UFC: Thailand’s Loma Lookboonmee sharpens her mind as she prepares for return to battle
- Rising strawweight star takes on Mexico’s Lupita Godinez at this weekend’s UFC Fight Night 198 in Las Vegas
- ‘My greatest adversary is myself but I still have to work, and I still have to show my full power,’ says Loma
Loma Lookboonmee has been fighting for about as long as she can remember, but the rising UFC strawweight star has revealed that the one battle she is still yet to win is the one she wages with herself, every time she steps into the cage.
“My greatest adversary is myself,” said the only Thai fighter there is on the UFC’s books. “I’m my own worst enemy because I think too much.”
The 25-year-old Loma (6-2) has recently started working with a sport psychologist in Thailand, having so far relied on a natural affinity for the fight game.
That talent took her to multiple world titles across a Muay Thai career which started when she was about seven years old, before she landed in the UFC and carved herself a record so far of 3-1.
The surprise for those who have followed Loma’s rise might come when she admits sometimes finding herself losing focus during fights, or even looking too far ahead, instead of getting on with the business at hand. From the outside looking in, she has always appeared a fighter whose head is exactly where it needs to be – but it seems that’s not the case.