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Payant set for professional MMA debut

Date: 3/5/2015

WEST SPRINGFIELD – It has been a long road, but it’s now time for one local fighter to “Soulja” on to the professional ranks.

After seven years and 10 amateur bouts, Greenfield native and West Springfield resident Sarah “Soulja” Payant is slated to make her professional mixed martial arts debut March 13 against Janice Meyer as part of CES MMA XXVIII at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, R.I.

“I had 10 fights as an amateur which is more than average so I think the experience I had at that level puts me ahead of the game against fighters that only had four, five or six fights and went pro. I got to see a lot of different things as an amateur, which has helped me prepare for what I will experience as a pro,” Payant told Reminder Publications. “I am thankful that I got to fight different style fighters which has helped me be ready for any opponent even without a lot of knowledge of someone’s fight style. I feel comfortable going into a fight blind of their specific capabilities and still come out the better fighter.”

A 2007 graduate of Pioneer Valley Regional School who will turn 26 shortly after her first professional competition, Payant is stepping into professional MMA seemingly at the perfect time as interest in women fighters has never been higher.

On Feb. 28, Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Pay-Per-View featured co-headline events of bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey versus Cat Zingano and Holly Holm versus Raquel Pennington, which drew more than 17,500 fans to the Staples Center in Los Angeles with a gate of $2.7 million.

Pay-Per-View figures were not available as of press time, but were anticipated to be extremely strong.

“Who would have thought women would be leading the event as the main and co-main bouts?” Payant said. “Women had to prove themselves more that we belong in the sport too. I think its great and will only go up from here for women in MMA.”

Payant, who first got into the sport when she noticed her local gym offering a cardio muay thai class through which she eventually met her first MMA coach, recounted her early struggles to break into the sport, recalling it was sometimes “felt impossible in the beginning” to even find a suitable opponent.

“It took years until we saw women doing this sport and I think we should be thanking the few female fighters that have been doing it for years but didn't get recognition until more recent years,” she said. “The sport as a whole had become more popular and I can remember when people didn’t think much of it except that it was a bar fight with a referee. People were skeptical for a long time.”

Payant described herself as a fighter without a defined style, “but I do favor my [Brazilian Jiu Jitsu] and have a lot of confidence in my ground game as well as striking.”

Training in West Springfield with Gabriel “Gladiator” Santos, an accomplished fighter now considered a premier MMA coach, for nearly five years as she waited for her shot, Payant said she’s extremely confident heading into the fight.

“I am more excited than anything. I have waiting to go pro for a while now and I’m ready. My training changes in a way, of course, but it still feels the same to me. For me I still am going to train hard and do my best,” she said. “I just think of it as the rounds are 2 minutes longer and the rules change a little.

“My coach is one of the best so I’m confident that our teamwork will always come out on top. Nerves are always there you just get used to finding a way to deal with them, they all go away the second you get out there in the cage,” she added.

Those interested in attending Payant’s bout can contact her directly through Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Sarah-Soulja-Payant/516886865064635 or email at smpayant@gmail.com. Tickets are $41.