[When the video starts playing, it’s back in the studio, with Isaac Cohen on one end of the table, and the challenger for the Bantamweight Championship, Isabel Azevedo, on the other, behind whom stands her usual translator. When the recording light turns on, Izzi waves to the camera, smiling a big smile to anyone watching, while Isaac straightens up and prepares for the interview.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Union GP One on One, ahead of this weekend’s massive UGP 44 event–I’m here with one half of the main event, the Bantamweight Grand Prix final, and the challenger for the Bantamweight Championship, Isabel Azevedo! Izzi, thank you so much for joining me.”
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(Of course, wonderful to be here!)”
ISAAC COHEN: “I think, before we get started, we really have to acknowledge the drastic change in landscape that the 135 pound division has gone through in the course of this tournament, particularly at the top–obviously, this weekend’s fight is the for the Bantamweight Championship, currently held, of course, by Redd Lennox, who dethroned Gianna Howard in spectacular fashion back at UGP 42.”
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(Yeah, definitely, she kinda came out of nowhere and took the whole division by storm, it’s actually been really impressive to watch her handle the people she’s fought so far. Defeating Dallas Meechan is a tough task, defeating Gianna’s even harder, and she made both of those fights look…relatively easy, so it’s…it’s kinda crazy, how quick things can change.)”
ISAAC COHEN: “It only takes one night to turn an entire division on its head, especially in the middle of a Grand Prix. Speaking of which, let’s go back a little bit–obviously, the last time we were in Brazil, you challenged Gianna for the title, that…didn’t go the way you wanted it to go, but since then, you’ve come back with three really significant wins: submitting the first Bantamweight Champ, Lauren Moore; a tightly contested Split Decision win over the very talented Ciaran Callahan; and then a tough start against Rachel Parsons, before coming back to snatch that armbar in the second round, to move on to the final. Coming off those three wins, how are you feeling heading into the final this weekend?”
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(I feel good, yeah. Confident. You always want to come back from losses better than you were, and I think I’ve done that through this tournament. The fight with Ciaran was close, that one could’ve gone either way; the fight with Rachel, to be plain, she could’ve ended that fight very early, but…overall, I’m pretty happy with the way I’ve come back since the title fight, and this weekend is my chance to make all that work pay off. All that said, I said it a second ago, Redd’s shown a lot of talent, a lot of drive, which…there’s no substitute for desire, and she certainly has that. She’s a dangerous striker in particular, so…I’ve got to be at my best from the moment the fight starts if I want to get the win.)”
ISAAC COHEN: “You’ve had some…I think it’s fair to say, unexpected success in the past, going toe to toe with some of the better strikers at 135 pounds, but since coming on the scene, Redd has presented a different kind of problem for…I mean, really, everybody in the division; how do you see this fight playing out, is it really as simple as the striker vs. grappler matchup?”
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(Yeah, she’s been…I think I described her once during training as beautifully simplistic; I haven’t really seen her do anything too flashy that I can remember off the top of my head, she’s not out there to look good, she’s out there to be good, and so far, it’s been unquestionably successful. She came into the tournament with relatively little hype, and has built a major following for herself in just a few short fights.)”
[Izzi takes a second to take a sip from her water bottle, mulling over her thoughts for a moment.]
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(As far as the fight this weekend goes, I don’t think I’m telling any big secrets here–the long and short of it is, yes, striker vs. grappler. I don’t think she’ll want to pick a fight on the ground with me, and I don’t think it’s particularly smart for me to stand in front of her and trade punches. And…all that’s obviously easier said than done, you never know what can happen in a fight, but in the simplest terms? Yeah, I think that’s fair–I think I present a different kind of problem for her than she’s faced in Union so far. She’s only really fought people who are happy to stand and strike with her up to this point, and…I’m not trying to be dismissive of that, she’s been very good up to this point, but nobody’s shown her anything different since she came to Union. She hasn’t had to adapt to anything up to this point, and…I’m going to give her a lot of looks she’s never seen in a Union cage yet. Hopefully they help turn the fight in my favour.)”
[Isaac nods a couple times during Izzi’s speech, but opts not to interrupt–possibly more to spare the translator a few seconds than anything else.]
ISAAC COHEN: “I did have one more question I want to ask before we let you go, obviously this week’s pretty hectic for you and we don’t want to take up too much time before such an important night, but…I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask, your contract is officially up even before this fight, so…obviously you and Dante have an agreement for this weekend, but what…what happened there, what led to that not getting renewed sooner?”
[Izzi smiles a little bit and shakes her head, having a momentary conversation with the translator before turning back to Isaac.]
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(Part of it was just the timing, the tournament going on and everything, but…to answer the question I assume you want answered, yes, I’m planning on re-signing after this weekend one way or the other, just…with everything going on, we didn’t really have a chance to sit down. But, win or lose, this weekend’s not the last time I’ll be in a Union cage.)”
ISAAC COHEN: “Well, fair enough. Had to ask, though, you never know what can come up.”
[Isaac turns to the camera to address the audience.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, be sure to tune in this weekend, to an absolutely jam-packed UGP 44, featuring a monstrous Heavyweight clash between Viktor Volkov and Dax Levandrier, a Middleweight fight between potential title challengers Travis Decker and Derrius Webb, and of course the main event, the final of the Bantamweight Grand Prix, our guest here today, Isabel Azevedo, challenging the reigning champ Redd Lennox for the Bantamweight Title! Izzi, thank you for the time, best of luck this weekend.”
ISABEL AZEVEDO: “(Thank you so much.)”
[Izzi waves to the camera as Isaac wraps up the interview, and the video comes to a stop.]