Kay Hansen Takes Every Opportunity

A lengthy training camp comes with its own challenges, mainly regarding a fighter’s patience. Hansen said it’s a bit of a cat-and-mouse game of when to go hard and when to tone it back. Even though she also sees the value in the added space to think and ramp up to fight week, she does admit short-notice fights are still her preference, which falls in line with the kind of career she hopes to build.

“I’ve just taken any opportunity that comes,” Hansen said. “I don’t turn things down. I just say yes. An opportunity is an opportunity, and I intend to make the best out of every opportunity I get. I want to be the best, and I want to fight the best, but I don’t just want to get the belt and have the belt. I feel like, sometimes, people have the belt, and the fans are like, ‘Oh, you know, cool,’ but sometimes there’s fighters that never get the belt that fans just love them and they rave over them, and I want to be a combination of both. I want to be a champion that’s just game. No matter what, no matter what’s thrown at them, who’s thrown at them, how much time they’re given to prep for a fight, two days’ notice, 12 weeks’ notice, I just want to be known as the fighter who just shows up and just gives it everything.”

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When she makes her second walk, she’ll show the mixture of enthusiastic maturity that marked her debut. Hansen compared the journey to the Octagon to a kind of out-of-body, dreamlike experience, but when she reaches the cage, she locks in and readies herself to get the job done.

“I feel like I’m kind of watching myself walk out, she said. “I feel like it’s kind of like a crazy experience for me. A lot of emotions, but I try to block a lot of them out. I try to just focus on the task at hand. I train every single day. I spar. I drill. I do everything every single day, and I just try to treat it as that as best as I can, but for me, once I get there and once the bell goes, I feel the most comfortable for sure.”