Regina Tarin’s UFC debut left a lot to say.
A week ago, the Mexican fighter wasn’t even on the UFC roster, but all that changed three days before UFC Fight Night 268, which took place on Saturday night at Arena CDMX in Mexico City. Tarin (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) got the call to replace Sofia Montenegro to fight against Ernesta Kareckaite. It was an obvious yes from the 21-year-old, which not only led to her UFC debut but also to an exciting win on home soil and a $100,000 bonus for Fight of the Night.
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Yet, despite coming out of a situation where there seemed to be only positives, Tarin did experience some criticism. Some online criticized her looks and appearance, claiming she didn’t resemble herself from her very popular Instagram account. Tarin has seen those comments, but won’t let online body shaming sour her big win.
“There’s always going to be good things and bad things in terms of what people say about my career,” Tarin told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “I’m very proud of the work that I did and proud of my body’s ability to support this. As a woman, this takes a toll. I’m thankful for my body, for the people who support me, and my performance.”
“Kill Bill” went through a lot physically in order to make her octagon debut. She only had three days to make weight, which prompted a 130-pound catchweight for her bout against Kareckaite. Tarin usually competes at 125 pounds. She did feel heavier coming into this MMA fight, given the unideal circumstances.
“Because of the weight cut, I lost a lot of weight, and when it came to the re-hydration, I got very inflamed, so I didn’t look the same as when I was cutting weight,” Tarin said. “For the fight, I did bounce back in weight a lot, but it was mainly water.
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“People started saying, ‘Oh, what happened? She gained a lot of weight,’ and stuff like that. Saying I didn’t look like the fighter from the weight cut. That’s obviously something normal. Maybe people are not used to seeing it. We got dehydrated, and when you hydrate again, your body swells up, and you have a lot of physical changes. It’s a constant evolution of the body, but people are not used to that.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Regina Tarin shrugs off body shaming comments after UFC debut
