Interview with "Fighter Girl of the Month: Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc"

"I want to be the best 105lb fighter in the world and top ten 115lb fighter. I want to Fight in England, Spain, and Mexico before I retire. I want to earn my black belt in BJJ." These are the goals of this month's "Fighter Girl of the Month: Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc". She will be fighting this month on Invicta FC 2 and took some time out of her training to share with Fighter Girls about her training, her experience fighting on Invicta and more! ABOUT HER TRAINING: "I train at Ultimate Performance Complex Tulsa (@UPCtulsa) at our facility they train Athletes to perform better at their sport. They train professional,collegiate,high school and kids Athletes that do Basketball, Baseball, Football, Hockey etc. We also Have Judo, Brazilian Jiujitsu, Muay Thai and of course MMA. My coaches consist of Travis Calanoc who is a former Strikeforce Fighter and Marine Corp Sargent. he has a black belt in MCMAP(Marine Corp Martial Arts program) and was also a MCMAP instructor. He also has black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Ninjutsu. Travis also founded his own art Calanoc's Mixed Martial Arts Concepts. Travis also helps my strength, conditioning, speed and agility coach Jeff Pace who has a CSCS and is a Master Trainer under Combine 360. Travis is NASM accredited and certified under combine 360. My BJJ coaches are Jay and Brandon Chandler both are brown belts under The Farm BJJ and Werdum combat team. They are brothers. My Muay Thai coaches are Sean Dawson and Paul Vo. Mr. Dawson went undefeated in Muay Thai 11-0 and 2-0 Pro Muay Thai. Paul Vo is 2-0 in Muay Thai and both study under Saekson Janjira. My wrestling coach is Justin Porter who was an OSU state champion wrestler and also Miesha Tate has helped me with my wrestling any chance I get to have her down to help me train in OK. My is Team UnderDawgs fight team, the team consists of guys that fight from 115 to 155lbs. I like the fact that most of the guys on our team are smaller because smaller guys are as technical as women but they are more explosive and stronger. They are all like brothers to me, I care about them all very much." SELF-CONFIDENCE IS KEY: "Before my last Invicta fight I said I finally found my self confidence as a fighter and I meant it. My last fight for Invicta was the first time I trained like a professional fighter. I have always trained hard but not like my last fight camp and this one. I KNOW in MY HEART and MIND that I'm ready because I put in the work every single day and everything I do is to push myself harder and harder past my limits. It was also the first time I showed my Mixed Martial Arts skills I can wrestle, punch, kick, clinch and Jiujitsu. There isn't a place from stand up to ground were I feel uncomfortable. I have a ton of fights and experience I know I can grind or fight out of anything or put my opponent in places they don't want to be and that's what I meant was that is how I FINALLY feel comfortable ANYWHERE." INVICTA: "I Loved fighting for Invicta now and the first time because I feel like after all these fights and years its finally MY TIME and MY OPPORTUNITY to show everyone that this little Mexican girl from a ranch in Mexico can FIGHT and is a MIXED MARTIAL ARTIST. INVICTA is a truly professional organization they are here for the good for WMMA because they don't play favorites and give everyone an equal opportunity. I Love how INVICTA does everything in their power to promote their card to the best of their ability and they give all the fighters goodie bags lol!" THE GROWTH OF WOMEN'S MMA: "I think before INVICTA the future of women's MMA was uncertain because people just weren't interested I just think before INVICTA it just wasn't being promoted enough and now thanks to them. They are bringing a lot of light and attention that it needed. I Love how each weight class just keeps getting deeper and deeper. In ten years if it keeps growing the way it has been I bet it could be on the same level as the men." FUN FACTS: "I LOVE comic books!! I hope to one day have my own comic book and I love to read books. Ranging in subject from History, Science, Philosophy, Sci-Fi and everything in between. I also love doing Make-up, I do hair professionally but I do Make-up as a hobby. I love watching extreme sports like skate boarding, Surfing, Break Dancing and Urban Free Running. I would love to do Urban Free Running but my coaches wont allow it until after my fight career... If I'm not in fight camp I love to wear Dresses in my free time and I love to play video games even though I suck at them. I love to travel and one of my favorite trips was when I went to Puerto Rico with my husband and best friends, Miesha Tate and Bryan Caraway." Thanks Nicdali! To check out some pics and a video of one of Nicdali's fight, Click Here.