Jenna "The GEM" Creason talks making it tc UFC, training with DC, coming up in Visalia

0:00Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another episode of the Olicis Podcast today. Today we have a very, very special guest and let me tell you something, if you're in the Central Valley, you live in the Central Valley, I guarantee you've seen her on buses all over the place, you've seen her on signs, you've definitely seen and heard of this guest today. And if you're not from the Central Valley, you probably still heard of her just because all the moves and what she's making in the MMA fight industry. And if you haven't heard of her yet, you're going to hear of her very soon. But today's guest is a three time USA boxing national champion, international gold medalist from the Brandenburg Cup. She's also California CIF State Wrestling Champion. That's pretty interesting. So we're going to get into that later as well. And last but not least, she was the youngest inductee into the USA Marshal Arts Hall of Fame. Ladies and gentlemen, today's guest is none other than Jenna, the Jim Creason. Welcome to this show. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Ladies and gentlemen, before we dive into this podcast, quick shout out to our sponsor,

1:00this podcast, Academy Western Insurance, the best number one insurance company in the entire Central Valley, auto home, business insurance, life insurance, everything from A to Z, you name it. We got you covered. Tell them about it, Dan. Like an Academy Western insurance, we've been in business for more than 25 years and we have 30 plus locations here in the Central Valley. So that doesn't matter what city you're in, what beautiful small city of the Valley you're in. We got an office ready to take care of you. That is very true, Dan. Academy Western number one insurance company in the entire Central Valley. And we have none other than Academy Western sponsored athlete, Jenna, the Jim Creason. Tell them Jenna. You shout out to my sponsor, Academy Western insurance. Thank you guys so much for not only showing a light on me and other athletes here in the Valley. They're the best. So make sure you go check them out. Jenna, the Jim approved Academy us auto.com. You know, you know, it's so crazy. Like if you listen to that, if you listen to the intro, a better central by the way, this guy, he kills the fucking intro every time. But in that intro, like he said, have you been living under a rock or maybe you're like a casual, you know, combat sports fan and you haven't heard of Jenna, it might seem like she kind of came out of nowhere. But you've been in the game for a long, long time, right?

2:02You know, one of the cool stories that doing research we heard was something and you can like, probably share a little more on this was like your first time at the gym. How did that, can you talk about that real quick? Yeah. The last 15 years I've been doing six different martial arts throughout it. I started off with wrestling. I have six older siblings who all did wrestling. My brother is a boxing karate. I kind of got into it because I want to be able to beat up my brothers and you know, kind of step up with them. But I ended up getting on the mat set for with wrestling. I got beat up at first, but I ended up enjoying it and loving it. My dad kind of taught me how to still go after the best of the best and that's how you learn and that's how you get better. And so with that, I started wrestling and then I ended up getting into boxing with the best like a pal. When we ran into a police officer at a park and my dad did not want his little girl to boxing. He only had his boys do it. I bugged the heck out of him, finally was able to get into the gym like probably a month later because he's like, oh, we'll go next week next week comes around and we didn't go. How are you at this point? When boxing, I started when I was eight.

3:03Eight. Yeah, eight about to be nine. And so we finally started doing it. Even coaches were like, oh, well, we don't really have that many girls, you know, I don't know, and all that stuff. And then I met my coach who was there and you know, he took me right in and started doing mits. We sparred not too long after that. And I started, they lined up the boys on the side of the ring and I went one on one with all of them, busted lips, busted noses, and just kind of took them out. They ran out of boys and were like, sorry, like, we don't know what else to do for you. So that was one of your first days. So they lined up the guys you went in the ring, you're going to spar and one by one you took them out. Yes, that's great. And one round after each of them. And so it was good, you know, just I didn't know how to fight. I barely knew how to wrestle at that point. I've been wrestling for about four years. And so I was just aggressive and my dad thought, as soon as I get hit in the face, you're like, cool, we'll be done with boxing, you know, we'll go back to wrestling. That's it. That did not happen. Now it's part of my career. And I think he likes it now, but back then he didn't. Well, you see that is what happens. For the most part, ever watching this at home, if you're a normal casual and you're not

4:03a fighter like Jenna, when you get hit in the face, I guarantee you. That's when you stop. Yeah, maybe this is not you know what, I can attach to that because many years back, one of my friends invited me. It's like a, like his, his buddy opened up at MA gym. So I went out there, whatever, doing the conditioning and stuff. It was fun. It's hard, but it's conditioning. You know, you get through it, whatever. But then we got into the sparring and rolling around like sure enough, you know, we put the gloves in, you get popped in the mouth a little bit, you go home with the black eye, you're like, yeah, you know, I like working out, but I'll stick to working out. I don't like getting punched in the face. So yeah, one story. I remember when you came home, we were roommates at the time. Yeah, he came home. Same exact thing. He was really sore. And then all of a sudden he walked in. He had like a big, big, black eye. What happened to your eye, bro? I didn't know he was going to training at the time, obviously like for, for fighting. And sure enough, that's what, I was like, yeah, well, I'm going to MA gym like, you know, I would like to run in the miles and shout, that's cool, you know, whatever. But then we can finally got sparring and then like got tired and dropped your guard, like to work and be safe. You know, I didn't know. But that's what it is, you know, the bad game right in, you know, shit. So they after that, sure enough, I, you know, I think I lasted the summer, but I was like,

5:05you know, I brought this is not for me, because we were off the sky. So we talked a lot of people, my, I can't sit there with a black eye in front of somebody. That was my excuse, you know, but, you said, I'm never afraid to admit it that I am very much a lover and out of fighter. And I don't even shy away from it at all. So, yeah, you know, but you know what, as a fighter, though, do you think, like, I feel like you have to process pain a little differently, you know, because I feel like you also have to keep better your composure, because even as a kid, like when I would get hit, I feel like rage just kind of takes a really kind of angry, just kind of takes over. So as a kid, was it like pretty natural dealing with that, like where you always kind of fighting with your older brothers or how, how did that come so naturally? Yeah. So it was kind of like our family, they're all again fighters, wrestlers, all that sort of stuff. And so it was kind of easy to kind of make that transition. My sister, she was just like me, she's, everyone's a little more scared of her at the time. I mean, now it's me, but at that time, it was her, oh, yeah, and so always trying to step up to the play. Even now, every time we get a hard training or like something that's supposed to be pushing you and hurting and all that stuff, I'm always laughing through it. I'm smiling.

6:06I enjoy it. My coach is love about it. My mother tight coach, Jasper, you know, if you're getting beat up, you should be smiling at them. You know, kind of like totally. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I love it. It's kind of weird. But I enjoy it. And you kind of have fun with that because, you know, every little bit of pain, every injury, every hard practice and stuff that just gets you one step closer to your goal. So. But in the sense, I feel like it's kind of a mind game, right? Because if I'm fighting Jenna right now, she starts smiling when I just like give a good punch and I'm like, oh, it's going to get her. She's smiling. Oh, god. I'm like. What you can say that in profits, too, like, you know, they always talk about the guys that have chins and like, they go up. And then you can see the guy that just delivered what would usually be like a knockdown punch for somebody. And then the guy just tanks it. You can kind of see the guy. He kind of like, oh, shit. I mean, we're in for a long one here today, you know, so that's cool. You know, one of the things, I want to go back to this real quick. You mentioned the palette program very briefly, but I didn't even know what the palette program is until we started getting ready for, you know, to have you on the show. So what is the palette program? Because I think it's a really cool program now that we know about it, you know, but I'm sure you'll have a lot more to say about that one.

7:06Yeah. So the palette program is the police activities league. It's like a community center where they have they have a boxing program. They have an after school program, a leadership program. And then I also run a girl empowered, which is for young girls. I teach them self-defense and healthy habits, nutrition, basic fitness, kind of giving them girls only sort of access to all of that. Yeah. And so I'm actually a board member now. Once I train 18, I decided to be a board member. I've been at the power program since I was eight years old with the boxing. They've helped me through nationals to go and gloves, all the tournaments that I did. They were a huge part of that. But basically just helping those kids have a better outsource from what they're usually used to. Yeah. And so it's helped so many kids and you know, kind of being able to see them go through the program and then go on to life. And whatever jobs it is, the leadership program, it's one thing that I've just got involved with and that's going really well. They go take these kids to like trips and stuff, high schoolers to help teach them like basic habits, like how to eat like a fancy restaurant, how to do a balanced checkbook,

8:11which I know it's not too much use anymore, but all those sorts of things and how to do interviews. They have like representatives from Target who handle interviews and some of them even get jobs from it. So it's just kind of helping them get those life skills that you don't necessarily get in school. It's really more than boxing, right? I mean, whenever we first did our research, we thought it was more of a gym base, which I'm sure it is, you know, I've seen it paint off really well for you. But the fact they're teaching more than just boxing in the sports with, you know, balancing the checkbook or learning how to do your taxes or even interviews, like that was one of the things that really stood out with us when we were doing our research is we watched the video. Maybe we'll pop up a clip where your first ever on TV interview, you were 11 years old. Talked about a little about before, but you were 11 years old, interviewed on the news. All the lights and cameras are on you live TV. And all of a sudden you see Jenna go up and Jenna's just like a smooth criminal, just smooth with it. They asked her the question. She recited it back perfectly, perfect eye contact, then set her at all. And it just came naturally. You were 11 years old. Yeah.

