me fight a couple times, I could tell that they definitely got used to it. They could see that it's like you could be a different person in there versus out of there. It's a sport, like anything else. So you need to put your game face on and do what you’ve got to do, but you can be your normal self when you're out of there.”
It's that “game face” Blanchfield that is taking the UFC by storm. No, she hasn’t been perfect, losing a split decision to Tracy Cortez in a 2019 Invicta FC bout, and she had some adjustments to make after facing some adversity against Aldrich last year. But after beating quality foes in Invicta like Kay Hansen, Victoria Leonardo and Brogan Walker, then going four for four in the Octagon, she’s injected new life into a division where it’s largely been Shevchenko and everybody else. And though some see this as strictly a sporting event, Blanchfield remembers that at its core, it’s a fight.
“I think some people are definitely born a little bit more adapt to competing,” she said. “Some people, it never bothers them. They're always able to perform and show out, where some people always get a little bit caught up in the lights. And then I think also just being raised in the sport, I've been competing since I was eight years old, and in jitsu and kickboxing, obviously as a kid the striking wasn't as intense; it'd be just to the body. So there were no finishes, but in jitsu, the goal is always to submit your opponent, so you're always trying to choke them or armbar them or do something. So I think coming up, competing, combined with what I was born with, it doesn't bother me to be in that spotlight, and I think it’s what set me up for where I'm at now.”
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Where is Erin Blanchfield at? Perhaps one win over a former world champion to be in the title conversation against perhaps the most dominant titleholder in the world.
Sounds like fun.
“It's funny because, yeah, I'm definitely moving up, but my lifestyle is still very similar,” Blanchfield said. “I'm in the gym multiple times a day, and everybody I've been training with, I've been training with since I was like 15, 16 years old. So it's nothing crazy. Everybody knows me. And your coaches still treat you the same. They're still trying to make you better. You don't have yes men that just think you're amazing because you've been winning. No, they're still always trying to get me better. They know that I can get better and that if I want to be the best in the world, I have to. So it's kind of been the same. I'm super focused and I keep good people around me that keep me that way. And yeah, I'm just enjoying the process.”
UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 18, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
