You put on a great fight against Christina Riddering this past Saturday and showed so much determination to win.

In Muay Thai, it’s important to respect the sport and your opponents in the ring. And you did. You stepped in the ring, gave your heart, and demonstrated true class. We commend you for that. You represent female fighters in a positive way and show that this game isn’t always about winning, but learning and improving, and being the best that you can.

Thanks, Christine. Your support means a lot to me coming from such an experienced and respected fighter!

Please share with us your thoughts and experience of this fight. Here are a few questions:

You were originally scheduled to fight Zheng Yenan, the Chinese national champion. We understand that she was injured and about a week and a half before the fight, she was replaced by Christina Riddering. Would you say this changed a lot for you in preparing for this fight?

It changed a lot. Zheng and Christina are two very different fighters. I had a some time to rethink strategy, but not a lot of time to drill the strategy. However, opponent switches are common and part of the game, there have been times in the past where my opponent was switched last minute, but I was able to adjust - so it's no excuse. The difficulty with this fight is I was actually expecting a more aggressive straight forward Christina, which did not prove to be her style in this fight.

This was a rematch with Christina, whom you fought in November 2006 the first time. What can you say was different about this match from the first? What do you feel you improved on? What do you feel she improved on? And what has changed about each of you in style and strength?

I am a different fighter today than I was in 2006. Christina and I fought as amateurs 3 years ago so there were no elbows or knees to the head. it was a 2x5 round match for a title which I lost by decision. I don't remember a whole lot from the fight, except feeling that I never really got off and I felt really out of my "zone" as athletes call it. Christina felt to be a strong opponent to me 3 years ago with heavy kicks and punches and I had few answers to her strikes. When we first fought she has 3 times more experience than me, but this time I had caught up a bit as I was very active in 2008 and 2009. This time was different, her strikes did not feel strong to me and were doing little damage. I was able to block most of them and was pushing the pace of the fight by moving forward with punch counters.  Although the outcome of the fight was the same, I feel I improved greatly on my aggressiveness, my power, my boxing, ring control and my clench. Christina executed a good game plan against me and had fast kicks to keep me off her.

How do you feel about the way you performed and how would you critique yourself?

It was very obvious to me that I needed to improve my distance and the quickness of my counters. Fighting taller opponents is unusual for me. I knew I was being out pointed on the score cards with long range kicks. I felt that with a couple more rounds (it was only a 3 round fight) I could have figured out a way to get inside and not get wrapped up in a clench that Christina would neutralize, holding tight until the ref broke us up, but by the time I started to figure it out it was too late. I know I will learn from this experience and capitalize on fixing my mistakes and shortcomings.

We’ve heard through the grapevine that you are now training for MMA. Is this true and are you pursuing a professional fight career in MMA? If so, where does this leave you and Muay Thai? Will you still be competing in Muay Thai?

I actually decided earlier this year that I would not be pursuing a career in MMA. I love Muay Thai, and although I enjoy watching MMA, training it I never really felt the same passion as I do for Muay Thai. If I were to pursue MMA it would be for the wrong reasons, so I decided to stick with my passion even if that means less money and fewer fights.

What’s next? Do you have any upcoming fights scheduled?

I'm taking a little time off to spend with my love ones this winter. I am always training because I enjoy being physical, but I don't have anything scheduled at the moment. I opened my own fitness studio  (RoxyFit) this summer so I will enjoy getting to spend more time focusing on my students. I plan to fight again sometime in the spring. I also just got the news that I was selected by my strength and conditioning coach to try out at the CrossFit 2010 games qualifiers in March, so I know I will be in shape for any fight I pick up.

What would you like to say in closing? Anything you would like to add? Special thanks?  Words of inspiration to your followers?

Only that I am grateful for the opportunity to do what I love. Sometime things don't go as planned, but that doesn't mean I let that halt my progress. It is important to learn from failure and come back stronger the next time. Special thanks to my coaches Jimmie Romero of Strike Sub Club and Andy Thompson of CrossFit Hollywood also thanks to my sponsor Revgear and to you, Christine and ALIAS Fight Wear! :)