The measure of a true fighter is not how they win, but how they rebound when they lose.
This is true of Australian fighter Bec Hyatt. Coming off a a KO loss that went viral early this year, Hyatt came back stronger, getting a submission win this past February. She started campaigning for another match shortly after; this time with Australian Fighting Championships. She got her wish, and will face a debuting Daniela Marjanovic on April 14 in Sydney.
We took some time to talk with Hyatt about her loss, and her will to get back to into training.
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Wombat Sports: How did you get started in MMA?Bec Hyatt: It was actually through meeting my husband, who is also an MMA fighter here in Australia & was running at the time one of the best fight teams in my home state of Tasmania.
I’d always been active in sports growing up such as basketball & gymnastics but was drawn to kickboxing as a way to lose some weight from my first pregnancy. I’d already been watching MMA on TV & during my kickboxing sessions the more I saw the guys training in MMA… the more I wanted to join in & play!! : ) Girls gotta have fun too right?? The rest is really history & I started learning more of an MMA base through a combination of boxing, kickboxing, submission grappling & freestyle wrestling!! : )
It wasn’t until I became half as good at all of it that I started to think about competing professionally & now I’ve moved my whole life interstate & am based in Queensland which is pretty much the hotbed for MMA in Australia & I have benefited greatly from the higher standard of training partners & instruction : )
Wombat: Your first MMA fight was a hard loss to say the least. Did you learn a lot from it?
Hyatt: Well truthfully it wasn’t really a hard loss for me… hardest thing to deal with was the fact I was winning the fight until I got caught!! I’m not the only person who thinks this (even some of my opponents team mates think this too… LOL that could stir the pot) & I’ve said numerous times that I would accept a re-match in a heart beat!! In fact… I agreed to a re-match in the freaking cage after the fight & a re-match for this upcoming Australian Fighting Championships card I’m fighting on but my opponent from my first fight has decided to move on to other things we’ve been told : (
I make no excuses really for that loss… I got caught & even though I lost the fight… I actually loved every second of it, had a blast in there & would love to do it again!! The fight gained a lot of publicity world-wide & I still think its kinda funny I benefited more so from it even though I was the one that went to sleep!! : ) Biggest things I learnt from that fight was not to fight so much with intent to hurt… to keep my hands higher & most importantly to not agree to fight 8kg above my natural weight class Haha!! The donuts on the way to the weigh-in tasted yummy though!! : )
WS: How was it getting back to the gym and training?
BH: I was back in the gym two days later & fighter sparring with guys 20kg heavier than me LOL!! All I got from the fight was a tiny black eye & a broken heart : ( The black eye got worse from sparring & the broken heart healed after my next fight a couple of months later : )
My trainer had a fight lined up for me 3 weeks later actually which I accepted but then we found out I’d been placed on a precautionary medical suspension by the promotion due to the knockout which was pretty disappointing for me!!
I remember watching a video review of the KO & the host said I’d probably never wanna fight again?? LOLBURGER… I’d love to slap that guy : ) I love this sport & am now training full-time… if anything the loss motivated me more & did me a favour!! Sometimes you’re the hammer & sometimes you’re the nail, you can’t expect to win them all & if you did well then I’m pretty sure everyone would be an MMA fighter these days!! So to answer all of that in short… well it was easy getting back into training ; )
WS: How is the fight scene in Australia in terms of female fighting?
BH: To be brutally honest with you… WMMA in Australia is almost nonexistent!! : ( One of the biggest problems here is a lot of promoters have the same stance that Dana White has (or had) & that is that females shouldn’t be fighting!! Dana I think is starting to change his views & hopefully so do most of the Aussie promoters as well :)
Major Aussie shows such as Fight World Cup & RIZE have promoted WMMA over the years & slowly but surely I’ve been changing the stances of others such as Cage Fighting Championships, Australian Fighting Championships & NITRO soooo hopefully soon there will be a lot more opportunities for us females : ) There are a lot of really talented & dedicated active WMMA fighters here in Australia such as Fiona Muxlow, Alex Chambers, Claire Fryer, Jessy Rose, Sarah Morrison & the Shindo Newbreed girls : ) Only problem with all those names is that almost all fight at differing weight classes… so as you can imagine… it’s very hard to get match ups going!! : (
I always think its funny though that people instantly think that because one female in Australia is looking for a fight, all of a sudden that female should fight another that’s 2-3 weight classes above!! That’s like a male lightweight fighting a middleweight… it just doesn’t happen!! One of the biggest peeves I also have is that us females here in Australia are expected to fight under different rules than the males do!! This is really offensive to me… if I wanna fight full rules under five-minute rounds… then I should be able to!! I have 2 arms, 2 legs & a heart beat just like any man & can guarantee I’ll fight harder than most of them!! : ) I can understand limiting rules for experience sake but to limit rules based on one’s gender is very sexist & not something I will ever support!! I’m in this to FIGHT… so let me FIGHT : )
WS: What do you know about your opponent?
BH: My opponent for Australian Fighting Championship 3 at The Arena in Geelong, Australia is Daniela Marjanovic from Sydney : ) I don’t know a lot about her… other than that she is more of a stand up fighter & that she has had two kickboxing fights.
I don’t really like to focus too much on what my opponent will be bringing to the table… I prefer to focus on what I’ll be bringing & what I’ll be bringing is a lot of violence!! : ) This is the first time I’m allowed to throw elbows… so expect a lot of them!! As I said in another interview… I’m confident I will be too strong, too fast & too blonde for her!!
For all my interstate & overseas supporters… you can watch the fight LIVE on April 14th at http://wwwepicentre.tv & I promise you won’t be disappointed by what you see!! Only a couple more days… starting to get excited!! : )
WS: Anyone you’d like to thank?
BH: Of course : ) It’s always important to me that I get to thank everyone who supports my dreams & makes my fight preparation as flawless as possible!! Firstly I’d like to thank you guys for interviewing me & for helping grow WMMA world-wide : )
Thank you to my awesome gym Impact Mixed Martial Arts in Brisbane, Australia… my trainers Malcolm Vanderaar, Dean Wall, Mark Brady, Dan Hyatt & all my awesome sparring partners who beat me up daily!!
A big thank you to my sponsors UNRIVALED, Suburban Armour Clothing, Pillfreak, Intensity Fight and Streetwear, Erkules Nutrition, Asylm Clothing, MMAPhotos.com.au, MMA Fighter Australia, ACR Security Protections, Sin City Tattoo & Body Piercing, Promo Shack Capalaba, Fighters Against Child Abuse Australia & Ring Card Girls & Fitness Models International!! : )
Also a big thank you to Adam & Jodie Richardson for looking after my two beautiful children while I train & fight, as well as my AWESOME fan base!! If you haven’t already… please be sure to check me out on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/rowdybec or Twitter @RowdyBec : ) <3
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