"I was praying to be the first fight" - Diana Belbita opens up about kicking off the UFC 289 prelims (Exclusive)
Diana Belbita recently opened up about her experience competing at UFC 289 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Belbita spoke about her unanimous decision win over Maria Oliveira and kicking off the prelims portion of the event. She mentioned that she gets nervous for her teammates' fights and was hopeful to be the opening bout on the card:
"To be honest, I was praying to be the first fight on the card because I'm so nervous for my teammates...I'm more nervous for my teammates than myself because when I go in a cage, I enjoy that...But when one of my teammates fights, I am not involved, I cannot help him or her, it's weird. So I was preparing to be the first fight and be able to watch the other fights after having no pressure." [2:12 - 2:44]
'The Warrior Princess' win set the tone of what followed as all the Candian fighters got their hand raised, which was a significant moment for Canadian MMA. She also mentioned that she felt the crowd rallying behind her during the fight and what the support meant to her, saying:
"I even realized the energy that's around the cage, the energy from the crowd even during my fight. I felt like when I got on top, at some point I was on my back...and then I got on top and I hear the crowd vibe, the energy, I hear them screaming, and that was the moment I realized they are actually supporting me." [8:44 - 9:09]
It will be interesting to see who the UFC matches Belbita up with next as she continues to gain popularity, especially in Canada.
Diana Belbita credits Kyle Nelson for helping her get settled in Canada
Moving to another country and not knowing the language daunting and Diana Belbita credited her teammate Kyle Nelson for helping her get settled in Canada.
During the affromentioned interview, 'The Warrior Princess' mentioned that the UFC featherweight helped her with the language barrier. She mentioned that she didn't know english when she moved from Romania to Ontario, Canada, and was able to feel more comfortable as a result, saying:
"He [Kyle Nelson] was one of the people that helped me the most. Like, Kyle was like my translator for a while. So, he was translating from normal english that people speak to my broken english, so he tried to explain me every word using other english words, so I think that helped me the most." [7:10 - 7:32]
Fight week check in! We are in Vancouver! @DianaBelbita https://t.co/OZjimCzPFU