ASHLEY YODER returns to the octagon at UFC 252 – the American who entertains fans with bikini shots by day and delivers brutal performances at night.
The 32-year-old faces former Invicta champion Livia Renata Souza on Daniel Cormier and Stipe Miocic’s undercard.
Yoder only began training in MMA aged 18, after the death of her brother Michael.
What started as a means of venting anger soon turned into a career transition for ‘Spider Monkey’.
Yoder, who worked as a lifeguard before fighting for the UFC, made her pro debut in 2014, ten years after first picking up the gloves.
That year she took part in the ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ 20 tryout, but was not chosen to be a cast member.
After going 5-1 on the independent circuit, Yoder eventually got her place on the TUF series and was coached by UFC legend Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
She beat Jodie Esquibel in round 1 by split decision and moved on to face Kate Jackson.
But Yoder lost the fight on the cards and was eliminated from the show.
UFC president Dana White clearly saw potential in her, later signing the strawweight.
The submission specialist got off to a bad start in MMA’s top flight, losing her first three fights in the octagon.
But she saved her UFC career in 2018, beating Amanda Cooper and followed it up with another win, against Syuri Kondo a year later.
The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt lost her last fight, to Randa Markos in October, but insists she is a mentally and technically greater fighter now.
Yoder said: “Even things that I was throwing in fights, I didn’t really learn; sometimes it just came natural throwing random things.
“But learning the techniques behind those things and actually throwing them with intent is something new that I’ve been doing and it’s really fun.
“I definitely think in this fight camp and since my last fight, I’m in a better place mentally than I have been in a long time.”
