Athletes
Jamey-Lyn Horth: 'Losing Is Not An Option'
Canada's Jamie-Lyn Horth Is Determined To Secure A Bounce-Back Win At UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Albazi
Nearly a year ago, before her December 2 bout with Veronica Hardy, flyweight up and comer Jamey-Lyn Horth gave me her thoughts on winning and losing:
“There’s only two options - winning and losing - and I've visualized myself winning in so many different ways, and I've never experienced myself visualizing a loss. I haven't ever sat there and been like, what am I going to feel like if I lose? What's my life going to be like if I lose? I just haven't. It starts to be a thought in my brain and then it just goes away. And then I'm like, well, I'm not going to lose. I have this option, I'm going to do this, and I'm just going to work hard. That's when the physical part comes in, and I physically prepare myself in every way possible so that I can't lose.”
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It’s the attitude every fighter should have. But what’s the next step when the thing you couldn’t fathom happening happens? Horth had to figure that out after losing a close split decision to Hardy at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. What wasn’t going to change, though, was her approach to the sport.
“I have that mindset that losing is not an option,” Horth said. “It's not something that I think about and it's not something that I want to experience. And although I have experienced it and I know that feeling, I just don't want to feel that again. And so, it goes back to, there's no room for losing in my brain right now. Not with the amount of time and the game planning and all the changes that I've made from that last fight to this fight coming up. I've done everything I can, and I know that I'm bringing a different level of myself to the game, and I just feel like I have such a great visualization and such a great support system that there's not an option for a loss to be a part of this outcome.”
Horth, 6-1 as a pro, returns to the Octagon this weekend to face Ivana Petrovic at Rogers Place in Edmonton. It’s a home game for Horth if we’re talking about fighting in her own country, but as far as being close to her hometown of Squamish, it’s a hike – 759 miles worth. Regardless, fighting in Canada is still a perk for the 34-year-old, and when it comes to Squamish, population 23,819, she says her fans will be “coming in hard” to Rogers Place on Saturday.
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It’s a good feeling to have, and Horth isn’t one of a hundred UFC fighters from the city. She’s one of one, following Cole Smith, who competed in the Octagon in 2019-20, and that makes her a big deal.
“I forget it sometimes,” she laughs. “I'm just a small-town girl.”
A small-town girl doing big things in the biggest MMA promotion in the world.
“Playing sports in this town, I've always been in the newspaper, and I always thought that was so crazy and so cool,” Horth said. “And the support system here, there's nothing that compares to it in the world. I can't even go grocery shopping; I get stuck there for an hour. My husband doesn't come with me anymore because he can't handle it. (Laughs) And people just want to talk. And because I come to a small town, I know so many people and people drive by and they yell, ‘Champ’ and then they honk their horn and I carry on my day-to-day things, like I always do. And I don't want to say I'm some spoiled movie star, but that's the kind of feeling it is. I definitely am spoiled with love and support and it's hard to go places and not run into somebody or have someone want to talk to you. And because of where I am in my career and what organization I'm a part of, that draws attention to me. But I also do have a strong community base here. I coach and I work with a bunch of hockey teams, I work with young girls, and I have mentorships with other young females. And I'm very submersed in the youth and sport of Squamish, so I kind of draw attention to different avenues, as well.”
Imagine the reaction if Horth can bring a flyweight title home to Squamish one day. That would be a scene to remember. But first things first, and Horth has to get back in the win column after the loss to Hardy. And while last year’s fight stung, she was back in business after a couple weeks to regroup.
“I've been doing martial arts for 10 years and I'd never experienced a loss, especially on that sort of platform,” she said. “And it was definitely an eye opener for me. I knew it was a possibility and it still is a possibility in life, but it was nothing that I really ever entertained in my brain because I never experienced it. So having that happen to me, it definitely took me some time to gather my thoughts and my feelings for a few weeks to kind of come out and just explain, ‘Hey, thanks for the support. This isn't the end of me.’ I gave myself two weeks and I don't want to say I wallowed or sat in sorrow about it, but it definitely made me reflect on the fact that losing is definitely a learning experience. I have seven pro fights, which is not a lot when you look at it over six years; it’s not a lot of experience. So I'm very fortunate. It sucks losing. But in that exact moment when I found out in the cage that I lost, I instantly thought I sucked and I didn't do anything right. It took me a long time to go back and watch the fight. And after I did, it was arguably a very close fight and it was just some minor tweaks of the first round. If I hadn't been so patient and waited so long, that fight could have gone either way.”
Now she’ll take that experience to Edmonton, and build on it as she continues to chase down a world title. And she’ll do it all from Squamish.
“I'm so connected to this place,” Horth said. “Because of where we are in Canada, we've got Whistler in Vancouver, we've had so many Olympic athletes here. We have such great physio and cardio and massage because we are the outdoor recreational capital of Canada. I have so many amenities that are available to me that it makes no sense for me to leave. I can come and go as I please. I've been to Mexico, I've been down there for weeks on end, but I have what is close to an hour drive away, some of the best striking in Canada. I have Glory kickboxers, I have access to training partners, so why leave?”
UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs Albazi took place live from Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on November 2, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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