The fight capital of the world. How ironic that her return to Vegas will be with a pair of four-ounce gloves on as she makes her UFC debut against fellow newcomer Hailey Cowan. Yeah, the 33-year-old is a prizefighter now, and she may have “The Beautiful Game” to thank for it, as her desire to get some crosstraining in led her to a martial arts gym. In her words, she “never left.”
“It’s pretty cool now that it’s kind of transitioned from soccer and getting into martial arts, more or less, as a fitness component to becoming a full-time job. And here I am, now fighting professionally. So I kind of tripped into martial arts as a cross training piece to supplement my soccer career because I thought I was going to be a professional soccer player, and took a hard left and went martial arts instead.”
Five pro fights later, Horth is unbeaten with five finishes. Add in an amateur career in which she scored a pair of wins over current UFC fighter Loopy Godinez, and though some might say she’s inexperienced for a jump to the Octagon, that would not be an accurate statement.
“I’ve always just been kind of guided down that sort of professional avenue and to treat everything the same no matter what state we were in. But back in 2020, I was offered a Contender Series place, and I was supposed to fight in the Contender Series in the end of 2020, but unfortunately with some athletic visa issues, that didn’t happen, so I kind of felt like that carpet got pulled from underneath me. I knew that I was preparing for that and that I was ready to show that I belonged. So I’ve always felt like I belonged in a higher organization, but I’ve also been trusting the process and just waiting for that opportunity to come because I knew it would come. I just didn’t know when.”
It’s now, and against someone who did get to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series in Cowan, a 7-2 pro who hopes the third time is the charm to make her own debut after bouts in February and March were late scratches. Horth isn’t concerning herself with what-ifs, though. She’s focused on herself, and believe me, she sounds focused, more so than a lot of debutants.
