LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- UFC women's flyweight fighter "Crispy" Carli Judice was frosting cupcakes and helping with the family business long before she began knocking on the door of MMA stardom.

"My granny owned a cake shop. She made wedding cake sweets, she sold cake supplies and different things like that, and we lived, you know, right behind her for half of my life." Judice said. "So we were always in the cake shop helping her stock the shelves and eating sweets any time of the day. So the whole idea of "Crispy", obviously i want my fighting style to be crisp and smooth and fast. So that's one that's the main part of it, but the pun behind it is Krispy Kreme donuts. I love sweets. I'll eat sweets any part of the day."

Stepping inside the cage wasn't Judice's first option. She was a talented softball player, receiving an offer to play at the next level with the McNeese Cowgirls, joining the team in 2018. After nearly two years with the program, she walked away from college softball entirely. Judice recapped the emotions of explaining to her family that she was done playing softball and wanted to return home to Lafayette to figure out her next step.

"I just remember being so scared to tell them that I was just sick of it. I didn't want to play anymore. I was just burnt out. I was just ready to give up and just quit." Judice said. "You know, I wasn't chasing that dream anymore, so I moved back home. I was working Outback, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life. I was just like, well, this is kind of awkward. I played sports my whole life."

After six months of working at Outback Steakhouse, Judice was inspired to find motivation elsewhere.

Now I'm just working Outback, eating blooming onions, and eating bread and butter. So I was just confused and lost for like a six-month period, and then that's when I got into MMA." Judice said. "I started at Headkicks MMA on Johnston Street, and then I've been there ever since. It just started rolling, and here I am now. So it's an amazing, amazing journey to look back on."

Judice had her first pro fight in October of 2022, earned a UFC contract less than a year later during Dana White's Contender Series, and is now coming off her first win in the UFC after defeating Yuneisy Duben in March through first-round knockout. After suffering losses in her first two UFC bouts, Judice wanted to change her mindset and strategy to pick up a win against Duben in the fashion she did.

"Every single practice I go to, I'm focusing on how can I make these tiny little movements better so I'm overall a better fighter." Judice said, "So I feel like that played a huge role in, you know, my fight and my knockout. I had so much more confidence in myself, and I knew I was going to come in there and not be the same fighter I was when I lost those two."

After her big win against Yuneisy Duben, Judice was vocal about wanting to represent Louisiana as a part of the then-rumored UFC 318 card for Dustin Poirier's retirement fight in New Orleans. That dream has become a reality, as Judice will square off with Nicolle Caliari on July 19th at Smoothie King Center. Judice is looking to make a statement not just for herself, but for all female fighters.

"I just want to break the, you know, the image that female fighters are not technical and not good. You know, not a lot of people like to watch females. So I want to, every time I go in there and after, you know, after this fight, I want people to be like, dang, Carli can strike, Carli can fight, and she's a dog. So that's what I want to show the world every time I step in there." Judice said.

Latest news