ONE ON ONE FT. SADIE WILLIAMS
[We open to an interview in what looks to be a hotel lobby–on one side of the table is everyone’s personal hype girl, Kayla Chapman, all dressed up and ready for the camera; on the other, is the Lightweight Champion, Sadie Williams, very much not dressed up for the camera, looking more like she’s in the middle of her weight cut and setting time aside for the interview, as she’s in a hoodie and sweats even as the weather’s comfortably in the mid-70s.]
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome, welcome, welcome to another Union Grand Prix weekend! Joining me for another edition of our One on One series of interviews, the NEW! Two-time, two-time, Lightweight Champion of Worrrrrrrrrld!”
[Sadie’s already struggling not to burst out laughing, but even Kayla can’t keep her act up anymore, sputtering as her R rolls a decent bit. She manages to recover herself, though, and moves forward without the ceremony.]
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Joining me is, of course, Sadie Williams, and Sadie, thank you so much for taking time out of your weekend.”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Yeah, absolutely, always a pleasure.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “So, before we talk about anything else, I want to ask you something that we didn’t really get a chance to discuss before the fight with Jordan: we talked about getting to fight in Canada, but we didn’t really address that you had the chance to win the title in your own country. And obviously, that’s exactly what happened, with one of the absolute craziest submissions we’ve ever seen! Before we get to that, though–and we will–walk me thru that feeling. You’ve just got your hand raised, you’ve just got the belt wrapped around your waist…”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “To be honest, K, it felt like all of Canada was cheering. It was crazy, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a building that loud. It was such a crazy moment, I mean…I was standing right next to Mike, and I could barely even hear him say my name. It was…everything I coulda wanted, it was the biggest night of my career, no question about it. Winning the title the first time was crazy, getting a win over someone like Paige was wild, but the only way it coulda been better, a couple months ago, was if we were in Vancouver instead.”
[Sadie laughs a little bit as she pushes the hair out of her face.]
SADIE WILLIAMS: “I don’t think I woulda been allowed to sleep, if that was the case–let alone able to!”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “We have to talk about the finish, though. Where did that even come from?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Purists are gonna hate me for saying this, but…eh, it is what it is. So, I’ve talked in the past about growing up a huge pro wrestling fan. I’m only in this sport, because I thought I was joining a pro wrestling club, ended up being olympic wrestling. Anyway, there was a guy that used to wrestle in Washington called Brian Moreau, and that was his whole deal. He’d just throw people around, and use the throws to end up in holds. Now, that doesn’t exactly translate well to MMA, but I’ve kinda played with how I could make that work, what throws could I transition to holds, just take away any reaction time. I never thought I’d get a chance to try it in an actual fight, let alone a title fight, but…I got Jordan’s back up against the cage, and just figured, what the hell right? Worst case scenario, I end up hitting a takedown instead of the transition, and I’m right back where I wanna be anyway.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “I crunched the numbers before we got together to chat, that was your sixth submission win since coming up from Everest, and all six have been with different holds–is this on purpose, or are you just seeing openings?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “I…absolutely fucking love that I’ve made it so you have to ask that question.”
[Sadie can’t help herself, she just bursts into laughter.]
SADIE WILLIAMS: “And I wish I could say, yeah, it’s totally on purpose, I have a rolodex in my brain of what holds I’ve finished people with and I just don’t go for them anymore, but to be honest, my style has always been a little more…fluid, I guess? Like, I can improvise to pretty much whatever I need to improvise to, so I’m just reacting to what people give me. I didn’t set out to Gogoplata Paige, I didn’t set out to choke out Maddox, it’s just what I found in the moment. My goal is pretty straight forward, it’s just to get the job done, get my hand raised. Whatever else happens, whatever other stats? It’s all cool, don’t get me wrong, I love that and now I wanna see how long I can keep that streak going for, but like. If someone gives me their back, I’m not gonna ignore a choke just because I’ve won a fight with it before.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “That’s kinda what I figured, but…yanno, you gotta ask, right?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Hey, there’s gonna be someone out there, that the answer to that question is absolutely, 100% it’s a conscious effort, they wanna do that. For me, it just happens to play out that way.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Fair enough. But let’s get back on track, obviously that win over Jordan made you just the third person to hold the Lightweight Championship more than once, and you’ve already held the title longer than Jordan’s or Paige’s combined reigns. So even before you ever kicked this reign off, you were trailing only Delaney Donovan, obviously, in terms of days as champion, most defenses, so on. Does that…I don’t wanna say lessen your hunger, but does it make 155 feel…finished, I guess? Or is chasing Delaney’s records what you’re going for now?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “No, I wouldn’t say 155 is ‘finished’ for me, at all. Yeah, I’ve fought most of the top 5 at this point, but top to bottom this division’s full’a killers. Any given night, things could go really good or really bad for you–I mean, I thought I had Benji beat a year or so ago, and he turned that all the way around on me. At the same time…I dunno if I measure myself against anyone else, really. Obviously, if I could have that kind reign, if I could hold this title for literal years like Delaney did, that would be amazing, but I’m more worried about what I do with the belt while I have it, than how long I have it for.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Well then, let’s talk about what you’re doing with that belt–specifically, this weekend’s fight. Marcela Vargas, one of the most aggressive fighters at 155, and in a division that has the likes of 2Face Rodriguez, that’s frankly saying a lot. This seems like a pretty obvious fight, stylistically; how do you see it playing out, do you see that classic striker vs. grappler approach?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Not really, honestly.”
