It can be hell for a mixed martial artist.
The last few days before a fight—and for many, the hours just before a weigh-in—are the ones that test an athlete’s resolve in ways actual combat often doesn’t.
It’s stressful. It’s painful. And it’s typically not a moment for pleasant conversation.
Maybe so. But Vanessa Demopoulos is not a typical mixed martial artist.
Not only does the 34-year-old strawweight not dread the ritual to the extent of her contemporaries, she revels in it. As much as someone quickly shedding 10-plus percent of her body weight can, anyway.