Athletes
Jasmine Jasudavicius | The Canadian Bulldog Returns
Tenacious Rising Talent Looks For Fourth Straight Win On Saturday In Saudi Arabia
Jasmine Jasudavicius emits her own brand of electricity and energy; you feel it when she walks into a room and it even transmits through a camera while you sit at home and she’s perched on her bed in a hotel room in Riyadh, days away from facing Mayra Bueno Silva in a critical flyweight bout that also happens to be the first UFC bout between female talents to take place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Constantly smiling with her long hair draped over her shoulders, you get the sense that there aren’t too many spur-of-the-moment adventures the St. Catharines, Ontario native would pass up if presented with the opportunity. But despite her devil may care spirit, even she admits that if you told her she’d be a Top 15 fighter in the UFC flyweight division on the day she first asked her now coach and partner Chris Prickett to let her spar, she would have thought you were crazy.
UFC JOURNEY: Israel Adesanya vs Nassourdine Imavov
“‘No way! You’re drunk!’” she said, chasing her words with a laugh when asked how she would have reacted if someone presented her current standing within the division as where she’d be six-plus years and 15 fights into her professional career.
But the Canadian standout, who came to the sport late, but has thrown herself into it fully from Day One, has a keen understanding of how and why she’s been able to go from being a complete neophyte to a fighter on the rise in the ultra-competitive 125-pound weight class.
“I feel like I’m a rookie and a vet all at the same time, somehow,” began Jasudavicius, who earned victories over Priscila Cachoeira, Fatima Kline, and Ariane da Silva in 2024 to advance to 6-2 inside the Octagon and 12-3 overall heading into her clash with Bueno Silva on Saturday. “I think that’s why I’ve been able to get into the sport late and still reach my potential.
“I’m still looking at martial arts as if I’m a white belt. I’m still hungry for the knowledge, I’m excited for practice, I genuinely enjoy practice every single day; there is nothing that I love to do more.
Order UFC 312: Du Plessis vs Strickland 2
“Even when I was in camp in Thailand, on my rest days, I would still go to the gym and watch,” she said of her time at Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA. “I genuinely love martial arts, and I think maybe if I was doing it ever since I was a child, maybe I wouldn’t have that spark, that love for it. But in addition to that, I have been very active — I do fight a lot — and I feel like I’ve gained a lot of experience in the cage, so I’m very fortunate to gain that, but still be hungry for more knowledge.”
The passion for the sport and hunger to continue learning and developing has been a huge factor in Jasudavicius’ rise through the ranks and active schedule since she earned her place on the UFC roster with a dogged decision win over Julia Polastri on the fifth season of Dana White’s Contender Series.
She fought twice in her rookie campaign, earning a unanimous decision win over Kay Hansen before landing on the opposite side of a similar result in a bout with Natalia Silva that continues to age nicely with each passing year. She opened 2023 with consecutive wins over Gabriella Fernandes and Miranda Maverick before dropping a competitive decision to Tracy Cortez at Noche UFC, and then stacked up a trio of wins last year to force her way into the Top 15.
It’s been a whirlwind, and while she tries to force herself to slow down and reflect on all that she’s accomplished, the 35-year-old with the “we’re here for a good time, not a long time” ethos admitted it can be a challenge.
“I really try to take it in, but, at the same time, I feel like everything is happening so fast that it is a little challenging,” offered Jasudavicius, who earned Performance of the Night bonuses for her third-round submission wins over Cachoeira and da Silva last year. “Every time I feel like my life is going so crazy, I really try to bring myself back and say, ‘You’re living the best years of your life right now.’ These are the times that when I’m old and gray, and my body is all mangled that I’m gonna miss.
FOLLOW @UFCNEWS: On Facebook | On Instagram | On X
“When I get those nerves before the fight, I think, ‘I’m gonna miss these nerves,’ so I really try to embrace every minute of it; the positive and the negative. I’m trying my best to take it in.”