9:12I've been kind of media trained naturally and I definitely say that's been a blessing with all the fighting. I mean, some fighters just can't do it. They don't like the camera. And so that's one of my management, my coaches love about it. That's the easy part for me. Yeah. But yeah, the boxing program is definitely one of our more popular aspects of it, especially with like how I'm in the public with them. And then also our bike shop. They have like a bike shop. They run every week to kids learn how to fix their bikes. A lot of them have bikes to go to and from school, how to fix it. Some of them earn bikes. And those two are our main popular programs right now. And then just for like the audience, too, the kids didn't, because like us, we didn't really know. This is all like free, right? Like the kids, you don't have to come out of pocket or anything. All of it's free. Wow. How do they get signed up or where do they go? Where can they find the pal pro? Yeah. So it's at the Women's Center in Visalia. I believe it's 315 Pearl Street, I believe. But they just come in with the parent or guardian. They sign up the little waiver, find out which program they're interested in and then it goes to that. It's Monday through Friday from right after school. The fact that it's free, though, giving kids a place to go, where it's free after school

10:13and they can, you know, do anything. They can learn about job interview skills, life skills, they can let out their energy with boxing. That's crazy. Yeah, we have a computer lab there. We have indoor basketball courts. That's a really nice facility and our boxing gym is actually incredible too. We have some officers right now who are actually training for the UCA battle, the badges. We have three officers getting ready for that. That I was excited for. We were hoping to get some from Visalia because we haven't had any for a while. So we have three officers from Visalia, my coach is son. He's a firefighter from Visalia. He's fighting. That's cool. I'm really excited. It's really good. So they're getting interact with the kids, you know, outside of just being in a uniform because especially in that sort of area, you know, necessarily officers are not really super excited to see them and all that or they have bad experience with them past. And so it's really good for them to learn how to like see them as people as well. That's crazy. Yeah. Like this whole like the with pal, by the way, spelled P-A-L, like pal program, right? So if you're interested or you know, anybody send them their way, you know, as you're coming, you know, because part of the pal program and all that stuff too, and one of the, one

11:15of the stuff that we do research, you know, you talked about how your dad was doing a lot for you to keep you from going down, like to keep you going from a certain path, going down this path. And you know, combat sports and that are being part of that. Well for you guys, though, you and your dad have had a, I would say a very special relationship. And I like for this one, when I was listening to you talk about your dad, like, well, you know, one thing I'll say, my daughter right now, she's six months old and I'm like, did I wish my daughter talked about me the way Jenna talks about her dad, you know, when she's her age, because you guys have been, it's just been, you know, you and your dad since what two months old, right? So that, and he's right here in the back of you, obviously, can't see him with the cameras videos right here back supporting, you know, every time we've been, done something with you guys, he's there supporting, he's always there for you. And that's always kind of been a big, every interview, you know, you always bring up your dad and you mentioned the support that he's given you. So how, how do that, how, what, what is that like? Because I know that a lot of the times, people who, who come from like a single parent household, sometimes as a kid, I come from a single parent household, you kind of feel like you're at a disadvantage, you know, but my mom was very supportive as well.

12:15Shout out to mom. Um, what are some tips, I guess, or what is something that you can give, um, some advice that you would give to somebody watching right now, who looks up to Jenna and they're like, man, I didn't know that she was, she came from a single parent household, like what is something you could share with them to help them get through whatever they are right now? Let them know that they too, one day can become a, a champ, national champ. I mean, accolades are crazy, you know, but what is something that you could share for them? I would definitely say the whole relationship with my dad and it just being us has definitely shaped me into who I am. Uh, we're definitely at it sometimes, but it's definitely helped. Um, I call, I used to call him Mr. Mom, uh, every time we did like mother's day, I'd give him little card saying Mr. Mom and all that stuff. Um, but he, of course, he doesn't have the feminine aspects of it. So growing up, that made it kind of hard, um, but it was good because it adapted me for my life and my training and all that. He said, if I did dance or something, it probably wouldn't be the same, but so it was kind of good. I got an MMA, something he'll enjoy too. And so I think that definitely helped me overcome a lot, you know, um, being on a fixed

13:15income with him and, um, he went, like, complete other path than I did when I was younger. And so he showed me everything that he didn't want me to do by example and all that stuff. And so once he had me and all of his other kids probably couldn't change him as well as I did, but I was very stubborn, just like him. And so it helped me be resilient, um, be able to build a character for not only in the ring and the cage, but also outside of it, whether it was school, um, it wasn't very smart, but he helped me learn how to adjust and do your research and study and do all those things. Um, you don't have to be the best at everything, but you could definitely work to be the best, you know, because I mean, you're not always going to get given anything. And I think definitely loving the being the underdog in every situation came from that and just the experiences that we've had and all the obstacles we've been through, um, and still be able to come out and be successful with all that I train and do and all that. You're, you love to hear that just because like Dan talked about, I don't have any kids yet, but I imagine as, uh, as a dad, that's probably the best thing to be able to hear is your child being proud of them too, you know, in this end, advice first of all, it's

14:17a mutual relationship when you grow up, especially as now as like a young adult and all the accolades that you have. And it's so cool to see. And, um, one of the things we talked about before is there's a famous, um, business guy where he talks a lot about, he has a famous quote where he talks a lot about how in life, people either look at things that the other happen to them or for them, right? For example, there's kids watching this at home or who've watched, or even parents watching this at home where it's a single parent house so they can look at a two different ways, right? Where it's one way we're staying like, why am I this happens to me? It's the worst thing in the world. I just got dealt a bad hand and that's it, which rightfully so it's definitely dealt a different hand that's put you behind the eight ball, but it's cool to see that you took the other route where you said, no, this happens for me, everything whether good or bad is happening for you and it's paving the way, um, to make sure that it sets you up to build your character up. Who you need to be to be the world champion, right? Yeah, absolutely. And that's kind of one thing that he taught me growing up that I actually, um, my other coaches and I with our girls high school wrestling team, um, we kind of say is either you find

15:17an excuse or you find a way and so, especially with me and my dad, you know, we learn how to find a way through everything, even if it's not as good as we wanted to, we still find a way and you keep pushing. I like how I might start using that, we're going to start using that, we're going to use that at work, too. Yeah, I think you should find a way, um, yeah, you know, and I think to the, and I think that mindset on, you know, to Anthony's point, it's so important because that does like that is, I think what sets winners apart, you know, we've had a ton of people on the show that are like high performers and shit and one similar trait that they have is that that they don't look like they're look at, um, and you've actually had this forum some of your, of your interviews before, you talk about how every obstacle that has gone thrown your way, it's not really like an obstacle, it's more of like a chance for you to like one show like your faith, and then also two, it's a way for you to learn and build your character because maybe that's part of the process, you have to get over that to be the person that you're destined to become, you know, so, um, yeah, when we were listening to that, we're like, yeah, I'm not sure if fucking, I was like, I was like, inspiring, and we're like, it is. It is.

16:17And obviously your destined to become a provider, that's what you've been doing, right? But one of the questions I always wanted to ask when just doing some research before is that obviously you're really good at boxing and you're really good at MMA, it's very few that they're good at both, right? But what goes into that decision to pick one or the other and pick MMA and start to stick with that? Because obviously you're good at both. Yeah. So that was a decision that I was kind of long fully dreading, you know, everyone always asked me like, oh, what's your favorite martial art or what's your favorite sport? I'm just kind of like all of them, you know, just all of them in general. Like the one where I can hit people and get hit, that's the one. Yes, exactly. And so, um, we went boxing first, turned pro, my end of my senior year of high school, um, just to get into it, you know, I came off team USA with the national titles, it all just kind of lined up perfectly. We're actually now getting ready to jump in the cage. And I'm so excited for that. That has been long-awaited. You can see it in your face right now, by the way. She said in the cage, she smiled right away. Oh, yeah. And so we have been dying to get in there. And so now we're finally making that transition and it was kind of that whole decision boxing or MMA. And so, of course, I've been doing the six disciplines my whole life, you know, to get

17:20to this point. And so now that it's finally happening, that's exactly where my heart's at. I love boxing and all, but it's only just one of my tools and my arsenal. You know, I want to be able to use all of it. So. Yeah. Well, the cool thing about it, I feel like just the, the sport right now in general where it's at, is you do see a lot of MMA guys, MMA girls transition a boxing later, right? It's a little bit less taxing on the body. Yeah. And so, I mean, MMA, you have knees coming out, you have elbows, you have everything, a boxing got to be more critical and like kind of make a decision kind of in the situation. I'm planning that a little bit more, um, but I definitely said there's a lot more fun things you could throw in MMA than I'm looking forward to. One painful thing. Yeah. I think it wasn't just like as a fan watching, like boxing is cool, but like, I rather watch like an undercard for USC, then like a random, even like some of the main cards for boxing. We love MMA. I mean, every single Saturday, if you ask us what we're doing, we're either like, have the kind ofness out of watching Paramount Plus now watching USC, you know, so that's it. Yeah. No hates a boxing. I still love boxing. It's been a huge part of my career, but I'm ready to start up with people in the face.

