411 MMA Interviews: Felice Herrig
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 07.14.2011
Female MMA fighter, Felice Herrig, checks in with 411mania.com for an exclusive interview. Felice talks about her fighting career, the new Supremacy MMA videogame she's featured in, her last fight and more.
During the preview event and autograph signing for the Supremacy MMA videogame at Universal City Walk, I got the chance to meet up and speak with one of the featured fighters of the game, Felice Herrig (5-3, MMA). Felice, along with fellow fighter, Michelle Gutierrez, are the two featured female MMA fighters in the game. And they are also the first ever playable female MMA fighters in a MMA-themed videogame. Felice is currently on a two fight winning streak. At XFO 39 last May, she defeated Nicdali-Rivera-Calanoc.
Jeffrey Harris: So how are you doing?
Felice Herrig: I am doing fantastic. I am in LA and in comparison to Chicago my life is pretty good right now.
Jeffrey Harris: What can you tell me about the Supremacy MMA videogame?
Felice Herrig: The game is actually pretty amazing. It's an arcade style game for Xbox and PlayStation 3. It's the very first [MMA] game to feature female fighters, myself and Michelle Guitierrez.
Jeffrey Harris: It's female MMA playable for the first time ever in a videogame.
Felice Herrig: First time, yeah. It's pretty exciting. I don't know how we became so lucky to be the first two but we'll take it. I'll take it. I'm pretty excited about it. And then of course, Jens "Lil' Evil" [Pulver] is in it. He's stealing all our sunshine, but that's OK *Laughs*. He is the sunshine in the game.
Jeffrey Harris: You've won your last two fights so you must be feeling pretty good right now?
Felice Herrig: Yes, I'm feeling very good. I actually had a little rough patch when I first started MMA coming in as a professional fighter with zero MMA experience. But I've been working on my ground game, my grappling, and it's actually playing a key factor in my fights.
Jeffrey Harris: Unfortunately for female MMA there aren't as many opportunities out there. I think Strikeforce didn't do a very good job of pushing and promoting female MMA when they had a good chance. And Bellator while they had a women's tournament, they are doing very little to promote their 115 lbs. women's champion Zoila Frausto.
Felice Herrig: That's actually the thing. I fought for Bellator and they were really adamant in the 115 lb tournament, and actually at that time I was between management, I was between gyms and I just didn't think it was a smart career move. And they wanted me to sign a long contract. And I don't want to fight for one particular organization just because I think it really limits myself as a fighter. Unless you can guarantee me a lot of fights and a lot of money, I fight because I love to fight. And I don't want to be put on the shelf to fight maybe twice a year. I still want to take my opportunities. I want to be kind of freelance and be able to fight in different organizations, want to be able to fight Muay Thai, boxing, kickboxing. I want to be able to do whatever I want to do and not be locked down to one organization unless they are going to give me all kinds of amazing opportunities.
Jeffrey Harris: But is Bellator still on the table in your mind and have they offered you anything else recently?
Felice Herrig: No, Bellator is not off the table. And now I feel I've been at Team Curran for almost a year and I feel like now I'm at a gym where I can grow and really evolve as a fighter. So now, I'm sure all I have to do is pretty much contact them and ask them if they do another 115 lb. tournament, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to in it. Nothing is off the table. I just got to – obviously for women it is not easy to get in fights, and you kind of take the opportunities that you can and whatever opportunities come my way. I kind of deal with one fight at a time.
Jeffrey Harris: When would you like to fight again?
Felice Herrig: Honestly, I've had four fights in five months. I'm always ready to fight. I always want to fight. But the Supremacy MMA videogame was originally supposed to come out June 7, so I said I wanted to take off June and July and just be able to enjoy the launch of the videogame, be able to go do PR stuff, and not have to leave my training camp and not have to be cutting weight while I am doing all these fun things. But I'm sure I will be back in the cage come August.
Jeffrey Harris: Any idea on who you might fight next or who you want to fight?
Felice Herrig: I think there have been talks about me fighting Little Patricia Vidonic. I was actually supposed to fight her in my last fight, on XFO that was at the Sears Center in Chicago. But I actually got called out on Twitter by Nicdali Rivera and she was doing a lot of smack talking. And I actually didn't want to give in and fight her because I didn't want to give in to that, but at the same time I thought it was a good fight for me career wise. I was amped up, I was fired up. She said I was overrated, and I think she really believed that. I wanted for myself to prove to her, to everybody who might've believed that, that I'm not overrated.
Jeffrey Harris: How much work did you get to do on the Supremacy MMA videogame?
Felice Herrig: Obviously I'm not a developer. We've done voice-overs. We did a lot of stills and still photography. A lot of body positions. It was easy for a lot the guys at 505/Kung Fu Factory to watch a lot of our fights to see our fighting style and how we move because honestly I watch the way I move in the videogame and it really looks stylistically the way that I fight.
Jeffrey Harris: Are there any sponsors or people you would like to thank or give a shout out to?
Felice Herrig: Yes as I'd like to thank all the sponsors, everybody behind me: Head Rush, Battleware, Alienware, Team Curran, Sucker Punch Entertainment, my manager Brian Butler, all my coaches, Soldier Fit. Equi-Fights, it's not really a sponsor, but it's a movement that Michelle and I have tried to create to give women equality in the sport in the fights. So everybody has to check out Equi-Fights on Facebook.
According to Felice, the key to her heart is food. Her three F's are "Food, fighting, and Felice because I love myself." Thanks so much to Felice Herrig for speaking with us. Supremacy MMA featuring Felice Herrig is due out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 27. You can also listen to the latest episode of the 411 Ground and Pound Radio Show here:
