Fee “Feedor” Chrystall emerged victorious from a three-round war with Tiffany Conama at Global Knockout 9 in Jackson, California.

The Sprawl were lucky enough to conduct a quick fire Q&A with Fee following the bout.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to the Sprawl, Fee. Could you tell our readers about the type of fighter you are?

Hello! Don’t be daft, it’s my pleasure. I guess my main strength lies in my striking just now, but I hate saying ‘I’m a striker’. I hope to get to the stage where I can confidently say ‘I’m a mixed martial artist’. Constantly working on my ground game and my wrestling so hopefully that day isn’t too far off!

Congratulations on winning a three-round war against Tiffany Conama at Global Knockout 9. What was the strategy heading into the fight and how happy are you with your performance?

We knew Tiffany had a really aggressive striking game which usually leads into clinch takedowns to try for the submission. Game plan going into the fight was to use my range, keep the distance with long shots and attack the body. Just try and make her fight my fight.

It didn’t go 100% to plan! Although you tell yourself be ready for an aggressive start it’s always hard when it’s actually go time. She came running in super aggressive and I ate a few right hands. It was my first time being hit with 4oz gloves so safe to say it was a little shock to the system! The cage was smaller than I was expecting, so I didn’t have the space to circle that I thought I would. But after a difficult 1st round, my boyfriend and cornerman, Kieran Reid calmed me down, reset me and we were all good to go for round two. I started to get my range and land some nasty kicks and the game changed from there.

Reflecting on the fight, was there anything you feel needs to be worked on in your next training camp?

It was a much messier fight than I would have liked. I think I need to get better at dealing with the overaggressive starts and fights in general that you get in WMMA, and especially at amateur level. I always find a technical fight easier than a messy one. I need to make people fight my fight more. Saying that, I am still not at the stage where I am putting the performances in that I put on in sparring, when I step in the cage, but that comes with time and experience. It was cool to show some legit takedown defence this time though!

Your training camp for Global Knockout 9 was based at Jackson Wink in Albuquerque, New Mexico. How was the experience of training abroad in this high level gym?

I love Jackson Wink, it just feels like home to me now. I am really well looked after by the coaches. Joey Villasenior and Brandon Gibson take really good care of me, striking wise. They are really similar in style to my coaches back home, Dean Reilly and Guy Ramsey who have made my striking what it is today. Harry St Ledger, who does the grappling things at Jackson Wink is a hero. Olympic level Judo, BJJ Blackbelt and all round MMA nerd. I don’t think there is a question about MMA grappling, he doesn’t know the answer to – he has the cutest son in the world too… just as a side note.

Their women’s team is ridiculously strong and that probably makes the biggest difference for me. For this camp, I got a bunch of sparring in with Jodie Esquibel in particular. She helped me out a bunch, even when she had a fight herself to prepare for. It is hard not to be confident when you are training with women on her level everyday.

You are now 2-1 in your amateur career, what do you think of your development so far and do you plan to keep fighting at strawweight?

I feel like I am making the improvements, to start moving towards a successful pro career. I still have so much to work on. But, in this sport you always have so much to work on and that is the fun part. No, I will move down to atomweight for my professional career. Strawweight is nice in that I literally just do not eat carbs for five days and I am on weight, but I am too small to be a professional strawweight. I am looking forward to being a big atomweight rather than a tiny strawweight!

Do you think women’s MMA needs more of a push in Scotland and with local promotions?

Yes, I think the main problem in Scotland is people want to match locally, which for WMMA is just not really an option. You have to be willing to look a bit further out. But, in saying that, it means I get to travel to nice places to fight. I love Colchester and BCMMA are excellent at promoting WMMA as a whole. There’s no other card, certainly in the UK and maybe Europe, where you will see that many women’s match-ups on one show.

Lastly, what does 2017 have in store for Fee Chrystall?

Fights, fights and more fights (hopefully).

Comments