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Heavy underdog to UFC newcomer Alexa Grasso, Heather Jo Clark says odds don’t tell full story

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MEXICO CITY – Heather Jo Clark is not oblivious to her underdog status against UFC Fight Night 98 opponent Alexa Grasso.

But, as far as she’s concerned, that’s not too bad of a position to be. As 23-year-old strawweight Grasso (8-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) carries her undefeated record to a home-country UFC debut on Saturday, Clark (7-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC) gets to enjoy herself.

“I don’t think (the odds) consider my skill and how well I actually fought in my last fight against a girl who’s now fighting for the title (Karolina Kowalkiewicz, at UFC Fight Night 87),” Clark told MMAjunkie ahead of their FS1-televised main-card bout at Mexico City Arena. “So, to me, it doesn’t bother me.

“The biggest thing I noticed with a lot of the promotions, they were like, ‘The newcomer, Alexa Grasso, fighting.’ And I’m like, ‘Who is she fighting?’ They didn’t even announce me.

“She’s fighting herself, almost. It’s about her being able to take that pressure and perform. The pressure is not on me; the pressure is all on her. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to have fun, I’m going to enjoy every single minute of it, and I’m going to come out victorious.”

Ranked No. 6 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings, Grasso may have an unblemished record and a serious dose of hype on her side. But one thing that she doesn’t have on Clark, nine years her senior, is life experience.

And that, “The Ultimate Fighter 20” alumna said, might just be the thing to tip the scale.

“Just depending on just how she’s been dealing with the nerves and anxiety,” Clark said. “I noticed she’s following me on Instagram. She looks at all my posts, you know like on the Snapchat kind of Instagram. I see she’s always seeing my stuff whereas I’m not really paying attention to what she’s doing. I’m only paying attention to what I’m doing.

“I wonder what that’s getting into her head, if that’s motivating her. Either way, it’s got to be in her head, right? So I think my life experience being a lot more than hers, not just in the fight game but as a person.

“It’s just that experience of beating the odds, literally, and just coming out on top and being able to kind of fight through that adversity.”

Looking to convert the enemy crowd “Rocky IV” style, Clark is still not thinking about what beating the highly touted Grasso could mean for her UFC career.

But asked about the more immediate future – more specifically, Saturday night’s outcome – Clark does have a guess.

“Knockout,” Clark concluded.

Filed under: Featured Videos, News, UFC, Videos View full post on News | MMAjunkie


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