18:22Yeah. That is a lot of different feeling, but for you though, so part of a part of you wanting to switch over to choosing MMA, it's just like for you, it's more like a fun factor or like just the fact that, um, because I guess like, if I was in your shoes, I would feel like boxing kind of limits who I am, especially if you've been training like all the mixed martial arts. And you have like, you said you have all these weapons and then you're like, well, man, I can punch you. You know, like, I guess in MMA, you're like, I can use all everything that I know. You know, so is that more so I went into that choice or yeah, absolutely. The MMA has always been like the big end goal for me and stuff to get in the UFC, get the title and all that. And so boxing was kind of just another stepping stone to get to that again, very limiting to only have my hands. And you know, again, you go into fights, you have injuries, you have things like you're probably never going to have a fight. You're 100% in and that's normal. So he, this last fight, I did well as my main event. I took, uh, took that with the win, but my arm was jacked up from doing blood work and it was all swollen and bruised and everything. And so at that point, you only have one hand, right? Yeah. And then it goes wrong. Yeah. A bunch of other stuff you could use too.

19:23So being able to not be limited just a couple things is definitely something I'm looking forward to. Do you think that all those six things you practice before, including boxing and all the other six? Do they call them practices or how do they call them, like, uh, martial arts or the martial arts disciplines? Disciplines. Yeah, that's the word. Okay. So do you think that having six disciplines before having boxing, having all those backgrounds of the wrestling, do you think it's imperative to have all those together before you go in MMA? I think so. This is something that I kind of planned with my dad when I first started training and all that. It was I wanted to learn each discipline as best as I can individually. Um, so once I get to the point, all I got to do is make it flow and kind of put it together. And I think that's made it a lot easier, um, just making that transition is just kind of getting everything just to click with each other. And so I definitely recommend it, especially for young kids who are starting to get into it and wanting to learn, um, I would say just kind of master it where you can in each of them, the jiu-jitsu, the boxing, the Muay Thai, all that sort of stuff. So when you are jumping in the cage, it's a lot easier to transition.

20:24Is there one you recommend starting with first? Um, that would definitely depend on the kid, um, they're more aggressive, um, where they like hitting, I mean, boxing is a good one as long as you don't throw him in sparring too soon. I mean, I loved it, but I know there's a lot of health risk and stuff, so be careful with that. Um, I say wrestling is probably one of the best for discipline, um, especially for young kids. Again, my dad started us all wrestling and that's definitely helped a lot. Most, a lot of the good MMA fighters come from wrestlers, so I would say that's good. Um, if they're a little more mellow and I would say karate, I've done show to come karate and my brown bow, I would say that's definitely one that's good. You don't get hit too much. It's all points. You learn still the discipline, all that sort of stuff. Um, but yeah, I would say it just kind of varies on the personality of the kid. Yeah, yeah. Got to send him the daggers 10, 22, three years. That's a good one. I wish they could send me over there, but that's cool. So they didn't send you to Dagestan, but they did send you somewhere recently I want to talk about where you trained with Daniel Corbier recently, right? How was that?

21:25Oh, that was incredible. I loved it. Um, we went over to and dogs MMA gym and Gilroy, um, and was able to train with DC, um, Bob Cook, who's one of my main coaches, um, Coach Anthony, um, got thrown in the world of all those guys and got beat up a little bit, um, but I was able to hang in there with them and oh, it's, this is kind of what's pushing my transition out. And so being able to train out there with those guys, they're conditioning is crazy. They're sparring is crazy. And I loved it. I loved every second of it. And so I think that's definitely got me a lot more excited for MMA. That's exciting. And so whenever you went over there, obviously it's brand new gym, brand new sparring partners, everything's brand new to you. So what goes into the mindset whenever you walk in there, is it more of a, not a cocky feeling, but you have to kind of puff your chest a little bit to fit in or is it something where you go in the back of the line, you learn from everyone or is it a mixture of both? I mean, how does that work? Make sure of both, you know, I'm going to a new gym. I always kind of like, just kind of follow, see where there's at, know where to like gauge into it. Of course, I like being on the bottom and working my way up and over there, I'm definitely at the bottom working my way up.

22:27All those guys are beating me up and all that. And so I enjoy that. I like, again, the underdog feeling working up from the bottom. That's how I've always liked it. And so that's kind of where I went into it. I was so excited, especially DC, Anthony, Bob, all of them yelling at me, coaching and stuff. And I was just kind of intimidating, but so exciting. I enjoyed it. DC was throwing around my dad a little bit in the beginning. I enjoyed that a lot. How did that go? So he just met you dad and went on the matter. How did it work? He didn't go on the matter. I think my dad probably would have heard of you on the matter. But no, I met DC a couple of times and my coach was introducing him when he got there and he went to go hug him and he was like, oh, hi, and he was like, oh, Jenna, your dad's a big man. Oh, and he started to like start pummeling and all is like, oh, oh, I can picture it in my head. Oh, it was the funniest thing ever. I'm drilling, getting beat up. But I was still looking. So I want to see what happened. And oh, it was the best thing ever, you know, all the personalities over there. And they're just not only great fighters, but also good people and that definitely helps like the atmosphere. You know, I was I'm one of the first girls on the team and the squad over there.

23:29So that was exciting and just being able to just be in that environment to where you're constantly getting pushed and you're having to step it up, it's, it's amazing. I love it. That's crazy. And the first female on the team, that's crazy. That didn't know us. Pretty cool. Yeah. Especially too. Like you said, once you're out there with like super high level people, it does like, I feel like you always kind of want to be in those places because it does bring something more out of you. You know, like sometimes I feel like it brings it brings like a, like a gear that you didn't know you had, you know, you kind of have to, and that becomes like your new norm, but it's kind of cool because that's how you level up. Yeah, absolutely. And the whole being the first girl sort of thing, I love that. I love being the first girl and doing things that that's been big. Winning State as high schooler. I was a first girl in playery county to do so. Yeah, that was pretty cool. All my school. So being able to do that, I love it. I love being that, especially because just looking back on it, I'm hoping that there's little girls out there looking at me the way I did at the other girls who I watched. Yeah. It's incredible there. I can all wait to go back. I've been dying to go back and I just came back a couple days ago.

24:31So yeah. You can tell it. So it's almost like, obviously, but like most kids, they are like whenever you're coming up, they talk about Disneyland like that, right? Where I'm excited to go to Disneyland. I just wrote a couple of rides. I want to go back already, right? But Janna talks about going to these UFC gyms, training with Janna with Corby, like Disneyland, which she was like, I want to go back. Even though I got beat up, I want to go back right away, it's just crazy. Oh, yeah. It's definitely my happy place. You know, I mean, it's weird to be getting hit in the face and thinking that's a good thing. But oh, I loved it. I enjoyed it so much. How does something like that come about, though, just training with DC, getting that connection? How does that come about? So I'm under the same management as DC. I'm under zinc and management. And so his coach Bob Cook is also my coach, record Duane and all that. And so it's kind of something that we've been kind of working on for a while. And it's been the hardest secret ever to keep. Oh, my goodness. I get so excited. I like to yap and everything. So I have to like, oh, and I got to be all quiet about it. But it just, it finally happened. I was so excited. And so it was kind of something that was been in the works. We've been wanting to switch over to MMA for a while.

25:32The plan was to do a couple more boxing. But after this last fight that I have, or we're getting towards the MMA, and I'm excited for it. That's exciting. What goes into something like that? So whenever you're picking, for example, like management and surrounding yourself with the right people and the right connections, what goes into stuff like that? It would definitely just be, I was put around this right people at the right time. And so I definitely had my eyes on Zinkin and his family for a while where I wanted to go. I had many options even to this day that are still coming up, but I'm exactly where I want to be. They are some of the best in the sport, and they have some of the best fighters. They have all the champs. And so it's awesome to be able to be like on the same team with all the fighters that I've looked up to for years and all the champions. So I'm so happy with them. It's incredible. They've always looked out for my best interests. And so it put me in the right spots. So for people that don't know at home, the Zinkins are their local here, right? And tell us a little bit about what they do. Yeah. So they're like sports management here in Fresno. They've based out here for a while. I believe they've had like came Velasquez, Chuck Lidell, DC, all my favorites.

26:37And so they definitely made a big waves in the sport already and kind of came up with the UFC as they were getting created as well. You ended up choosing the Zinkins, but how young were you when you first started kind of, I guess getting like quarter by all the different management companies because I would imagine the people that have their ear to the ground and this sort of things up kind of like the Zinkins. Like they're probably looking out at the next big prospects that are coming up. So how old were you when you first started getting like kind of know what is some people started kind of talking and just kind of, oh, I don't even know how old I was, but I was pretty young. I mean, it was same thing like with college wrestling coaches and stuff. They started hitting me up at fifth grade, I think, kind of mentioning it. My sister, she got hers at sixth grade, so I beat her. So fifth grade, you were getting college, college coaches kind of trying to work me towards there. You know what? That's all that. Football, right? Like a football guy. Football. Usually you don't start getting his scholarship. Like if you were a stud, like freshman's sophomore year, but like this is unheard of. Yeah. The outliers are like eighth, seventh grade.