But it’s understandably challenging when the next great opportunity gets presented to you, especially one like this weekend’s bout with Bueno Silva that wasn’t even on Jasudavicius’ radar coming out of her victory over da Silva in Edmonton.
“No, not at all; I thought she was a ‘35er,” she said in regard to a fight with Bueno Silva, who logged five appearances at flyweight before spending her last six outings competing in the bantamweight division, including opening last year facing off with Raquel Pennington for the vacant title. “We actually trained together three years ago at American Top Team, became friends and everything, so when it was offered to me, I was like, ‘I don’t know. I genuinely like her.’ She’s fought for a title before, so obviously beating her would put me in a different stage, and then once I heard the fight was in Saudi Arabia, I was like, ‘Let’s just do it!’
“Life’s about jumping on opportunities, and one thing that I love about her is that she’s a dog, she’s a professional, she’s down; I know she’s gonna come into the Octagon with her best foot forward. I know that both of us can see this as a business thing. We’ll scrap and try to kill each other, and I imagine afterwards we’ll hug and everything will be all good.
UFC SAUDI ARABIA FREE FIGHTS: Adesanya vs Whittaker 2 | Imavov vs Allen | Page vs Holland | Magomedov vs Petrosyan
“I never know what doors are gonna open up after each fight; I’m never looking too far ahead because then I would miss what’s going on right now,” Jasudavicius added. “I didn’t have any thought about (this fight), think it was a possibility or anything like that, but when it was presented, it was ‘Okay, let’s do it! Let’s jump on these big opportunities!’”
And once she’s got a goal in mind or a mission to attack, the affable Canadian is like a dog on a bone.
It’s apparently been that way her entire life.
“I think it’s been a forever thing,” she said laughing when asked about her trademark tenacity and grit, which comes out more and more the deeper she progresses into fights. “I’m sure MMA has definitely harnessed it, but I remember my dad telling me a story where when I was a little baby, there was a radio with a nob on it, and I kept crawling to it, trying to turn it. My dad would pull me away, and I would crawl back to it, and he would pull me away.
“He said it was to the point where he had to move me to the other side of the room and I would still come at it.”
Her opponents must feel like that radio dial, especially Cachoeira and da Silva, who were both ultimately swept under by the tidal wave of pressure and non-stop aggressiveness Jasudavicius brought to them more and more as those fights progressed. It’s a feeling the Canadian truly cherishes, and an ability she’s deeply proud of, knowing that it stems from the hours of hard work she’s putting forth in the gym each and every day.
UFC SEATTLE: Buy Tickets | VIP Experiences
“I love it,” she said when asked about feeling her opponents melt under her relentless forward pursuit and offensive output. “It’s one of those things where it’s hard to do, and I have to do that in the room to be able to do that when the lights are on, when the eyes are on me. So it’s a very fulfilling thing where it’s like ‘all my hard work, this is why I do it’ — so that I’m able to get that finish in the later rounds, so I still have that steam in the later rounds, I have that squeeze.
“It feels like more of a job well done,” she continued, laughing, before adding, “You definitely feel a surge of energy because of it.”
After what she called a “pretty epic year,” the active and engaging Canadian is ready to make the walk again this weekend, taking on the next biggest test of her career, aware that a win on Saturday would go a long way to helping her keep making forward progress in the flyweight division.
“She’s obviously talented and I’ve got to be careful,” began Jasudavicius. “She’s fought for the title before, so it would be a big step to showing where my skills are at and what I’m capable of.
“But I want to get to that belt myself.”
The next step towards that goal is to step in with Bueno Silva on Saturday and extend her winning streak to four.
Asked how she plans on making that happen, Jasudavicius answered in a way that only she can, and the only way she truly knows how.
“We just keep it going,” she said, giggling. “There’s nothing to it, but to do it!”
UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs Imavov took place live from anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on February 1, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!