UFC 218: Angela Magana fighting mother nature before octagon walk

Angela Magana is fighting mother nature in the lead up to her UFC 218 comeback in Detroit.

It’s been a while since we have seen Angela Magana inside a UFC cage and when it was announced that she would be fighting Detroit’s own Amanda Cooper, there was a lot of “umms” and “uhhs” from the MMA community.

If you know Magana you know that she is very much like marmite, you either love it or hate it. Now, she may not have been in the cage but she sure has stayed in the spotlight thanks to her feud with Cris Cyborg. A fued that ended in a violent encounter during the UFC’s athlete retreat earlier this year.

After the drama surrounding the incident died down UFC officials announced that Magana would be back in action against another former Ultimate Fighter veteran in Amanda Cooper.

Things were going well during her fight camp until mother nature decided to get involved. Angela lives and trains in Puerto Rico, a beautiful island recently destroyed by Hurricane Maria. As expected life has changed for the entire population of the island and the longtime fighter is doing what she can with what she has.

With the Island without water, electricity and food how does a UFC athlete continue to prepare for what may her biggest promotional fight to date? Magana spoke exclusively to cagepages where she spoke candidly about her preparation for her upcoming fight.

So this does affect my training, 100%. It creates a challenge and I f*****g feed off of challenges. I have to train on the beach, I don’t shower after my training I have to jump in the ocean. I don’t get to eat after training, I dont get any of the luxuries she [Amanda Cooper] does. But thats fine beacuse there is nothing in this world that is going to stop me from beating her ass on Dec.2, nothing.

I don’t belive there is another UFC fighter alive who has had to live and train in these conditions while preparing for a fight. I have no electricity, I have no water, no food. I can’t shower or even cook the food I find. I’m stealing water to drink after I train, so yeah this is affecting my training but it’s making me hungrier.

Magana further explained that she could have packed up her belongings and her daughter and moved into the UFC’s training facility in Las Vegas where she could live, eat and train for free in the lead-up to her fight with Cooper but chose to stay with the people she has grown to love and in the place she calls home.

This has put the weight of Puerto Rico on my shoulders and I am going to win for Puerto Rico. I represent Puerto Rico and I am the first UFC fighter to live here, train here and i’m gonna in there with pride of Puerto Rico on my back.

I could have Dana [White] or the UFC get a helicopter or a jet and come get me and my daughter today. They could house us at the UFC gym in Las Vegas where I could eat for free, train for free and do everything for free but I’m not leaving these people. I’m not going to just leave them behind, they need me and I need them.

Things in Puerto Rico are looking extremely bleak at the moment but it seems as if Magana is at peace with what has happened and she will continue to prepare for her Dec. 3 contest in any way she can.

If you would like to donate to Angela’s relief effort please check out her Twitter page for all relative information.

UFC 218 will take place on Dec. 3 at the Little Ceasers Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The card has yet to have a main event announced as the card is still being put together.

• Published on 09/27/2017 at 8:54 AM EDT
• Last updated on 09/27/2017 at 8:54 AM EDT