Tonya Evinger reveals that she wants to be herself but she’s not sure if this will be possible if she’s under the UFC.
The Invicta FC women’s bantamweight champ says that being in the UFC would probably be rewarding, salary wise. But she’s not sure what it would take if she signs up in the promotion company.
“I feel really good with what I’m doing and what I’ve achieved and where I’m at. That’s the most important. I just don’t want to have any regrets and me holding back and saying ‘Yeah, I love this’ and kissing butt and making the statements that everybody else is making to be on that side of the fence, I’m just not that person and I don’t want to regret it later. And I don’t want to do something that I didn’t feel is right. I just feel where I’m at and what I’m doing is right,” Evinger said during a recent interview at The MMA Hour.
With her career at full speed right now, transferring to the UFC sounds like the best next thing to do. The champ has a seven-fight winning streak, and has recently won the Invicta belt when she won over Irene Aldana last July. Evinger, who has a record of 15-6, has been a professional MMA athlete for about ten years now, but she has reached the peak of her career just recently. She is a very promising fighter and has definitely caught the attention of the UFC. At 34 years old, she is on her way to a TKO win in a four-round fight.
Evinger admitted she was eager to disappoint the UFC by winning over a potential fighter who is planning to sign up on the company. She also said that the UFC and her haven’t been really on the same page since Sean Shelby called her “unimpressive”. Sean was watching her fight during the Invicta 13 event, the same event where Evinger won over Aldana by knockout. UFC president Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta, the UFC’s CEO, were watching in the event as well.
“It was awesome and the fact that they were there watching made it even better,” she said.
And even though Shelby and Evinger greeted each other and shook hands, the champ said this doesn’t mean that they are in good terms going forward.
“It wasn’t no make up, that’s for damn sure. I definitely don’t have a different opinion. That changed nothing, as you can see. I’m not really worried about it. Everybody wants to keep talking about this Sean Shelby crap and all this stuff with UFC and I just don’t care about it anymore. It’s not anything that’s on my agenda and I’m not trying to get in there. I don’t care if they sign me or not. I just want to fight,” Evinger said.
Evinger knows that the UFC can give her a much higher salary, but she thinks the Reebok deal isn’t good, and she’s not interested in being a part of the company’s numerous interviews. Invicta, on the other hand, lets her be herself. With all these pros and cons, Evinger said that she wouldn’t completely close the doors with the UFC.
“It depends on what Shannon has got in store for me and what she thinks and definitely what they offer me. I know I ain’t making as much as them girls in the UFC. That’s fine with me. I’m just happy to be fighting and making any kind of money. We all know that back in the day there was no money in this sport and it was a struggle. I’ve just gotta continue to win. That’s all that matters to me,” Evinger added.