Since joining the UFC, Randa Markos has never been able to string consecutive wins in the strawweight division.
Markos (9-6-1 MMA, 5-5-1 UFC) has opened up about some of the mental struggles she’s faced during her UFC tenure ahead of the biggest fight of her career as she takes on Claudia Gadelha on Saturday at UFC 239.
“Where I am right now, this is the biggest fight of my career,” Markos told MMA Junkie. “I’ve fought tough opponents. I’ve fought top opponents. I think I’ve fought many of the top 10, so it’s nothing new. But this is a great opportunity for me to show everybody that I belong here and I belong at the top.”
And the road here hasn’t been easy for Markos, who will make a strawweight record of 12 UFC appearances when she makes the walk at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After dropping a unanimous decision to Nina Ansaroff at UFC on Fox 30, followed by a majority draw in Brazil vs. Marina Rodriguez, Markos was left uncertain about her future.
She realized she was getting in her own head and needed to calm down. The inconsistencies were starting to affect her mentally, hindering her performances.
“After my fight with Nina Ansaroff, my coaches came up to me and said, ‘You need to cool it,” Markos said. “‘You’re freaking out, you’re shaking like crazy before you went out. You’re using up way too much energy.’ I just went nuts, so fixated on something has to be a certain way because that’s how it was in my last fight. Superstitions and all that stuff started taking over. I just got on this win-loss streak, and it was all in my head.”
“Whenever I won a fight, I thought I needed to lose the next one because no matter what, in the back of my mind it was like, ‘Ok, you got to lose the next one,’ and if I lost a fight I thought nothing could stop me. I will win the next one,” Markos added. “I literally messed up my knee and went out there and dominated for three rounds when I fought Juliana Lima. I literally couldn’t walk four weeks before that fight, and it was because I was coming off a loss. That’s how crazy my mind is, and that’s when I realized I need help, and I got it, and I definitely feel like it’s helped me.”
Meditation and positive thoughts and working with a sports psychologist were able to calm Markos down as she heads into Saturday night with a big opportunity to enter the upper echelon of the division.
Gadelha (16-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) is a former title challenger and a notable name in the division. While Markos has fought the who’s who at strawweight, this fight is the most important one yet.
“I definitely think this will move me forward,” Markos said. “They’ve never given me such a higher ranked opponent after a win, so this is new for me, and this is a huge level up, I guess.”
In her last outing, Markos had her most impressive showing yet, a first-round armbar finish over Angela Hill at UFC on ESPN+ 6, securing a “Performance of the Night” bonus. Prior to that fight, she worked a lot on her muay Thai and continued to do that for this camp. She hopes to show her hands against Gadelha, as she feels she’ll have an edge standing.
Gadelha has shown tendencies to get a little fatigued in her fights and with Markos’ push forward and heavy grapple approach, that could play a factor. But Markos isn’t paying mind to that.
“When I fought Nina, those leg kicks really slowed me down, and I definitely think that had something to do with slowing (Gadelha) down in that fight with Nina,” Markos said. “So, I’m not going to expect her to be slowing down, but I definitely do think I have better hands in this matchup.
“Definitely you see her in all of her fights, she dies out like after the first round, but I’m sure she sees that, as well, and she’s going to fix that, so I’m not expecting her to die out like she did in the other fights.”
Markos might be facing her toughest challenge yet, but she’s never been in a better place. She’s achieved a lot in the division, and she’s only getting started.
“It’s been a while. Like I look back recently at what I’ve done and how many fights and how long it’s been,” Markos said. “It’s been a long time, but it’s time to move up and time to show everybody what I’ve been working so hard for all these years.
“I’ve had injuries, and I didn’t take breaks. I haven’t taken any breaks at all since I’ve started, but I’m hoping that shows how dedicated I am to this sport, to the UFC.”
For more on UFC 239, check out the UFC schedule.