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JEMYMA BETRIAN PATIENTLY WAITING FOR HER TIME IN THE UFC
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
December 19, 2014 Friday
by Brian Martin
Just one week after the UFC crowned its first women s strawweight
champion, another 115-pounder waits in the wings.
Jemyma Betrian has the striking, evidenced by her several Muay Thai
world championships.
She has the experience in her corner, with Glendale Fighting Club s
Edmond Tarverdyan overseeing her transition to MMA.
Most of all, Betrian has the patience.
So while the 23-year-old Curacaoan native has more than 40 fights
and several title belts on her resume, she bides her time in her new
sport, taking on Catalina Madril on Saturday night on the undercard
at Gladiator Challenge at Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, Calif.
I live for the day. I m focused now on Saturday and I leave everything
in God s hands, said Betrian, who has a 35-2-1 Muay Thai record and
hasn t lost a fight since she was 16 in 2007.
I believe in God and I don t live in 2015 already. I m still in
2014 and I want to focus on that. And when the time is there, I will
be there.
The future to which Betrian is referring is what is expected to be
a bright career fighting among the best in MMA.
The UFC just launched its women s strawweight division via its reality
show, The Ultimate Fighter, with 16 fighters battling through a
tournament for a shot at the belt. On Dec. 12, a champion was finally
crowned when Torrance native Carla Esparza overwhelmed Rose Namajunas
for a third-round submission victory via rear-naked choke.
Betrian said she feels she belongs in the UFC, only her MMA experience
holding her back, yet she remains humble about how she d fit in with
the rest of the UFC 115-pounders.
I cannot say a lot about them because they are already there. I m
just like Give me the time, said Betrian, who won her pro MMA debut
in August with a 47-second knockout of Hadley Griffith at Chaos at
the Casino 5 at Hollywood Park Casino.
And I want to learn, and when the time is good, I will be there and
I will do all my best to compete.
Anyone who has seen Betrian fight will attest to what she can do. At
5-foot-5, Betrian is a buzzsaw in the ring, a flurry of punches with
purpose and devastating kicks.
Tarverdyan, with his years of working with boxing world champions and
UFC women s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, says he s a believer.
And Betrian s biggest attribute might be her attitude.
This girl goes for it and she fights every second of the round. She s
a fighter. She s a great champion and an exciting fighter, Tarverdyan
said. I was impressed with her skills, but after having someone like
Ronda in the gym, you know, it s not the first for me. It s something
that I ve seen and witnessed.
I grew a fighter from zero, which was Ronda, and got her to the level
she is right now. So I wasn t surprised really with Jemyma s skills,
but she s awesome. I love that a girl could fight at that level and
she does.
In Rousey, Tarverdyan took an Olympic judo bronze medalist and honed
her striking. After eight victories via armbar submissions, Rousey
s past two victories have been via knees or punches.
With Betrian, the striking is there. Five of her past eight Muay Thai
victories have been by knockout. It s the groundwork that needed work.
Betrian has been consumed with wrestling, training five days a week on
grappling and takedown defense under the tutelage of Martin Berberyan,
a former world-class wrestler and three-time Olympian for Armenia.
Jemyma is an exception because what a high-level striker she is. She
s someone who s going to be extra special, Tarverdyan said. So that
extra time, all the coaches understand they have to put into her. It
s time consuming, you know. It s like an investment basically, but
it s worth it. She s something unique and special.
If Betrian wrestles on a Monday night, she s back at it again Tuesday
morning. A Wednesday night session means a Thursday morning turnaround.
But Betrian is on board. She said the first few weeks were challenging
until she stopped overthinking it.
After all, anything can happen in the cage. She just has to be ready
for it.
Sometimes in the fight, it can happen so fast and you maybe go to
the ground, but I don t want to go to the ground, of course, she
said. But it can happen. Like a knockout happens in one second,
a takedown can happen in one second also.
Betrian rates her wrestling as a 6 maybe a 6 1/2, she said with a laugh
out of 10, but Tarverdyan says he s seen more from her six months of
training than from people with three or four years on the mat.
After Betrian gets past Madril, an Oceanside fighter who has lost all
four of her Gladiator Challenge bouts, Tarverdyan wants one more fight
for her in early 2015. Then he anticipates the UFC might come calling.
Betrian says she s game, but there is no hurry.
I don t want to rush. I just want to prove that I can be there with
those girls, Betrian said. Those girls are like, they are my level.
Maybe I am higher? But I cannot say anything about that now. Because
I did not prove myself yet.