27:37You hear like this middle schooler, just, you know, I don't say this to Oregon. She got so rich, but I don't think you realize how big of a deal that is. Like fifth and sixth grade getting scouted by college coaches is. That's crazy. That's nuts. Yeah, that's nuts. Yeah. I'm sure the people that I like watch football and they know like they can fact check like that. That's crazy. Like a fifth grade. What college is where, by the way, can you say that? I can't do that. I don't think it's allowed to. I don't think they're allowed to come to me at that age. You know what? That's right. That's right. We'll keep that off breaker. That was a bad question. Yeah. I'm not going to do that. But there was a couple over there. I don't want to say just beating my sister and getting the first office was like the best thing ever. But they were all kind of trying to gear me towards that and had a lot of good college offers. Um, for like once I went and stayed and all, but I decided to go to MMA route, you know, I wanted to get in that cage. Yeah. As much as that was all fun, I mean, I got a little bad taste in my mouth with the schooling and the coaching and all that. It was, I'm going to be happier with the MMA and being able to go pro. It's so young now. It's been my goal forever. Hey. Sorry. That's a kind of thing though, right? Like in high school where you always hear about having trouble with coaches, especially if

28:38you're the coach's son or the coach's daughter, right? So that's a big thing. Yeah. And unfortunately, it either makes or breaks athletes, you know, we had a lot of girls on the team who started with wrestling for the first time and had a lot of potential and just kind of like some coaches could either push you to be better and get to the next level and enjoy the sport to where you can. And there's some coaches that just kind of make you like, you know, I don't even want to do this anymore and all that. And, um, especially with me, you know, me and my dad kind of balanced out with it. Either when I was mad, he would call me down and when he was mad, I would call him down. So it was, it was good that we had that balance because we're never like that. We're usually on the same thing all the time. And so it was good. And so I mean, I'm grateful for the experience. You know, I did what I wanted to do. I went and dominated and told myself before the season and told my dad. I was like, I'm going to go undefeated and he was like, okay, but don't let it. If you lose or anything, don't let that affect you and all that. And I ran through everybody almost and it was exactly what I wanted to do with the season. I wish I had zero points scored on me all season, but I guess eight's not bad. All season eight points.

29:38That's crazy. Yeah. I had my first one or two at Masters and the rest were just points like stupid points I gave up at state and it made me so mad after. I was like, all grumpy about it after matches. But you know what the whole high school story of like taking state is like so. It's like so it's insane. Because like in any other sport, if you think about it, you kind of are like, because you didn't wrestle until junior year, right? Like formally for high school. Yeah. And that's the year that you won state. But not only that, right? Like not what I'm telling you. I'm here to tell the story. You're like, yeah, going into the season. I wanted to go undefeated and just like Wednesday. Like, you know, nobody fucking like no points. You know, and I get pinned. And you did that because what was the record? Yeah, 44 no with 39 pins. That's insane. That's insane. That is domination like it. Yes. So you know, people people use the word like dominate like, I feel like now social media a lot of you see that word a lot. Dominator like, you know, but that was literally like the definition of domination. That's crazy. Quick break in between this podcast is shout out. Our sponsor here. Actually, the venue Maverick screen printing right here in Stinger, California for every screen printing needs and broader from letterments to jackets to sports

30:41where everything from A to Z Maverick screen printing has recovered. Isn't that right? Yeah. They got everything. They got hats, beanies, jackets, helmet stickers. If you need anything customized Maverick screen printing can get you right. And if you want to see a proof, we have none other than Jenna, the Gem Creason. This actually sweatshirt Academy West sweatsuit was made by Maverick screen printing. What do you think of a Jenna? Oh, I love this. But definitely my favorite track suit I've had. I've been wearing it so much. Super comfy. And thank you guys at Mavericks for helping me out with it. There you have it. Maverick screen printing right here in Stinger. When you're getting up to the final matches or the championship match, is that even a thought where you're like, oh shit, I'm about to do what I said I did? Are you thinking about that or you just dialed in? Because I'm putting myself in those shoes, walking out in the mat. I don't know how the wrestling thing works out. How you walk out, whatever. But if I'm right there, I'm about to go to the match. I feel for a little bit. I'm probably going to be thinking, oh shit, I'm going to feed it. And maybe you already know the other girl. You're probably already wrestling there. Maybe you already know that you're going to take it.

31:42Is that going through your head at all? Or are you just locked in? I would say definitely for myself, my mindset has been a huge part of my training and all my fighting and stuff. And I definitely say that's because of my dad. And the confidence I had, not in a cocky sort of way. But when I got on the mat, I didn't see losing as an option. I didn't see giving up points as an option. I saw only as you're on my way and that title is mine. And that's something that I've seen since I was four years old. I actually wrestled in like the youth program for the school. It was my very first wrestling team. I told the head coach at the time who's the boys coach. I was like, coach, I'm going to come to your school and beat up all your boys. I'm going to take state. And he was like, you know, if anyone's going to do it, it's probably going to be you. And so he was there at that time. And it was really nice to have that little moment again after. But when I get on the mat or in the cage or in the ring, I kind of just take all that out. It doesn't matter who's here. I don't matter who's watching, who's betting on me, who's betting against me. This is my match. This is my fight. And there's nobody going to stop me. Yeah.

32:42And so I'm trying to teach the girls that I have on that. Because I mean, once you stop yourself or once you start doubting yourself, or seeing only negatives on the mat or in the cage is just, it starts throwing off your game a lot. And so I would definitely say my confidence and my mindset going into any fight training. All that has definitely been a huge factor in all my success. That's the main factor. And if you guys don't believe us or you don't believe Jenna, in the way she's her conviction right now, you can go back to her first every interview on the news at 11 years old. And I think there was even a question to even ask you, right, where they said, why do you like fighting? You're younger, ready? You're just coming up. It's like the competition. I'm like, man. What an answer. I just like the competition at 11 years old. That's awesome. Thank you. Yeah. You know, it's a sad on the high school thing. Because now you transition over, right? You won't natty, like, settle flex, whatever. We're not natty, but you know, state. And then, but even then, too, like just talking about all the colleges and stuff coming after you. And they're having the conviction still to stick with the MMA stuff. But you went back to high school wrestling, but now as a coach.

33:43I know you mentioned a couple of times here. And I'm sure the people that already know you, they know that you've been, that you've been coaching. How did you get started in that? Like, was that always a thing where you knew you wanted to give back? Did somebody ask you, hey, Jenna, I think you should coach with us or how did that, how did that transition happen from? Because I mean, you're so active. And obviously, coaching to do it the right way is very time intensive. So how did you make that choice to get it, like, say, all right, fuck it. You know what, I'm going to coach. Yeah. So honestly, I always knew I eventually have to be coaching girls in some sort of way. I wasn't sure when. I didn't think it would be right away even after graduating. But it was just an opportunity that was given to me. You know, I kind of went through the whole thing with the school and the wrestling. Didn't like the way I was. And so I went back to my school and kind of offered it. You know, get on the mat, even like not even as a coach just to be in there and help them out and kind of try to help bring that coaching, like, the program up, the girls and all that. And again, those issues were still lingering at the time. And so I was trying to get around that. That didn't work. Had a couple offers from a different school. But our head coach, Koshesi, messaged me on Instagram about it.

34:46And sooner they saw it, I got so excited. My dad was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You got to like slow down. You know, you're fighting. You're, you're busy. You know, let's not think this is right way. The belt is very valid point. Yeah. But, yeah. You got a jet. I can do it. I can do it. Yeah. If you put your mind to what you can do it. And so he's like, okay, let's like hear him out first. Let's see what it is and all that. And so being able to talk to him and seeing the way they run their program and how they wanted to this year. Because they brought in a lot of new coaches. The boys, team girls, team, all that sort of stuff. And they have some of the ones who have been there for a while. And just kind of revamping their whole coaching and their whole team and all that this year. I'm really putting a lot of it into the girls' wrestling program, which is something that I found so important. Having that in high school, I was kind of the one who annoying everybody. Just like, oh, why do the boys get this and the girls don't? You know, I don't know. I'm like, why don't we need this? Yeah. Very much being an advocate for that. And so once he brought up to me and told me all this plans he had. And you know, I was like, okay, the only big issue that my dad was yelling at me. I mean, basically the whole time was like, she has a crazy schedule.

35:47You know, we have to be able to work around it. And the AD, the coaches, all that. They've been so helpful with that, you know, being able to go and do this training this last week. And still be able to help the girls where I can. They were FaceTiming me, texting me about their weights and all that stuff. And so it kind of just, soon as I started coaching there, everything kind of just felt right. You know, I felt at home there and the girls. That's cool. I remember going home after practice, kind of like tearing up and everything. And I was like, Dad, you know, this is exactly where I want to be when it comes to coaching. And just having the relationship with the girls, the coaches, one of the coaches I've known since I was like four years old to wrestling, wrestled with all his kids. And so it was just, it was definitely a really good move for me. And I love, I love the program over there. And we've done huge things this season. It's been incredible taking league. We brought one of our girls. She's now ranked number one in the state. And it was just everything. We beat one of the number one schools in the valley. And it was, we just have a really solid team, I think. And a lot of them have even started wrestling until high school in some of them first years and making it almost all into masters.

36:49So it's definitely a really good school and really good program for wrestling for girls, especially. Coach Jenna has the bill belt check effect a little bit, right? It comes in. It's a ring. Winning championships. Winning culture. But even the whole coach aspect of it, right? You take it a step beyond or step further than just a normal PE coach that just decides to coach on the side. Because I heard that you do, you do meal plans for them, you do diet plans, you do the workout plans, you do everything, right? Yeah, where I can. I mean, definitely the meal plans have definitely been the big part. And we had some girls who wanted to like preseason. We're like, hey, I want to get to this way. I don't want to do that. And so kind of give them a rundown about how or what they should be eating and all that. Giving them specific meals and stuff like that. And it's like, oh, I don't like this or this and that. Okay, cool. Let's adjust it. We brought our heavy weight down. She was 220. I think I want to say about there, brought her all the way down to 190s. And so and she's maintaining, she's still eating. And I think that's an important part, especially with girls, they think that they have to starve themselves to make weight. And that's not the case.

