All eyes will be on 8th ranked Strawweight Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig and Simona Soukupova as the XFC makes its first appearance in Charlotte, NC for XFC 19 from the Grady Cole Center on Friday, August 3rd. The two women will compete in the co-main event of the evening, live on AXStv, in a fight that will pit the two feared knockout artists against each other in the XFC cage.
Coming into XFC 17 earlier this Spring, Women’s MMA fans wanted to see how Felice Herrig would rebound from her disappointing loss to Carla Esparza in her last outing. Herrig was slated to face the red hot Patricia Vidonic, who had won five out of her previous six fights. When the bell rang “Lil Bulldog” showed the world why she is a blue chip prospect at 115 pounds, by dominating the fight standing and on the ground for three rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory.
XFC President John Prisco watched the fight cageside and was blown away by Herrig’s performance that night. “Felice dominated Patricia in Jackson,” recalled Prisco. “I was curious to see how she would handle herself coming off a loss. Some fighters play it safe or come out a little tentatively, but not Felice, she won 30-27 on all three scorecards that night and looked like a completely different fighter. She has become so well rounded. People think she’s just a kickboxer but she has it all now; wrestling, jiu jitsu, and striking. I’m very proud of her for the performance against a very tough veteran like Patricia Vidonic.”
Herrig will now turn her attention to Simona Soukupova, who has turned heads with two knockouts in three fights as a professional. The UK native will look to drail Herrig’s momentum and make a name for herself as she makes her XFC debut.
“I’m really intrigued with Herrig vs. Soukupova,” explained Prisco. If you are a fan of Women’s MMA, you know who Felice Herrig is. Simona has flown under the radar over here in the United States because she has only competed in shows in the UK and Spain. I think when fans get to see how explosive she is inside the cage, she will get the respect she deserves. Felice is going to be a test for her and I think on paper Herrig may be the favorite because of her experience. But you can’t count out Simona either, her striking is amazing. She also has a very good ground game and I hope Felice isn’t taking her lightly. It has all the ingredients to be a good fight and I can’t wait to get to Charlotte for the fight.”
Be sure and catch all the action LIVE this Friday night starting at 9pm ET on AXStv (formerly HDNet).
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