But I think I belong there.
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
December 19, 2014 Friday
by Brian Martin
Just one week after the UFC crowned its first women s strawweight
champion, another 115-pounder waits in the wings.
Jemyma Betrian has the striking, evidenced by her several Muay Thai
world championships.
She has the experience in her corner, with Glendale Fighting Club s
Edmond Tarverdyan overseeing her transition to MMA.
Most of all, Betrian has the patience.
So while the 23-year-old Curacaoan native has more than 40 fights
and several title belts on her resume, she bides her time in her new
sport, taking on Catalina Madril on Saturday night on the undercard
at Gladiator Challenge at Sycuan Casino in El Cajon, Calif.
I live for the day. I m focused now on Saturday and I leave everything
in God s hands, said Betrian, who has a 35-2-1 Muay Thai record and
hasn t lost a fight since she was 16 in 2007.
I believe in God and I don t live in 2015 already. I m still in
2014 and I want to focus on that. And when the time is there, I will
be there.
The future to which Betrian is referring is what is expected to be
a bright career fighting among the best in MMA.
The UFC just launched its women s strawweight division via its reality
show, The Ultimate Fighter, with 16 fighters battling through a
tournament for a shot at the belt. On Dec. 12, a champion was finally
crowned when Torrance native Carla Esparza overwhelmed Rose Namajunas
for a third-round submission victory via rear-naked choke.
Betrian said she feels she belongs in the UFC, only her MMA experience
holding her back, yet she remains humble about how she d fit in with
the rest of the UFC 115-pounders.
I cannot say a lot about them because they are already there. I m
just like Give me the time, said Betrian, who won her pro MMA debut
in August with a 47-second knockout of Hadley Griffith at Chaos at
the Casino 5 at Hollywood Park Casino.
And I want to learn, and when the time is good, I will be there and
I will do all my best to compete.
Anyone who has seen Betrian fight will attest to what she can do. At
5-foot-5, Betrian is a buzzsaw in the ring, a flurry of punches with
purpose and devastating kicks.
Tarverdyan, with his years of working with boxing world champions and
UFC women s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, says he s a believer.
And Betrian s biggest attribute might be her attitude.
This girl goes for it and she fights every second of the round. She s
a fighter. She s a great champion and an exciting fighter, Tarverdyan
said. I was impressed with her skills, but after having someone like
Ronda in the gym, you know, it s not the first for me. It s something
that I ve seen and witnessed.
I grew a fighter from zero, which was Ronda, and got her to the level
she is right now. So I wasn t surprised really with Jemyma s skills,
but she s awesome. I love that a girl could fight at that level and
she does.
In Rousey, Tarverdyan took an Olympic judo bronze medalist and honed
her striking. After eight victories via armbar submissions, Rousey
s past two victories have been via knees or punches.
With Betrian, the striking is there. Five of her past eight Muay Thai
victories have been by knockout. It s the groundwork that needed work.
Betrian has been consumed with wrestling, training five days a week on
grappling and takedown defense under the tutelage of Martin Berberyan,
a former world-class wrestler and three-time Olympian for Armenia.
Jemyma is an exception because what a high-level striker she is. She
s someone who s going to be extra special, Tarverdyan said. So that
extra time, all the coaches understand they have to put into her. It
s time consuming, you know. It s like an investment basically, but
it s worth it. She s something unique and special.
If Betrian wrestles on a Monday night, she s back at it again Tuesday
morning. A Wednesday night session means a Thursday morning turnaround.
But Betrian is on board. She said the first few weeks were challenging
until she stopped overthinking it.
After all, anything can happen in the cage. She just has to be ready
for it.
Sometimes in the fight, it can happen so fast and you maybe go to
the ground, but I don t want to go to the ground, of course, she
said. But it can happen. Like a knockout happens in one second,
a takedown can happen in one second also.
Betrian rates her wrestling as a 6 maybe a 6 1/2, she said with a laugh
out of 10, but Tarverdyan says he s seen more from her six months of
training than from people with three or four years on the mat.
After Betrian gets past Madril, an Oceanside fighter who has lost all
four of her Gladiator Challenge bouts, Tarverdyan wants one more fight
for her in early 2015. Then he anticipates the UFC might come calling.
Betrian says she s game, but there is no hurry.
I don t want to rush. I just want to prove that I can be there with
those girls, Betrian said. Those girls are like, they are my level.
Maybe I am higher? But I cannot say anything about that now. Because
I did not prove myself yet.
But I think I belong there.