37:49I mean, that honestly hurts you more, not only with the hormones and stuff, but also just your body in general. Yeah. The girl's body works a little bit different than the males. And so just being able to cut weight the right way and still be able to get through practices and run and do all that stuff. Our girls are so driven. It's made it a lot easier. They're able to discipline themselves. And I don't know if you can do that with the boys very often because I mean, well, the boys could be a lot. Luckily, I haven't the girls only. But just kind of teaching them what they should be doing, what they should eat, what not to do. And we have some of the girls like, you can still enjoy yourself, like in and out or whatever. But like do protein style instead. Don't drink, don't drink sodas, drink like tea, sugar free, all that sort of stuff. Just helping them make those like good, conscious choices when you're going day by day. Yeah. It's one of the big things about wrestling, right? Whenever I first looked in the wrestling, a couple of my buddies had wrestling during high school and during your high. And it always looked so cool just because hanging around with the guys, messing around with them, messing around on the mat. You know, and getting good shape, right?

38:49But the one thing that always deterred me was whenever I was growing up, I always grew up chubby. I was 120, 130, maybe even 150 and 6th grade. I was a big boy. So we got a pup of a picture because if you're seeing him now, like, you're going to see the picture. He's done a lot of work. He wouldn't say it. He's done a lot of work. Big big boy. So much so. You guys ever heard of Mervins? You guys ever heard of Mervins? I think so. Back in the day. It was almost like a seers, like a clothing store, right? So Mervins, they used to have a clothing line, regular jeans, they're laughing in the back as they know exactly what it is. Right? So Mervins used to have a clothing line, especially for boys where they would have, it's called a husky line. So you could fact check me on this where it wasn't just normal pants. So for example, if I was a 32 waist, I'd be a 32 waist husky. And the husky met a little bit wider on the hips, the wider on the thighs, you know. It just took a little bit higher in terms of like the size for it. So so much so I was bigger back then. I was everything was husky. My shirt was husky. Yeah. So that's besides boy.

39:50The thing on track here before I shaved myself is that that was one of the things that determined was because I wasn't in shape was just to cut. Like I remember seeing those guys running miles and miles around the park. And then not only that, I see them spitting into a water bottle. Yeah. Dude, that looks like torture, right? Oh, yeah. I never wanted to cut weight. You could ask me that. I am horrible when I'm angry. Like I am a completely different person. Like if you think I'm nice, I'm not, I'm like complete opposite, honestly. And I admit it, you know, I'm humble enough to admit it. I'm not the best person to be around when I'm cutting. But that was one thing I learned like what's turning pro and stuff. I was able to work with the coach and all that stuff for a little bit. And it helped me learn how to do all that. I'm actually looking probably to get my certification for at this point this next year and all. Like nutrition. Yeah, for nutrition and probably like the strength conditioning and all that stuff too. That's something I want to get more into. But just making like better choices like, oh my goodness. I love to eat. I've always loved to eat. When I was a little girl, my, oh my gosh. My brothers used to make fun of me.

40:50They used to call me. Was it called Jenny Craig? Is that what it's called? Like the weight washters? Oh, yeah. Because I would always be eating and getting a little thing. The only good thing is I worked out a lot. So it kind of bounced out a little bit. Yeah, he probably just fueled back then. Oh, when I was a baby though, I could probably send you the photo. I don't know if I want to. But I look like the little marshmallow guy. The little like the puppy. Oh, that's exactly what I like. We're going to see who has a chunk of your baby pictures. Skin ton and everything. And so kind of learning how to adjust from that and not getting like super size everything and then snacking all day. It's so easy. Yeah. 29 cents more. You get extra large. Right. It's so tempting. What was it go to back then though? Maybe like today. But what was like to go to like favorite meal? Cheek meal. Ooh. Okay. Honestly, I was a big like state girl. Like when I was like after my fights and stuff, I mean, now all my meal preps is steak and chicken anyways. But growing up my like the big meal that I wanted after every fight was like a big old steak with mashed potatoes and veggies and all that.

41:50That was what I wanted. Officer Art knows coach Louis. All of them know like after my fight. That was the first place we go. Did you go to a certain restaurant for it? Honestly, I didn't care. It was like forever. As long as it was good. Yes. That was my big old thing. And so I don't even know what my cheap meal now would be. Like pizza after wings or not after wings. Yeah. But like what about after your fight after your fight? You just wanted after the big match. And you just want to have just off the wall balls to the wall. Cheek meal. Ooh. I would say like this last couple fights have been like pizza. Like really good pizza. I don't know why. What kind of pizza? Oh, it's like everything. Everything on it. Okay. They trust everything combination. Yes. That was like a pineapple pineapple pizza. Oh, I don't do that. Okay. Wait. This is okay. I'm a pineapple pizza guy. I am. But certain things like me and as they have a really good one. It's like the hot. Hawaiian. Yes. I don't know what it's called. That one. Yes. Everything else. I don't know. But pineapple on that pizza. Absolutely.

42:50That was so good. It's like the chicken. Means as your favorite. It's my dad's favorite. And I used to say it was my favorite. It's kind of is. That one is my favorite pizza so far right now. It's like that one. Or five star pizza. They had one. Oh my goodness. It was like a taco pizza. It sounds crazy. It is so good. So good. I believe it had like a soda on it and all the toppings. It was so good. They make their dough fresh. It's like my favorite. Where was this one? Five star in my cell. That one. I want to be on the camera. Really good. I posted it. They gave it the check word. Not of approval. Thank you. We're just taking. She's taking options right now. If your pizza. Pizza restaurant out there. She needs a pizza sponsor. Make sure you come good. Good crust. I like the deep dish. I like the deep dish. I like the thing. I like the thing. I like the thing. Yeah. There it is. That's funny. That's a good one. On the topic of pizza. What I maybe think of is I've traveled a couple of different spots. Some of the best pizza I've ever had recently was in LA. It's called Sunnies.

43:50If you ever fight over there. There's another couple of other good spots called Mama's 2 and series in New York. But the reason I mentioned that is that is there a place outside of here? Or it could be here. What's like a dream scenario, dream fight scenario for you? Dream venue, dream spot. Let us know. That's a good one. I would say definitely for like a dream fight would definitely be in Vegas. And team over. Yeah. Like somewhere with a title. That would be like the goal. Ultimate goal. It's just to be the biggest age ever. I debuted it for boxing at the mentally bay arena. That's pretty good. That was very cool. I was so excited. I mean, I won't lie. My performance wasn't what I wanted. I went out there and I started brawling. I was so excited. I was like, I'm going to take this girl's head off. That's all I cared about. But just being there, it was awesome. There was multiple titles on the card and everything. I got to meet some of my favorite fighters going into it. And so I still talked to some of them today. And that's like the craziest thing to me.

44:51Because I'm like, oh my gosh. You know who I am? Oh. But yeah, I would definitely say that. I mean, I'm not a huge Vegas fan. I won't lie. I like to be more mellow. Like out in the country, kind of like away from people. But for fighting and stuff, I think that's kind of where I want to be at. What was the backside of mentally bay? So take us through like the fighter walkouts. Take us through the locker room. Take us through everything. Because people at home, there's people that will never experience that. Yeah. Ever in their life. They're not a fighter. But you have. Oh, yeah. Oh, I was so excited. Again, I was 18 years old being on a card like that as a debut. That's crazy. We were originally supposed to debut here in Fresno, which was a huge thing. The Save My Center. That was, I was so excited. You know, I watched Jose fight there multiple times. You know, shout out to Ricky. He's been amazing to me ever since. And like getting really good connections. He's the one who helps set that fight up. It's like you've never seen you that. And Rick was, I mean, he's a really well known promoter on here. Anyone he promotes, chances are they're doing something. They're going to do something. So I know he stopped his promotion on you. And I mean, how was that? Oh, that was awesome. I've known Rick forever.

45:51And so he helped me with that. Unfortunately, you can't do anything when opponents back out. I mean, she literally ghosted the whole promotion. And that made me so upset. That's crazy. But that was really awesome. We had a lot of my people out there. So that was kind of bumming out. And then again, God always provides. And so my next, my actual debut is one of the bigger arenas that I've seen. And so it was so awesome. You know, I was kind of fangirling over Gabby and Eric who were on the card. And so when I realized that they were on the same card, oh, I was so ecstatic. I was freaking out. It was so funny. My dad's like, okay, you need calm down. Like you're going to, you're embarrassing yourself. Like you need to like chill out a little bit. But he was nervous too. So it was fine. Like it was like we were both freaking out about it. But it was just so cool to go. And then like being able to talk to them there. Because everybody's in the back, right? Yeah. And so all like the media and stuff like that. You know, I'm definitely sooner on the card. You know, you started the bottom and all that. And so I was be able to go and talk to everybody as they're showing up. And then I'm sitting there like a little kid, all like the pictures and everything. Well, basically a little kid. I was 18. But oh, it was, it was just such an awesome experience.

46:51And then the media doing the weigh-ins. With everybody there, it was so cool. And then being able to do that walk out. Oh, I was just in awe looking up at the lights, the ring, everything. And I was just, I was very much caught up in the moment. And I loved it. It was definitely like one of my best experience fighting. I mean, outside of state, because I had the same little feeling there. I mean, I mean, it's not a huge stage. But to me, it was because it's just a long, long-awaited kind of. It was like your arrival moment, really. Yes. And so just, I love that feeling. You know, being able to go out there, look out into the crowd, seeing the lights come down on you. It's, I don't even know how to explain it. It's just the best feeling ever. I feel you almost wanted to get the chills right now. I think you're right. It really is because you can picture. You describe really well. And you almost wanted to go slower, right? So whenever you're walking out, does it go quick when you walk to the ring? Or is it something where you don't even realize and you just black out when you go to the ring just because how big of a thing it is? Honestly, it went so fast. I was so sad about it. Like the walk out and everything. I was just so excited.

