How did you get involved in MMA and how long have you been training?
-Five years ago I was introduced to the sport, before that I thought professional fighting was the WWE and boxing, neither of which did I follow. My now husband has been an avid fight fan since he was quite young, and when we started hanging out he started showing me highlight videos on YouTube, babbling about fighters, shadow boxing at me, and initiating some grappling matches. As a kid I was always very physical and play grappled with my friends so I had some instincts for grappling and became more interested in advancing those skills. Fast forward a couple of years, Clayton (the husband) gets us tickets to UFC on Fox 5, and the energy was inspiring. We realized we weren’t getting any younger and if we wanted to compete it was time to take action. Stephanie Eggink tipped us off that Bellingham MMA was a little gem of a local gym. I have been training there since 2013.
What's a typical training week like for you?
-For this fight camp my week looks a bit like the following. Cardio on Mondays; Tuesdays I strength train in the morning, and train MMA for 4 hours in the evening. I always have to have an ice bath on Tuesday nights; Wednesday and Thursday I have two hours of MMA in the evenings, I spar on Thursday’s before class; Friday I rest; Saturday I strength train and fit in some other cardio work and the occasional spar; and Sunday I rest again.
Tell us about your upcoming fight, who you're fighting and where?
-This will be my pro debut, which feels like a long time coming. It will be at Combat Games (COGA). I had a late notice opponent change to Jessica Eve Richer. I will be meeting her at 155 though my typical cut has me at the 145 weight class so I am pretty stoked on getting to relax and recover this week rather than battling with hunger!
What is your best experience as a fighter? What is your worst?
-It is hard for me to think in terms of best and worst, I am always striving for better and either need to top a success or learn from a failure or negative experience. So I suppose in a way my best experiences have been improvements in my game; when I consistently hit a technique I have been drilling in grappling, when my jab became a damage dealing tool, things of that nature are exciting and all marking that forward progress. And my most frustrating moments are when I make a much repeated mistake, or feel like I have taken a step back in my progress. However no matter my success or back tracking, I always meet these experiences with the mission of doing better the next time around. What can I say, I can’t get no satisfaction.
What advice would you give to other women who are reading this interview and want to get started in MMA?
-Two things pop into my head instantly. First off, you need to do it, have a sense of urgency, you aren’t getting younger, circumstances will never be perfect, and every day you wait to get into the gym your competitors have been there at least a day more. Secondly, Get strong, strength train, do not be afraid of being strong, lack of physicality is a weakness you don’t want to experience in the cage.
What or who are your inspirations in life and MMA?
-My children are a huge inspiration and motivation to me. I need to be an example to my children and any future progeny of living a life set to my own standards and priorities, where happiness, family, and personal growth supersede the bogus restraints set by popular culture. I am inspired by my Mother and her Mother who are very strong no nonsense tough women. I am inspired by my Husband who has such a positive and progressive view on life, he is always researching, thinking and pushing himself to be better.
-Within the sport of MMA, women like Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, Larissa Reis, Oksana Grishina, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, athletes who are unabashedly themselves.
Who are your favorite MMA fighters?
-Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Fedor Emelianenko, Benson Henderson, Donald Cerrone, Rafael Dos Anjos and Jose Aldo.
How do you enjoy your free time when not training or fighting?
-I love hanging out with my little family. I love cooking and eating, playing, adventuring, bullshitting, bullshitting about adventuring, watching movies, drawing, reading, writing, brain storming, day dreaming but trust me we talk fighting, training, and watch all of the UFC’s plus other fight events all the time. The combat culture runs thick in our house. Just the other day Clayton and I were reffing and coaching the kids in in-home grappling matches.
Lastly before we let you go we would love to hear about your future plans and let you send some shout outs.
Any future plans or dreams?
-We are actually planning quite the adventure! At the end of this summer we are taking our family of five, moving into a 27ft trailer and tripping around the USA to visit and eventual find a new fight gym. Our goal is to get as high as we can in the fight world, and we want to find a gym that will best support all of us! We just bought the trailer, which we have named “The Havoc Army”-- and are customizing and prepping it for our journey. On this trek we are planning on heading to Portland, Oregon; tripping down the coast of California and then hitting Vegas and Phoenix. But we have Florida and Wisconsin in our sights for other possible destinations. I have started a blog where I will document our crazy adventure, both highlighting the challenges and triumphs of being a mobile family, of all the amazing places will see and the people we meet. We are very, very excited, very. The blog is The Havoc Army!
-Another thing worth mentioning is that the documentary that my husband and I have been filmed in has been picked up by ESPN and will be shown at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, so keep an eye out for Greywater!
Any shout outs you would like to make?
-I have to shout out my very talented and supportive husband Clayton "The Destroyer" Hoy, he’s a fantastically talented fighter and worth taking a glance at.
Thank you very much for your time Jessica and good luck on fight night! Click here to purchase tickets, check out BAKAN Fitness and send your shout outs to Jessica on Instagram and Twitter!
Posted on May 6, 2015 by www.babesofmma.com
Jessica Hoy defeated Jessica Eve Richer via TKO at 1:54 of round 3.
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