Jo Jo Calderwood appeared on the MMA hour to be interviewed by Ariel Helwani.
Calderwood speaks in great detail about her past and her struggles in her personal life that brought about major changes to her career.
“I think everyone knows I had been in a relationship with my head coach for like seven years,We’ve been separated for a few years now, but at the same time we were still trying to work together. And then we weren’t working together. Like, four weeks before my Scotland fight, there was completely going to be no working together, so that was hard for me to move on with my career because I’ve always had someone there telling me I should do this and do almost everything. So I just felt like I needed a new team around me.
“Everyone at Griphouse understood and everyone wants me to do well over here. I’m sure there was a few people who thought it was a bit sh*t and stuff, but at the end of the day, I’ve learned I have to do what’s best for my career. It wasn’t (good for me to be there) at that time, and even now it’s not good. I need to be the best, and to be the best you need to have the best people around you.”
Calderwood also talks about injuries that forced her to pull out of her fight against Paige VanZant and why she decided to join Tristar gym.
“I just decided that I needed a more professional team around me,I wasn’t really getting the MMA (training). I needed my jiu-jitsu more MMA-based, my wrestling more MMA-based, and I was just kind of looking to go to Canada because it’s a place I want to go. I’ve been watching Firas’ instructionals on YouTube, his YouTube channel, and I spoke to Joe Duffy at the Glasgow card and he said ‘why don’t you come over and try it?’ Obviously, Stevie Ray, one of my teammates, has been there and he [liked] it, so I was like, you know what, I’ve got nothing to lose. It just seemed like they had the dorms and stuff, so I was like, f*ck it, I’m going to go and see what happens.”
Calderwood is set to face Valerie Letourneau at UFC fight night 89.
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