47:51And it felt like from round one to round three, it was like so quick. And I was just like, oh, like I want to stay in here a little longer. I was like, I don't want to go. It was just, yeah, I wish it could be a lot longer, of course. I mean, you don't want the fight to go longer. But just like the whole moment. It's been enjoying it. And then again, Rick got me really good tickets too. So being able to sit by the ring and see all the fires. And then they know who I was walking out. I just, I loved it. I got me, I cannot say his name right. I'm so sorry. The turkey on the solid. I can't remember his name. Yeah, I can't say right. I'm so sorry. But being able to meet him. It was just like the whole situation there was awesome. So I loved it. It's like kind of like good memories for me. And like having to be able to say like I did that as a debut. It's incredible. Well, there's just some moments in your life where I feel like you want to put the pause button. Like you really want to place pause and just stay there for a little bit. And I feel like that moment, maybe your first debut or doing big arenas like that. Those are some of the moments that I bet. And even your dad in the background, he could probably test this. He's like, no, I want to press pause.

48:52And let's just stay here for a little bit. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And you'll see me a lot, especially like after wins and stuff. You'll see me kind of just sit there and like look around for a bit and enjoy it. Because still at the end of the day, I see like a little of me, you know, trying to get in the amateurs, doing my little fights and all that. So it's like always very emotional. I'm like a big crybaby. I don't like to admit it. But I'm a huge crybaby, especially recently. But just like just loving the moment, living in the moment, being grateful for all the opportunities and everything I've been through to get to that point. It's really incredible. And that's only a stepping stone, right? Yes. The big goal is the UFC, right? So tell us about your journey up and coming to UFC. What's next for you? And yeah, we'll keep diving into that. Yeah, so now we're stepping in the cage. We're going to get some fights. We'll see where we're at. Again, this would be until wherever my coach and my management say, like, hey, let's fight. And we're going to be ready for that. We're just going to be training. Hopefully, maybe going to a training camp here soon, just to get me caught up on speed. You know, my MMA, of course, I've trained it all separately, but it's kind of been hard to get them all to put together. And so that's what we'll be doing.

49:52That's the main focus now. I'm so excited. And I'm going to keep saying that I'm sorry, but I'm super excited. I'm sure they can see it. They're watching right now. They can rewind it back. Just press play whenever she talks about the cage. Be a little okay. How many times I said excited about it? But yeah. And so the whole time, even over there getting beat up, I'm loving it. I'm enjoying it. I want to be in the cage. And so now we're just transitioning over. We'll get some fights going. And then whenever they get me the call, then we'll be in the UFC. Do you have a... Do you have your walk out song pick yet? No. I feel like that's such a big thing. Because you see, like, Adiz Naya walk out. He's fucking dancing in Chen. And they're like, he brings out the other people. That's important. That's important. You have the Ilia song. That's a new one. The Spanish flavor into it. And then you have the Shano Malli. Or Volk has a good one, too. Well, because that's an interesting one. Do you have that moment picked out yet? I'm going to be honest. I don't know. So I love the OG, like, the UFC face the pain song. And that's definitely completely different from what most people see my vibe as. But I have one of my friends who wrote me a song, Go Mode.

50:53That's what I debuted, too. She made that song for me. I don't know. I always end up picking my songs last minute. Other than the Go Mode, I've always picked them last minute, too. What are some other songs you did? I don't know what the other one I did. I did one for the Halloween fight I didn't stocked in. It was a rock. Oh, my goodness. What was it? Oh, bodies hit the floor. That was the other one. That's a good one. Yes. I kind of picked them all out of my playlist, which my playlist is all over the place. That was for sure. Oh, yeah. It did. Even the DJ after he was like, hey, that was a perfect song. And also, thanks. The whole crowd doing the wave. Yeah. I did Go Mode. I did that one. I did Champions. I think it's NLE Chopper, I think. So I did that one. Oh, it is lower than the place. It got NLE Chopper. It got some hard rock. Oh, I have my playlist. It's all over the place. It's all over the place. I have my playlist. It's all over the place. I don't speak Spanish at all, but I love Spanish music. So I'll be listening to it. I don't know what it says. But I enjoy it. It'll see me posted a lot. I'm all translating the words before I posted just in case.

51:55So you're not putting anything crazy out of that? Yeah. Just in case. I'm not sure if I do please let me know. I don't really translate it. But Spanish music, country music. I listen to classical music. That was something my dad put me on when I was younger. It's like classical music to kind of like go through things. I think it's an ultra classical music. Yeah. It was like Beethoven. Yes. It was more Beethoven. And I was like. Well, I'm not way to like some of my playlist. I'll go for my Drake or like some rock and stuff like that. I'll go to the classical. And I was like, what the fuck are you at this shit? I was trying to get him into the country. Country's so good, right? Country's really good. You know what? He's slowly wearing like every time I'm in the car with this guy, I get home and I'll be singing country shit. And then my girl's like, you got a moon going. Moon going. Moon going. And then he was driving today, huh? I was like, yeah. And then he was driving today. Well, be your welcome song. If you're watching mine, dude, it just depends. I think Drake has a lot of good songs to come out to. I would say, probably Drake would be a solid one. But you know, I'm from Mexico. So I might have to go with the canelo strap. Put the sarapé on with like the big flag. Come out with something like some bandage shit. So, you know, it just depends. It depends on the night.

52:55If it's like championship night, Brian for the belt. That you have to see fight night, you know. But yeah, I would say probably between like something like some Mexican music or like Drake. What about you? I'm Drake for sure. I am team Drake. Even in the little Drake versus Kendrick battle. I told everyone. Who's going to play, what's that sad Drake song? The... The camera. Marvin's room. I'd probably play like some headline. I play some old Drake. Headlays are going to do a Drake back. Maybe some jungle. Maybe some like that. I like that. Maybe a little Frank Sinatra. Frank Sinatra, my way. Throw it back. Throw it off the vine. Yeah, actually, he has a lot of good walk up songs. Oh, he does. Yeah. I would definitely say like a dream walk out would be like walking out with like ice cube. Clean version, of course, because I still want to keep a PJ for my kids. Yeah, yeah. But I would say ice cube. That's, I don't know why I've always been an ice cube man. What song though? He has a lot of bangers. Ooh. Just waking up in the morning. Yeah, listen to everything clean versions. I kind of like try to keep it all PJ for myself and kids. I like, I probably know Vaseline.

53:55Like the clean editor, which I know. That's crazy. That's like the worst song to pick. I know. He's like half of his bleeped out. That's always in my butt. Yeah, that'd be a banger after that. Bleep. Yeah. Yeah. So that's literally what it would be. You know what's funny? I was going to mention 50 set. I'm like, can you kind of like maybe walk out to some 50 set. Man, I'm probably, I like, I love like the 80s kind of rap and like the whole little back and forth. And stuff. That was what my dad got me on. Easy. Well, in the way of Dr. Grace Snoop. I would say the first song that I like memorized the words too, which sounds so bad was colors. No. That's a crazy song. And it was because of what my dad, he would sing that all the time. And I was like, what's the cause? It's better than ever. It was color. And I went to school singing it. And I feel so bad for my teachers now, because they were probably like. They're like, what is going on over there? Oh my goodness. Yeah, but I do agree. Having 50 set or having an ice cube walk you out would be the most insane walk out. And it's crazy to see though now, right? Whenever you look at the UFC events, they're obviously the fighting's first. That is definitely the number one thing.

54:55Yeah. People go there to see that. But a strong secondary is all the celebrities that are there. So is there like a dream celebrity you would want to have out as your fight? Ooh. Or celebrities, maybe like top three. Top three. I definitely say ice cube. That would be number one. Um, I don't like so. Pause rooting. He's a celebrity. But I also kind of know him. I want him to be at my fight. I really want buzz rooting to be at my fights. He's been one that I've been, I worked with him a little bit when I was younger. Huge man. Um, who else would I want there? Justin Bieber. Justin Bieber. Um, maybe Angelina Jolie. I like her. Okay, that's a sleeping bag. That's cool. That's deep in the bag. That's pretty cool. And then, ooh, what would be our last one? This is kind of hard. Are you Taylor Swift fan or no? No. Okay. Sorry. No. I'm sorry. Honestly, look, you're making real mad. People cancel people over. Just kidding. I love her. Totally don't cancel me. Um, and I don't know.

55:56That's a good one. Probably Mark Wahlberg. Oh, that's a Mark. Or like the Duane Johnson. Um, Kevin Hart duo. Cause they count as one tentingly. They're always together. So I would say those like honestly. I know that's like a, like a trip at Kevin Hart's size. Cause he's so small. He counts as one. And it's funny like that. Because like a lot of my close friends are like ultra heavyweights. Like they're huge. And then it's like the big and small sort of thing. I don't know what it is behind that. But it's always like someone really big and someone really small. Like it's just works. That's like the friend does. Um, but yeah, I would say those. Honestly, any celebrity I probably fangirl over. Like I'll have to like just focus on the occasion to like get off. And then I'll be like everywhere all over the place. It's like, can I take a picture? Oh, I'm a little, I'm a little fangirl. I don't care if I know them for a while. Like my debut too. I was taking pictures with everybody. Everybody. Yeah. Yeah. It feels good for them. I'm sure too. I mean, I'm sure they get annoyed after a little while. But it has to feel good for them to know that they are sought after in this hands. But they looked at that high, that high regard. Yeah. I know. I'm no celebrity or anything. But when little girls or little kids ask me for photos, I get all geeked out.

