NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the world's top-ranked MMA fighter in the women's 115-pound division, American Top Team fighter Jessica Aguilar.

She has recently signed with the World Series of Fighting, and will make her debut in that promotion at WSOF 8 on Saturday, January 18, 2014, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Her opponent will be Alida Gray, 4-0 in MMA, in a bout for World Series of Fighting's inaugural women's strawweight title.

WSOF 8 will be telecast live in the U.S. on NBC Sports Network.

We spoke with Jessica Aguilar by phone Sunday night.

Having watched some video of Alida Gray, she is confident that she will win this fight and retain her number one ranking.

"I'm going to be ready," she said, "and that belt's going to be mine."

We also discussed her previous fight, a rematch with grappling legend and MMA pioneer Megumi Fujii, which took place October 5, 2013, on the Vale Tudo Japan 3rd event card in Ota, Tokyo, Japan. Jessica Aguilar won that fight, albeit with some controversy, and she explained what happened.

In addition, we also discussed the treatment of LGBT fighters in MMA and her own experiences. Speaking for herself, she said that there was "nothing bad to say from my experience."

Besides reiterating her love of Japan and their culture and fans, we discussed her future plans, how her mother has come to accept that she is a fighter, her training at American Top Team, and the humorous story of how she first became a professional MMA fighter. And towards the end of our discussion, she treated us to a brief rendition of an old Garth Brooks song.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

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ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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Labels: Alida Gray, American Top Team, Eddie Goldman, Jessica Aguilar, LGBT, MMA, No Holds Barred, World Series Fighting, WSOF