UFC star narrowly avoided nightmare scenario in last fight: ‘My stomach was not feeling great’

MMA fans can be a pretty critical bunch, and they sure don’t forget easily. In her latest UFC fight, strawweight star Loopy Godinez narrowly avoided a situation that would have had fans chattering for weeks — and not in a good way.

Godinez, who was born in Mexico but now lives in Canada, was back in action as part of this past Saturday’s UFC Mexico City card. This time, she was taking on Julia Polastri in a three-round fight, looking to bounce back from consecutive decision losses to submission specialists — and top contenders — Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern.

In the end, Godinez won is style, capturing a clear-cut unanimous decision win. It was a very impressive feat, particularly considering the unusual challenge she dealt with in the Octagon.

Nobody could have said it better than she did:

“I have to poop,” she told her coach between rounds.

Thankfully, Godinez was able to keep things under control, and disaster was avoided. What fans may not realize is how close she actually was to an accident.

“If it was five rounds, that would be bad,” Godinez said on the Helwani Show several days after her UFC Mexico City fight (via Jed I. Goodman). “I tried not to think about it.”

Thankfully, “everything was fine” in the end, as Godinez told Helwani.

As for the cause of the issue, she isn’t sure exactly, because it was “the first time” it’s ever happened. However, she suspects it could have been related to her weight cut.

Loopy Godinez recounts challenging lead-up to UFC Mexico City

The trouble actually began before Godinez stepped on the scale.

“Now that I’m putting a lot of the stuff together, everything makes sense,” the UFC strawweight recounted. “So, I was pretty much sick when I go into the fight. [Before the fight] I went for a walk, and I was getting the chills. I tell my coach ‘I’m so cold, I feel weird,’ and he’s like it’s because your body fat is so low.

“It was like weird chills when you’re getting sick, but I was like ‘there is no way I’m putting that into my brain that I’m getting sick right now. I’m not doing that to myself.’ So I’m like ‘maybe I’m just sick, my body fat is too low.’”

The trouble then continued after she successfully weighed in — a feat in itself considering how she felt. Unfortunately, it also persisted until she was in the cage.

“My stomach wasn’t great, when I started [re]hydrating,” she said. “I was like ‘oh it’s ok, it’s probably because my body is trying to assimilate from nothing to some food and drinking. I’ll get better.’ Then I went to sleep and my stomach was still not feeling great. I was having the s**ts, I guess, all of that Friday day, and overnight, and in the morning, and then before coming out to go to the fight.

“I didn’t say anything, I was just like ‘suck it up, it is what it is,'” the UFC star added. “Then in the cage, in the second round, I felt something. When something is happening, I just [say] it like that, with no filters, I guess. So, it came out, and [when] it happened, the camera was right [up close].

“I don’t care. It is what it is. Fighters and humans go through it. Some people talk more than others. It just happened that way.”

The good news is that Godinez is feeling better in the wake of her latest UFC fight. In fact, she says the circumstances she dealt with made her win even sweeter.

“My stomach still feels weird, but I feel like it’s a little bit better,” she said. “It makes it sweeter. It makes so great.”

Had things gone differently, Godinez would actually not have been the first to deal with such an experience. Justine Kish infamously had worse luck back in 2017, and that’s not the only example in the MMA record books.

Loopy Godinez has gone 8-5 since joining the UFC roster in 2021. She is one of most active fighters on the roster, and clearly can’t be deterred by much. Some fighters could probably learn a thing or two from her.