56:56And my dad's like, she went, come down a little bit. I was like, you don't understand. It's so exciting. How did you feel to see your like on the topic of photos? How did you feel to see your face all over the place? That has definitely been one of my favorite promotional sort of stuff. It was my sponsor, Kuyya Health Lifestyles Gym. They have been amazing. I love their personality. It's been all my training. It's been there like lifting and all that stuff. My cardio, my sauna, my recovery. They've been great. And so when they told me they're going to put me on a bus, I was so excited. I blew my dad's eardrum because we were in the car. And I was screaming. And it was just so exciting. So this is my second time being on a bus for them. And it was like the best thing ever. Oh, my gosh. I love it. And then especially when people send me pictures, they'll tag me on it. And like taking pictures and tag me on the stories. That's cool. Oh, it's so exciting. My girls talk about it. The boys seem talking about it. Oh, I love it. It's awesome. It's really is the coolest thing. Especially if you're from by Celia. Because by Celia, people think it's small. Or if you're not from here. But by Celia is a pretty big, very prominent town. I love myself born and raised there.

57:56Yeah. But I have to shout out saying her too. But by Celia, I love by Celia. But on the topic of that, seeing you on there, like the local stars, I know you're on there, Richard Torres is on there with you as well. You and Richard have worked out a little bit together before, right? Yeah, a little bit. I've gone to his gym and sparred a little bit with his guys and all that. I've known his dad for ever just because of like the boxing community in general. And so I remember his dad probably thought I was annoying little kid. Because every time we go to their show that they had, it was the manual Torres class I believe it was called. Every single time it was so hard to find me fights and stuff. And I was a little annoying girl kept going up to him. Hey, Coach, do you have anybody for me? I could go up and wait coach, like just let me know. Oh my gosh, I probably annoyed him so much. And I feel so bad. I'm like, I hope it doesn't remember that part. Like I promise I'm changed now. But yeah, they're great people. I mean, I look up to him so much, especially. And he posted it. I freaked out because he posted when he drove by the bus and stuff. And I got so excited. It was so cool. Oh, you're reposting the bus. Yeah. He's like a little video bit.

58:56I was so excited. I was laughing. Oh, I was so ecstatic. And then we had like a little media thing after and all the workers and stuff. They were all talking about it too. I was like, oh my gosh, I know. It's so cool. I'm sure we'd be going there. They're like, this is the girl that's on the bus. Yes. That were on the wall. I've gotten that a couple of times too. You know, there's a lot of first responders that go there. And they're like, hey, aren't you like on the wall at the gym? And I was like, yeah, that's me. Like, yeah. That's cool. I get all excited about it. My fiancee works at Cuyah Delta. Oh, okay. And so she's seen. And she's like, oh, like you guys in Academy West, you're sponsoring with, you're with Jenna, right? She's the one with Cuyah Health and all this stuff. I'm like, yep. So even her. She has no idea about boxing about MMA and anything. But she's like, oh, that's, that's the girl right there. She's on the wall on the bus on everything. I love it. It's awesome. They're especially being by him in there too. I'm like, even though I've seen him like a million times that's still a little fan of girls sometimes. Oh, yeah. It's awesome. Yeah. Because I would say outside of like, I would say probably in the, like in that, but in like the Bachelorette to Larry County, it's probably you two that are like the biggest same for, like combat sports right now, you know. But what I want to talk about was like the social media thing,

59:57you know, because we're talking about Instagram, people see you on Instagram and stuff like that. And one thing that I think you do really good at, which I want to ask you if it was like planned or like something you thought about beforehand, is like, you work your social media pretty good. And the reason why I say that is because now it seems, at least from now to look it into like the combat industry, if you're like an up and comeer, like you have to have, it's almost like a, like that is part of like your disciplines that you have to be good at, having a good social media presence. I feel like sometimes it gets you like a, I'll give you an example like a Ryan Garcia, you know. Like he just had a recent interview and he was talking about how people were like, oh, do you feel like you guys are in fights just because of your name? And he's like 100%. And like I think I got some fights that were above me because of like my celebrity that I got because I work my social media, you know. So do you, has, have you always been intentional about that because of that? Or was it, you were just intentional about social media because it's like a fun thing for you? Yeah, so it's kind of bold now, but it's definitely something that my dad started for me. I had one of my coaches who kind of gave me the name, Jen of the gym. And then my dad took over the posting and stuff. He hates social media, he hates electronics.

1:00:58So it was very funny that he took it for a while. But he ran it all up until I was probably like 16, 17 years old. That's when I kind of like let me start to do it. And just because I mean there's a lot of weirdos out there. There's a lot of things you want to avoid. You know, you don't want to have a kid stuck to their phone all the time and all that. And so once I kind of take it over, I'm trying to get a little bit more with content stuff because I do so much and there's so much I don't post that I should post. But it's like volunteering or training or all that sort of stuff. And so I'm trying to be better about it. My page has grown so much in this last year. So I have it on my phone. I took screenshots of what it was like a year ago. And then now and it's almost doubled almost tripled now. That's crazy. And so even have a video that you just posted nonchalant. We had an Academy West shoe, right? And yet such a nonchalant video where it's so quick, you just took it, shot it. You got over like a million views, right? Yeah, I have. Oh my goodness. I can't remember what the number was. I've been watching it all the time. It was us and the girls were like shadow boxing and everything. And that one blew up. It's like 118,000 likes right now. And then my profile views are 2.5.

1:02:00So and I just went up another 100 I think right now. So it's it's been growing a lot more and I'm trying to be more active on it. Do more like funny videos and being still like out there. But also still being like feminine and girly. I think that's definitely one thing that hits off a lot with fighters. Yeah. That's perfect. It leads up right into all my fights and all that stuff. Trying to like show like the duality of the sport and all that. Yeah. That's cool. And there's always assize because like if I'm like if I'm looking at Jenna, you know, if I look up to Jenna because I'm a kid in the sports, I'm thinking like, okay, cool. Like you're finding her through social media. But I feel like a lot of kids sometimes they miss out stuff or parents miss out stuff where like they focus so much on the athletics of it, the disciplines, the martial arts and stuff like that. But they kind of leave that off. Do you think that's opened up doors for you? Before you kind of became like the icon of that chart now, do you feel like that helped you get into some rooms maybe? Yeah, absolutely. I think it definitely shows a lot more opportunities. You know, I have some things in the works right now with people who want to work with me. They kind of see me as an influencer, which is crazy because I don't see myself as that yet. But just that. And then I didn't realize how much like my girls and stuff or other girls and stuff

1:03:03they'd like look up to that and like, oh, like I want to see what you do in the day. Yeah. And that's some videos I'm going to be working on soon like day to day sort of life and like vlogging and all that. And so it definitely helped a lot with that. And I've seen people like, oh, I see you do this one of your videos. So now I'm doing it and all that stuff. Just kind of getting more into that. And honestly, just being able to like show everything of my fighting and my volunteering and all the stuff that I do every day is pretty awesome. Yeah, you know, you know, it's funny. One of the guys that I follow, I think there's a good job at it of like kind of mixing it. Like you said, the fun stuff versus like like the business, which is just like the training for you guys. It's Armand. Do you follow Armand on IG? Oh, Armand, the UFC guy. Yeah. He's made it like his PR tour. Dude, I'm like, dude, this is so fucking cool. But, um, but I follow him. Like, damn, he does a badass job because even him like obviously he knows the game. And I'm like, okay, like you could tell like if you know the game, you could tell like, okay, cool. You're doing it for a reason for a purpose. You know, I think you almost want to root for him more. Yeah. Just because you feel like you have an inside inside to him. Like, you know, like he's your homie. And that's exactly what I was going to say that. It kind of even though like he's doing it and he's serving a purpose. And it's like he's doing it for the business end of it.

1:04:04But it's kind of fun. But you do connect with more with the fighter because like Ann said, you kind of feel like you build like a personal relationship with that person. So when it comes to fight night, you're like, ah, fuck, I want to, he was just skiing. I want him to win. You know, whatever. I don't know, you know. So that's really, that's really cool. It's because you're from around here. I feel like in the Central Valley, it's not very common for people to make it out of the Central Valley. Yeah. Or go off and do big things like the UFC and stuff like that, right? So the fact that you're on the track to do it in yourself, Richard Torres, and you have some of the other guys. And we had Cody Gibson on our podcast last year. Last year. Last year. Yeah. He's in the UFC a couple other guys and it's cool to see people from the Central Valley especially make it out of the Central Valley and not only make it out of the Central Valley, but always give that nod back and say, yeah, I am from the 559. And that's where I'm from. Born and raised. And I love it. And I think Aiden Ross did that recently too. Yeah. He doesn't live in over there too. Yeah. It's cool too because I feel like when you come from the Valley, like you already have this underdog mentality because like, oh, we're not in the big cities.

