Lilly Felice talks to Katie about Princess of Pain, WCL and her upcoming fight VS Felice Herrig for the IKF Bantamwieght North American Title.

Tell me a little about yourself and your background:

Me.. Well, I’m a Colorado girl that picked up and moved to Florida. I started training in 1998, and fighting shortly there after.  I don’t even really know how I found this sport.  I really just wanted a workout that was different than going to the gym and jumping on a Stairmaster.  I definitely found it and I don’t think I’ve taken more than a few days off ever since!

 As for “real life,” I graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Business Administration.  I definitely am not lucky enough to train and fight full time, so I work for an HR outsourcing company full time.  It’s crazy busy and sometimes a little stressful, but that’s how I operate best! 

Who do you train with and where do you train?

I train at Tampa Muay Thai with Kru Ray Cole.  I just started training with him late last year and it’s been one of the most positive training experiences I have ever had.  He’s so incredibly talented, he’s disciplined, and he really knows how to get me ready for a fight.  He fights as well and he’s just as talented as a fighter.  Alex Barrios is the other fighter/trainer that gets up and works with me at 6am.  He’s got a great future as well, can’t wait to see where he takes it!  The fight team really supports each other and I know that I learn from them everyday. Great group of people and I enjoy going to train with them everyday.

What are some titles you currently hold?

Well, I held a lot of titles as an amateur.  I was a 3 x IKF champion, an ISKA CO State Champion, a Kickdown Classic Champion, and I held belts for a few other promotions.  As a professional I held/hold the Shindo Kumate Belt. 

You moved from Colorado to Florida, could you tell me a bit about that move and why you did it?

I moved to Florida mainly because I’d been in Colorado my entire life and it was time to expand my horizons.  I was lucky enough to have friends and family out here to help me out.  I couldn’t have done it without them.  It’s been a big adjustment in some ways, but I am absolutely happy here.  I have a great job, I have amazing friends, and my training family is AWESOME! 

For a while you had talked about retiring however last year you had signed with the Chuck Norris fight team and came back with vengeance. Could you tell me a bit more about this and also the difference in a Muay Thai fight vs fighting for a league?

I thought about retiring, it’s true.  I had over a year of inactivity (a fighters worst enemy), and I’ve been in this game for a long time.  However… Last year Steve Alley, coach of the Denver Fury, contacted me and asked me to be their starter.  Being as I live to fight, there was absolutely no way I could have turned that down.  It was exactly what I needed to get back to the place I love, the ring (okay, it was the Combat Zone, but still).  The rules are a little different, but in reality a fight is a fight.  I got to fight my heart out once a month, and I got to meet some of the coolest people.  The World Combat League is a great promotion.  The fighters are treated like gold, they really take care of us. 

As for fighting a little bit of a different style, I think it only made me a stronger fighter.  I’m an endurance fighter (the longer the fight the better), so I had to really adjust to going full force from the start of the round until the end and only for one round.  The only other part that was harder for me to adjust to the fact that you can’t clinch and knee.  You can only clinch for one knee and then you have to get out and fire either kicks or punches.  I know there were a few times that I caught myself wanting to clinch and knee.

You recently went to New Zealand with Princesses of Pain. Can you tell me more about this experience?

WOW.. That’s the first word that comes to mind.  There were so many good things about this fight/promotion it’s hard to list all of them.  I’ll start with the promoter, Belinda.  She’s awesome.  She’s so passionate about women fighting and she’s really putting her heart and soul into making it something big.  I seriously don’t think I can thank her enough for everything she did and continues to do.

Next, THE TEAM!!!  The American girls are absolutely the greatest group of people I have ever met.  I’ve never had so much fun and gotten to know people so quickly.  Lana Stefanec is our Team Captain and she’s amazing.  The other girls are equally amazing and they are all like sisters to me.  We stayed in a hostel with 6 of us in the room and it was so much fun.  I have never laughed so hard.  Team training was awesome, even though they are all MMA fighters, they helped me get ready.  They’re all very talented and I was extremely lucky to be out there with them. 

The fights… Really awesome.  I fought Michelle Preston and she is truly amazing as a person and as a fighter.  We fought our hearts out.  It was an amazing fight and I’m sure we’d both do it again.  She is a warrior and I have no problem with the outcome.  Her skill is amazing, and she’s got the heart to match.  I just have to train harder next time J.  Fighting in New Zealand was an experience of a lifetime.  I cannot wait to do it again!!

What kind of advice would you give to other women who are interested in getting involved in the sport?

DO IT!! Don’t do it just to say you are a fighter, do it because you love it.  It’s not easy, but if you truly love to train and fight, you’ll amaze yourself with what you can do!

What’s next for you?

November 1, 2008—Throwdown in Chitown for the IKF Bantamwieght North American Title vs. Felice Herrig.  I can’t wait.  I never stop training, but I’m training hard for this fight and it absolutely the center of my world.  There is nothing that will prevent me from getting in that ring and doing exactly what I’m built to do.  Felice fought WCL, she’s probably the one fighter I didn’t get to know, but I will get to know her over 5x3 minute rounds.   Did I mention that I can’t wait??  I live for this!!

I know from speaking to other women fighters in the past that holding a relationship is hard when the training heats up. Do you have time for a love life or is fighting your first love?

Ha! This is an interesting subject (but a fun one).  I’ve found it can be hard to date and get ready for a fight.  I’m up at the crack of dawn, after that I work my normal job and go directly back to the gym for another few hours.  I wind up getting home at 9 or 10pm.  It’s hard on a relationship, especially when you hear comments like, “Girls shouldn’t do that (yes I’ve actually been told this),” or “Would it kill you not to train for just one night?”  This is not always the case, if it’s worth it I’ll make the time for it.  It’s all about balance. 

I hear you’re quite the marathon runner:

Besides fighting, I have another passion.. Running!  My trainers constantly tell me not to run so far, but it’s just something I can’t give up. I ran my first marathon in 2006.  I fought in March and the guy I was dating at the time was running a Marathon at the beginning of June so I ran to train for it with him.  I didn’t plan to run an actual marathon, I just liked the challenge of running farther than I’d ever run on the long training runs.  At the end of April I decided to sign up for my own marathon that May, the Colorado Colfax Marathon.  This marathon has one of the steepest inclines of any in the world (and it’s the last 6 miles).  I ended up placing 3^rd in my age group and 17^th overall.  That was cool, I didn’t even plan to run it.  It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.  I was a little out of it at the end of it, I had a fever of about 106, but I did it and I did NOT quit.

Believe it or not, I was back doing padwork with my trainer 3 days later.  There was no week off of training after that, I just didn’t run for almost a week….

What are some other things that you like to do in your spare time?

I live in Florida so I absolutely LOVE the beach.  The beach trumps the mountains any day.  I have amazing friends too!  I spend a lot of my free time laughing with them.  Some of my favorite nights are spent cooking dinner with friends and sitting around enjoying life.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Not really.  Just thanks to you guys!  This sport is growing and it’s so exciting to see.  There’s so much talent out there and now they finally have a way to showcase it!