Fighter and social media sensation Alice Ardelean picked up her first win in the UFC, and she called it a dream come true.
She has around 3 million fans on TikTok and 686k on Instagram.
The Birmingham-based strawweight claims she has the “roundest bum in MMA”, lost the first two bouts, but ultimately claimed a win in Las Vegas.
It was a close contest with Rayanne dos Santos, and it earned her a unanimous-decision victory.
The 33-year-old said: “My face looks terrible, but I feel amazing, having my first win in the UFC. It is every fighter’s dream – and my dream has come true.
“I had a lot of doubts, especially after my last fight (against Melissa Martinez). “Straight away, after I came back from the cage, I was like, ‘I’m done with this. It’s too painful’.
But I said, ‘You know what? I have one more chance, one more fight. Let’s go and put everything into it’.
“So I worked on the smallest things to the biggest things – I put everything into this fight camp.
“I said, ‘This is my last chance, so if I don’t get this (win), that means I might not be good enough (for the UFC) and it is something I have to accept’.
“That was my thought and I put everything into it and I’m proud of myself.”
She switched from Fearless MMA in Birmingham and relocated to Orlando to train at Fusion X-Cel for her preparations.
Ardelean is hoping to make a permanent move to Florida. She thinks her ability to handle the mental pressure was the main reason for victory.