1:05:05I think as a living in the Valley, you root for people like that too because you're like, you know like that we have to go through a little bit different battle to kind of get to the main spot like it's already kind of behind. What do you share really? We were behind the eight ball. Yeah. But most of the time, if you think about it, most people don't even say they're from the Central Valley. So for example, you go to Los Angeles, you go to San Francisco. For the most part, you say, hey, where are you from, Jenna? Or where are you from, Daniel? For the most part, you're saying, oh, I'm from, I'm from three hours away from LA. Three hours away from Frisco, right? Yeah. Because people don't know the Valley. They have never heard of it. But I feel like now it's so cool because stars like yourself are giving the Central Valley a name, giving the 559 tag like pride and they can wear it like a badge of honor where like for us, when I was just in LA this past weekend and I told everyone I'm from the 559. And it's just like a proud thing because we're from here. Oh, yeah. That's definitely something I'm very, very much like proud like public about. I like, I'll bring it up in most random situations too accidentally. I'm just like, oh, yeah, I'm from my cell, yeah. And I went to a guild where I like almost none of them knew where my cell was.

1:06:06And so I was like, it's like you're describing. I was like, it's between Fresno and Bakersfield. And they're like, oh, okay. And I was like, yeah, okay. We put it on the map though. That's cool. Yeah, exactly. I was like, you know what? At least when I go back through and know exactly where it's at. I'm going to have like pinned or something. But oh, yeah. I'm very proud of it. Especially like city of my cell, they didn't so much like the mayor and all that stuff. We can't work with them. It was kind of funny. I was so young. I didn't even know what a mayor was. I didn't think Artyon had a mayor. I was like, if I say yes, I'm here, really? I feel like growing up too. Like watching cartoons is kind of like a cartoony thing, you know? Yeah. And so I didn't think that was like real. And so I was like, oh, yeah, I'm the mayor of my cell. I was like, we have one. That's so cool. Oh, my gosh. No, I got my photo for it. But I was a kid. I was still little. Well, you think, I think whenever you grow up, you watch the shows. You just see like the town sheriff in the country, western movies. Or you see the Doug Dimadone and into the, yeah, yeah. That was the mayor in Mexico, right? But obviously it's so cool, Janet, to see Janet, the jam out of Icelia. What is, where does that come from? I know you mentioned it briefly earlier, but where does Janet, the jam nickname come from?

1:07:06Yeah. So one of my coaches, she was actually the one who got me more into like the MMA gym sort of thing, where I'm at, retrieving martial arts. That's where I started my MMA and all that. And so she was actually my PE teacher from school. Oh. And so she found out that I wrestled and we were in between gyms at the time. Again, we want to fix income. And so we didn't really have a wrestling team at the moment. And so she bugged me. She was like, oh, come try out our wrestling. And you know, we have to just do there. You can do me a tie and all that. Of course, that was like the one thing my dad did not want to hear. He's like, oh, great. More things for her to do and find and like. And so she ended up getting us over there. I loved it. I was able to start the other martial arts and all that. And so she, they were seeing all these other athletes and stuff who started building social media at a young age. And she was like, I don't want you to run into your older, but I'll make it Instagram account. My dad didn't know how to do that. Of course. And he was like, I'll make it for you. And you'll, your dad will run in. What year was this, by the way? Like, what year was this? Well, I was eight turning nine. Right? Yeah, I was eight turning nine. And so it was around that time.

1:08:06And so yeah, she made me Instagram. And so they were trying to think of a name. And so my dad thought I'll have some like tough name and all this stuff. Jen of the Reaper. Yeah, like something like that. The giant slayer. Something. And it comes out Jen of the gym. And yeah, at first he was like, Jen of the gym. That's pretty far, though. I'm not going to lie. So it came up with that. Or is that a random name? Or a high level? So kind of like a gym. Like a diamond in the roughs sort of thing. Like a diamond. And so that's kind of in the backstory of it. Okay. It's like after the pressure and the time and all that stuff. Chippin' away at it. It comes out to be this beautiful diamond. And so that was kind of what they wanted to do to reflect the whole, like the career and the training and like the outside personal stuff. All that chips away to create the beautiful gym. And again, I've always been eye sight on like the main goal and having the title and having like the total of it. And so that was a kind of stuck. And again, my dad was not really on a fan of it at first. He was like, okay, you know, like I want something tougher. And even I was at first, I was like, oh, I don't know. Like it sounds nice. Like it sounds really good. But I don't know. And then as I go older, I understood it more. As I like experienced it.

1:09:06Yeah. And so yeah, it just stuck. And now everyone, everyone calls me Jema sometimes. Because Jen of the gym. And they'll call me Jema. And there's like coaches that I've known forever. And they're like, hey, Jema. And I was like, okay. That's a funny one. That's a funny one. But at least it's known. Like everyone knows me as the gym and all that sort of stuff. No pun intended. They'll make jokes about it and things like that. But I enjoy it. And it's definitely fitting. And again, God has crazy ways to let things fall in place. So. Yeah. It's definitely a cool nickname. Because there's some nicknames out there that you've heard of fighters getting. Definitely not that cool. So I'm not going to throw the shots. But there's a couple you've heard, right? Where. Especially a boxing. I've heard a lot of them. What's like the funniest nickname you've heard of? You guys have a room. I'll say this one. Cause it's not a sport. But it's like, for example, Drake May. And they call him. Let's see. He's a quarterback for the Patriots. They call him Drake May. Drake May. May. So it's just. It's not really. But that's like his nickname. Yeah. Look at that. That's like a thing, dude. I thought it was Drake. Drake May. May. That's what you said.

1:10:06You said Drake May. Drake May. Oh, yeah, you're right. You're right. Okay. I watched it. There you go. That one or you know what? You know what? You know what? I'm a football guy. They have definitely played mostly in the Emerald City. They're just weird. It's like a meme, bro. Yeah. It's like a meme. It's like a meme. It is weird. Yeah. You've got to play the clip. You've got to watch a clip. Is Shaveless Plug? Whether I used to play UFC growing up. I used to have the My Fighter guy. Mhm. And can you guys guess my nickname? The Husky? That's good. It wasn't the Husky. So it was Anthony the Doctor. Pent g. Anthony the Doctor. So here's the thing. Yeah. Bro, doctor like surgeon. Like surgeon. What are you going to say? That's where it comes from. But yeah, a lot of nicknames you can choose from. Jenna, your bless, because you have really cool nicknames, actually, and I really stick to it. Yeah, that's a good one. But besides the nickname, obviously, we appreciate you taking the time. I know you're super busy, Jenna, and you have a crazy schedule just from talking to you

1:11:06and talking to your dad about it. And we appreciate you taking the time. But before we go, we always have a signature question we ask on the podcast. Always this question is a really deep question. Where I want you to take it back to yourself where young Jenna, right, where the Jenna who's passing out business cards made her own business card just passing them out, right? Like that one. I want you to take yourself back to that young Jenna. And what's something you would tell young Jenna back then passing out the business card, so let her know, hey, later down the road, every bump in the road that you're going to go through, all these trials and tribulations you're going to go through, is going to make you who you are today. And this is all the success you can have as long as you don't give up. What's some advice you'd give that Jenna? I would just say, stay consistent. Be a little nicer to dad sometimes. He's trying his best. Don't make his life harder than it has to be. But stay consistent with it. And it'll all pay off in the end. It's just part of the journey. And you're going to end up loving it at the end. And just be smart with it.

1:12:06Make good choices. And stay consistent with it. And it'll all pay off. And keep your faith in God because that is going to be what carries you through every single bit of it. Good, bad, all of it. The faith is going to be exactly why you're where you're at. Amen. Amen. I love that. Well, we appreciate you coming on, Jenna. Hope you guys enjoyed this episode, this special episode watching a home, especially for the Central Valley. If you're not from the Central Valley, you can wear our 559 pride. You can wear the badge of honor. We'll let you guys wear it for a little bit. But good luck, Jenna. Where can they find you? And also, what can they look forward to to seeing you in your next upcoming fight? Yes. You guys can find me on Instagram on a Jenna La Jam, TikTok, Jenna La Jam, or Facebook on a Jenna Creason. I also have a YouTube on a Jenna La Jam. But yeah, well, you'll be seeing me in a cage here very soon. And I'm very excited to see you guys out there and be ready for a show. There it is. Ladies and gentlemen, be ready for a show in the last comments, Dan. No, we're good to go. Thank you for so much for coming on. It's always exciting. Like for us, the last thing I'll say is always excited for us to have, like, though.

1:13:07I don't know what he knows. I like the gaps sometimes. But it's always exciting. It's always exciting for people that are local from the valley. Sometimes I will travel LA or whatever to get people on. But whenever people are from the valley, it's always a little extra special because, like, you guys are literally, you and ladies, are shaping the community and all the kids coming up. They're seeing people like, oh shit, it is possible. She made it. She's from my cell. They hear your story, the struggles, and all that stuff. And I think a lot of people in the valley, like, they share a lot of that similar backstory. So it's really cool for them to see you see and make it happen. And especially once you see on the cage, on UFC, you know, it really impacts a lot of people. You're already kind of seeing that, you know, with the coaching. So I'll really, thankfully, you took the time to come out and do the show today. But I'm going to hand it over to Mr. Million Dollar Smiles so you can close this off. Yes. Thank you so much for coming. Most importantly, thank you to Jennifer Hoppin on today. Make sure you follow her. Go see her on our next fight. Show some support to the Valley 559. And, like always, we appreciate your tuning into another episode of The Outlicious Podcast. We'll see you on the next one. Peace. Peace.