The MMA Lab’s Jocelyn Lybarger looks to add the vacant RFA strawweight championship to her resume on October 9th when she faces off against Zoila Frausto at RFA 31: Marunde vs. Smith. Larburger (5-1) spoke to MMAOddsBreaker on Episode 124 of The Parting Shot Podcast and discussed a variety of topics. RFA 29 fight being cancelled and opponent Kinberly Novaes pulling out due to a pregnancy “It was a first, you don’t hear that a lot. I’m just happy we found out before, because either way we would have found out the day of the fight when we take pregnancy tests. I’m really happy she’s healthy. She emailed me a few times when I heard the news and she was very apologetic. I’m happy she and her baby are healthy. I mean excited about that one, to find out two weeks before I was a little bummed. To find a replacement on a two week notice, you don’t see a lot of women step up as you do men. ” Matchup with Zolia Frausto “I think matchup really well. She’s known for her stand-up and I want to stand and bang. I’m known for my stand-up too. I’m going to push the pace, she’s not known for her cardio at all. I’ve been in an 11-week fight camp now if we do the math with my last fight, when I was supposed to fight. We’ve been training non-stop at The MMA Lab. I’m sparring four rounds, almost all of my rounds are with my training partners who are in the UFC. I want to stand and bang, I hope she wants to do the same.” Cage rust being a factor with Frausto having not competed in MMA since 2013 “I do [think it’s a factor], but she’s a competitor and she’s good. She’s been doing some Muay Thai fights and things like that. I expect a good Zolia to come out and I’m excited.” Training camp at The MMA Lab “I have rounds with Lauren Murphy, Yaotzin Meza, John Moraga. I’m getting a lot of good work, I love my team and we push each other hard. It’s good family base there and we all train hard together. We all push each other.” Weight cut for this fight “I work with Mike Dolce, I’ve been friends with him a long time. When we actually start cutting, it’s not until the week of. I walk around 133-134lbs and then I diet for 6-weeks for my fight camp. I cut about 6-7lbs. So let’s remember you have to weigh in at 115.0-pounds. We all remember Zolia fighting almost 5-years ago, she only made 115lbs once, so we got to see. We’re fighting for the belt, I know I have no problem doing that. I hope she does the same if she’s trying to get back at 115-pounds.” Frausto missing weight for this fight (like she’s done in the past) “I don’t really pay attention to it. I know she’s training hard. I just think about my game plan how we’re going to push the pace and get that belt. I want the fight to happen so I really hope she’s taking it seriously and making the weight.” Training with Canadian Mitch Clarke and the most “Canadian” thing he does “When he was here for his last camp, he stayed with Lauren Murphy. I swear Lauren every morning would tell me a new recipe that Mitch made. He made fried chicken but in a healthy way or he’s making these chicken nuggets. Lauren is so surprised how good he can cook. If you guys need some good healthy recipes, you have to go to him for that.” Potential jump to the UFC with a win on October 9th “That’s what I’m looking forward to. I have Sean Shelby’s phone number saved in my contacts. So I can’t wait for after I beat Zolia for that number to show up in my phone. I just know that if I keep doing what I’m doing, putting in the hard work, I look at RFA like the minors league, I got to keep doing what I’m doing and I’ll get called up to the majors.” Thoughts on UFC’s strawweight division “I pay attention to [UFC strawweight division] all the time. I think I matchup really well with a lot of the fighters. I’m known for my stand-up and I like to push the pace on girls and make them go backwards. I would like to fight Paige Van Zant, even before she was in the UFC. I remember she when she fought Jordan Gaza and won a split decision. She’ll stand in the pocket and bang with you. I like fights like that. Paige, Angela Hill, some of those I’d like to fight for sure.” How her fight ends on October 9th “I see a TKO in the third round. Like I said I’m going to push the pace and she’s not going to have enough cardio to keep up with me. I’m not going to let her breathe and not give her any room to throw kicks. I see her going backwards and see myself winning, with the belt going around my waist on October 9th.” You can follow Jocelyn on Twitter @mmajocelyn and you can also listen to the full audio version of this interview on Episode 124 of The Parting Shot Podcast.
