Mickie James is on her "last rodeo", as she previously stated that she will retire if she loses again. During this run, the former IMPACT Knockouts World Champion wants to deliver some of her best work.
James' next test will come at IMPACT Bound For Glory, where she will face Mia Yim in a buzzworthy bout.
During the Bound For Glory Press Pass, Joey Karni of The Angle Podcast asked James whether her mindset ahead of a potentially career-ending match differed from her bout last year, when she challenged Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts World Championship. She emphasized that, with this contest, she wants to prove that she still belongs in IMPACT's loaded Knockouts Division.
“I’m still proving something to myself, and I’m a fighter. In my heart, I have always needed to have a reason and a purpose as to why I’m fighting. It’s never just been about going out there and having great matches. It’s about the purpose, and this purpose is just proving that I still belong in that locker room. We have some of the greatest female talent in the world, we really, really do. I believe that our Knockouts Division is one of the strongest divisions our there, and it can go toe-to-toe and rise above any other division. That’s not me being biased, but it’s me saying that the opportunities that are given to the women and the types of matches that are given to the women on television, for us, it’s ground-breaking. We get to do some really, really incredible stuff, and we get a lot of time to do it. I think with that being said, it’s hard why it’s so important to me to prove that I still belong because these are harder-hitting matches and longer matches," James said.
She continued by making it clear that she wants to test herself, and she views her upcoming match against Yim as a fitting way to do so.
"I really wanna test myself, and I said this against the best of the best, and that’s why, from Gisele [Shaw], who’s one of the newest knockouts on the roster, and she’s got a hell of a lot to prove for herself, and it was important to test myself against her, and then Mia because there is so much history and I do respect her on so many levels. I know that it’s going to be a tough battle and a tough match, but I don’t want to give myself any excuses. I don’t want to go easy on myself because the matches are only gonna get harder and harder. With Mia, I don’t think she’s gonna go lightly on me but she respects me and she does love me, whereas there are other ladies in the locker room and perhaps other locker rooms that don’t love me so much. They could be pulling out different stops that I may not expect, so I’m just looking at, right now, what’s in front of me, and that’s this weekend, and I hope Mia brings everything that she has because I want to have this last rodeo be some of the greatest body of my work, honesty," James said.
James previosuly discussed her "last rodeo." Check out here comments here.
Check out the card for IMPACT Bound For Glory here. Fightful will have coverage of the show as it airs on Friday.
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