Level-Up! Flyweight prospect Yazmin Najera not rushing path to UFC: ‘The goal is to get to Contender Series’

Yazmin Najera is confident that her skills will lead her where she wants to go in MMA.

Once the best division amongst the women in MMA, flyweight went through a rough patch upon its UFC introduction before returning to its former glory in recent years. The weight class has unmatched global depth and many a new prospect are looking to make names for themselves. Take Mexico’s Najera as a prime example.

The 26-year-old Mexico City native extended her current winning streak to three (4-1 record) when she scored a first-round TKO over Yuliana Iveth at UWC 53 last month (May 19, 2024). It was a dominant effort from Najera to score the first finish of her young career. Her manager has since told her to stay ready for a likely August turnaround. Although the timing aligns with the start of the next season of Dana White’s Contender Series, Najera isn’t rushing what she believes is inevitable.

“The goal is to get to Contender [Series] or maybe in another level,” Najera told MMA Mania. “Of course, UFC, but I’m just focused on the next step and that fight. I can’t see it going to be my time for Contender [Series] this year. All I know is that I need to keep training for that fight because it will come, I know. Maybe the next year. That’s why I’m working, that’s why I’m in Las Vegas and I have a lot of faith in Mexico and the level of Mexico because I have my boxing coaches, my MMA coaches, my jiu-jitsu coaches there, but I just need to go to Las Vegas to try another kind of level.

“I was training hard with UFC fighters, and I was doing sparring with [them]. You can see what you need to keep working [on], what you need to get better. It’s another kind of level.”

Najera has gotten ahead of the game for her current level in MMA. After early experiences in top Latin American promotions Combate Global and LUX Fight League, the flyweight decided to take her training to Las Vegas. Ahead of the Iveth victory, Najera sparred at Xtreme Couture, honed her boxing at Capetillo Boxing Gym, wrestled at the UFC Performance Institute (P.I.), and the typical game planning with her primary coach Hector Vasquez at Cobrinha.

As serious of a sport as MMA is, Najera has found her ways to have fun with it and never planned to be where she is now. Originally dabbling in American football and studying in art, Najera started punching people in the face and one thing led to another.

“I was with a guy who was training MMA, and I was watching him training and I was like that looks funny, and I want to try it,” Najera said. “I started training, just throwing punches and I didn’t know nothing about jiu-jitsu. I didn’t know nothing. I was just getting better in [everything]. Someday I was thinking, what if I fight? I don’t know (laughs). That’s why I started. It will be fun if I fight.”