[Kayla looks…surprised by that, but she doesn’t interrupt, since normally when Sadie says stuff like that, she elaborates.]
SADIE WILLIAMS: “I mean, okay. Yes, most of what we’ve seen from her has been on the feet, and she’s been crazy effective for the most part. But we really haven’t seen her have to test the ground game, except in the fight against Maddox Moon. And even then, she was basically able to neutralize all of his attacks, and eventually got the fight back where she had more of an advantage, so like…she’s clearly skilled on the ground, even if it’s just defensively. But we haven’t really had to see her really fight on the ground since she came to Union, so I think that makes this weekend’s fight exciting for me. Here’s someone who’s not afraid of where anyone has an advantage–she ran up on Masato Endo, she stood and banged with Trevor Martin, and she neutralized Maddox Moon, definitely don’t counter her out just because we haven’t seen her have to resort to something.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “I mean, she is unbeaten since coming to Union–although there’s that glaring issue of the No Contest with Trevor back at UGP 66…”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Yeah, I know that’s kinda people’s talking point about her, thus far in her career, but they lined it right back up and she got the win–maybe not in the same kind of convincing fashion she might’ve hoped, but she won.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “She definitely seemed to be starting to fade in that fight, I mean, Trevor turned a two round deficit, including a 10-8 first round, into a razor close decision by the end; is that something you think might be in your favor, pushing the fight into the later rounds?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “That seems like the one big weakness she’s shown so far, huh? She’s a headhunter, and I’ve fought a lot of headhunters; if you can withstand it, they burn themselves out pretty quick. But the thing with people like that, they know that’s a thing. They know that’s a problem of theirs, so they approach fights differently. I’ve watched Marcela fight, she approaches from unusual angles, she’s a little wild, she throws jumping strikes and…I dunno, she always seems to be looking for some big, spectacular finish…”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “That must feel familiar, huh?”
[Kayla winks playfully, forcing Sadie to roll her eyes a little and give her a playful shove.]
SADIE WILLIAMS: “I dunno what you’re talking about.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Of course not, you would never, right?”
[Again, Kayla grins.]
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “There is also the talk about experience–you’ve got nearly twice the cage experience Marcela has, to the point that she actually debuted in Union, after you’d lost the title to Benji…”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “That is…a wild sentence.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “I know…every time I think, like, ‘they must’ve been around for a while, right?’, turns out it’s barely been a year and they’re just nonstop, pushing forward. But, I guess my question is, do you see that as an advantage? Just…that much more experience, that much more cage time, especially in a Union GP main event kind of fight? I’m not exactly a math whiz, but I think you’ve had more cage time in title fights than she’s had…cage time in Union altogether…”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Which is another sentence that sounds wrong, but I’ll take your word for it. And yeah, I mean…there’s definitely no arguing with actual repetition, right? It’s like training, or practice, or anything else. It can give you an idea, but until you’re actually in there, you don’t know if you’re in fight shape or not. It’s easy to say, like…oh yeah, the spotlight doesn’t affect me at all, especially when you’re going into your first big fight, but you don’t actually know if it does or not. Maybe…yanno, they talk about that adrenaline dump before your first fight, maybe that hits her when the lights are on bright. Or maybe she fights even harder, maybe she comes in with a statement to make. I dunno, what I do know is I’d be stupid to underestimate her–no matter what criticisms there are of her game, her cardio or her aggression or her this, that, or the other, if I start thinking, like, ‘eh, I’ve been here before, it’s no big deal,’ I’ma get separated from my senses. And I’m not trying to be another one-and-down champ at 155.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Fair enough!”
[Kayla shrugs her shoulders and nods.]
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “I had one more question, then I’ll let you go, I know this weekend’s crazy for you, and it’s kind of touching on something I asked about earlier–you mentioned you still felt like you had things to do at 155, but being the only one to have defended the belt more than once since Delaney…play hypothetical with me. You win this weekend, you’re STILLLLLL the Lightweight Champion–do you look for a rematch with someone like Benji or 2Face, maybe a fight with another relative newcomer in Johnny Laws? Or is there an appeal in looking at other weight classes already? Moving to 145, or even all the way up to 170?”
SADIE WILLIAMS: “Right now, I’m focused on mine. I want to be what Delaney was to this weight, I wanna be what Victoria Marshall was to Bantamweight, I wanna be that champion that sets standards for the weight that everyone else has to chase. Right now, I’m not worried about any other weight class, I know we all like to talk about…about superfights or whatever, those big matchups. And I get it, I see a few that would be interesting, but right now? Nah, that’s not on my radar at all, I wanna make sure everybody knows who runs 155 now.”
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Can’t blame a girl for asking! Sadie, thank you so much for your time…”
[Sadie smiles and nods, as Kayla turns back to the camera.]
KAYLA CHAPMAN: “Ladies and gentlemen, be sure you check out this weekend’s 7th, seventh, anniversary show: three title fights on the line, Bantamweight, Lightweight, and Middleweight, as well as pivotal matchups at Featherweight and Welterweight that might just determine the next challengers for those titles!”
[And with that, the video cuts.]
