On Saturday, Clark will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, to face Brazilian newcomer Tainara Lisboa. It’s a chance to not just do what she loves again and pick up a paycheck, but to snap a two-fight losing streak. And to get there, Clark relocated from California to Texas, where that new kid in the room feeling has invigorated her.
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“I felt like it was necessary,” she said of the switch in camps. “Some of my training partners are fucking good. And it’s like you can get good work in anywhere as long as you’re with the right people. So I’d been in my gym for so long that I kind of knew how everyone moved. I knew everyone’s styles, I knew what everyone wanted to do and they knew the same things about me. So coming and putting myself in a totally different position where I’m now sparring with guys that I’ve never trained with before, and every MMA sparring day feels like I’m getting ready for a fight because I’m nervous and I don’t know what I’m going to come up against.
“And it’s giving me that pressure that I haven’t felt for a very long time. So I think it was something that I really needed to do because I think I’ve been comfortable for a while and I needed to get out of my comfort zone and really force myself to be in an environment where when my only option is to grow and to learn and get better.”
And that’s the key, right? If a fighter doesn’t evolve, the game will pass them by, and Clark is not about to let that happen. Remember, she’s a fighter. For life.