Thai Fighter Loma Lookboonmee Defeated in Las Vegas
During the undercard of UFC Fight Night that happened in Las Vegas on Saturday, Loma Lookboonmee of Thailand was defeated by Lupita “Loopy” Godinez of Mexico.
The surprising match
Lookboonmee (24) is a strawweight fighter who remained the only boxer of Thai descent to participate in UFC’s Octagon in history. The original line up slated Cheyanne Buys to have a match against Godinez in the event at the UFC Apex facility with better odds in Joker, but Loma was called upon to fight on short notice after Buys was tested positive with the coronavirus.
However, it was unlucky for Loma, Godinez is the one who benefited from the short notice situation, utilizing a perfect wrestling game tactics to ensure that the match will arrive into a unanimous decision after three rounds of battle in her favor.
The failure is an indicator of an end to Loma’s two-match victory streak, who was still celebrating her triumphs over Sam Hughes and Jinh Yu Frey. The Thai fighter now has a total record of 6-3 plus a 3-2 in the Octagon event.
The Mexican prodigy
Godinez, on the other hand, had a total record of 7-2 plus a 2-2 mark in the UFC. At the first glance, her .500 record on Octagon might look inadequate, however, if you think about it, all four of those victories happened this year, and three of them have occurred from the past two months.
In October 9, the Mexican fighter yielded to Silvana Gomez Juarez, accepted a unanimous decision to Luana Carolina, and now defeated Loma, which is not that awful considering the amount of work she endured these past few weeks.
Godinez is popular among punters with her lucrative betting odds on Slotxo.
Aftermath
Following her victory over Loma, she seemed quite satisfied with the ongoing success that is happening to her career so far.
“It has been an amazing journey. A lot of individuals are supporting me, my co-fighters, my professional team, my family and friends. I am in a really good position right now in my life and I would like to keep on moving forward. I am so ecstatic and satisfied right now, and I couldn’t ask anymore from this life than this. I am living my dream,” Godinez said in an interview with UFC news backstage after her win.
Godinez also expressed her gratitude and respect for Loma for giving her a good fight during the three rounds.
“I was expecting for her to back down at the start but she managed to defend herself for the most part of our fight. How can I be upset with all of that? I am in competition with the best fighters in UFC,” she said, referring to her recent Thai opponent.
Loma’s inner demons
As for the Thai strawweight fighter, Loma will take the upset as an opportunity to grow and improve her skills.
Loma Lookboonme has been fighting for a long time, however, she revealed that the one match that she is still trying to win over is the one with herself, every time she arrives into the ring.
“My greatest opponent is myself. I think I am my worst adversary due to the fact that I am an overthinker,” said the UFC strawweight rising star.
Loma, who is 25-years old, recently revealed that she is currently working with a sports psychologist to help her deal with her inner demons.
“Overthinking too much is very much a killer of confidence in the ring. I knew then that I needed to deal with my own mind and set aside my fears. I am now seeing a sports psychologist to help me sort out my issues and help me to learn how to build focus and self-confidence,” said the Thai fighter.
The loss to Godinez might take some toll on Loma but considering that she has shown resilience during her recent fights is an indicator that she is on her way to healing and success.
