On the verge of tears, Laetitia Blot, 37, takes the microphone.
Her voice trembling, she thanked the audience and especially those who came for her.
Before leaving the octagon and carrying in her arms Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister Delegate in charge of Sports who worked for the legalization of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).
For her first fight in the discipline, the triple champion of France in judo, also titled at the national level in wrestling, did not detail on the occasion of the first official gala organized in France, the MMA Grand Prix, in Vitry -on-Seine (Val-de-Marne), Thursday.
Opposed to the Portuguese Silvia Leonora Nascimento, 30, the Frenchwoman stayed exactly one minute and 29 seconds in the octagon to sign a victory full of promise.
The fighters are grateful to the minister @RoxaMaracineanu for having legalized MMA and some express it in a more demonstrative way than others ... Isn't it Laetitia Blot?
😏 #MMAGP pic.twitter.com/t3qC1yp4j8
- Ministry of Sports 🏠🧘♀️ (@Sports_gouv) October 8, 2020
“I'm very proud of myself, especially as I win with style, smiles the champion in the locker room.
Afterwards, I realize that I fight with more lucidity in this sport than in judo or wrestling.
"
To the music of "Last of the Mohicans"
The evening has barely started.
In the corridor leading to the locker room, Laëtitia Blot is more focused than ever while waiting for her fight.
Big down jacket on the back, helmet on the ears, her face is closed.
"It was like I found myself in a dark room, where you know you're going to find something, but you don't know what."
The wait has been very long.
I had to go to 2nd, finally my fight was the penultimate of six.
The duration has also changed (two rounds of 5 minutes instead of 3).
In my head, I kept telling myself that whatever, I will win before the limit ”, she continues.
“We had the men.
Now here are the women.
The warriors!
»The announcer knows how to set fire before the fight of Laëtitia, who arrives on the music of« Last of the Mohicans ».
Encouraged by the general public, and more particularly by the handful of supporters who came especially for her, she recovered like never before.
After a kick from her opponent, the former wrestler knocks her down for the first time.
Then a second.
Thanks to her power and explosiveness, she keeps her on the ground until the referee stops the fight.
The woman holds her head in her hands and runs in all directions, drunk with happiness, to the cheers of the spectators.
“What I dreaded the most was not knowing.
You're good, and then suddenly you take a hit and
bing
, on the ground!
Fortunately, I have this ability to adapt, in sport as in life.
There was a lot of noise but I could only hear my coaches.
This victory is also theirs.
They managed to channel me.
Thanks to them, I feel more calm.
What I had trouble doing before.
"
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After this great first, Laëtitia Blot will be able to breathe a little.
But not too long, a second fight being scheduled for December, in principle in Paris.