Loma Lookboonmee crossed off an important milestone in her MMA career as she sealed her first submission win at UFC 284 in Perth. The 27-year-old is the first and only Thai ever to sign with the promotion.
She comes from a Muay Thai background but showed how far he me overall game has evolved in recent years when she secured the tap in the second round against Elise Reed on Sunday. Speaking after the fight she sounded extremely upbeat,
“I’m so happy. This is my first submission win as a professional MMA fighter. To be honest I doubted myself a little bit that I was going to be able to pull this off and when I finally did I was so happy.”
“I want to be a well-rounded MMA fighter.”@LomaLookboonmee felt plenty of pride locking up her first career submission win and is feeling more comfortable in the Octagon each time out.#UFC284 Results, Interviews & More: ➡️: https://t.co/u0ySY2OWUD
— UFC News (@UFCNews) February 12, 2023
New skill
Coming from a Muay Thai background she admits that grappling has never been her strong point,
“Early in my career I lost via submission and I’ve never really liked jiu jitsu. It’s never been my favourite part of training but I realized if I want to be the best I can’t run away from this. So I just really focused a lot on getting better and putting myself in a position where I can submit my opponent,” she explained.
As well as being Loma’s first submission victory in the UFC, it’s her first win by stoppage since signing with the promotion. The result was even more impressive because her opponent had never previously been submitted.
View this post on Instagram
Proving a point
Loma feels that people believe she has nothing to offer beyond her Muay Thai. In this respect she was happy to have made a point about the strength of her submission game,
“I’m extremely excited that my first professional submission win happened here in the UFC. So many people like to say I can only win a fight standing so it felt so good to show people what I can do. I’m so unbelievably proud of myself,” she said.
The Thai now has a 5-2 record inside the octagon and an 8-3 record overall. Having won 4 of her last 5 bouts Loma has a spot in the rankings in her sights.
“My goal this year is to remain undefeated for this year and to make my way into the top 15.”
