“It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can choose to be whoever or whatever you want to be.”
Pearl Gonzalez (7-3) – the former Xtreme Fighting Championships Strawweight champion and former Golden Gloves boxing champion – dreams big.
After earning her first victory in her debut with Invicta Fighting Championship – a three-round Unanimous Decision against the previously-undefeated Kali Robbins (5-1) at Invicta FC 28 in March 2018 – Gonzalez has her sights on another victory: a quick turnaround Flyweight match against Bárbara Acioly (4-2) at Invicta 29 on May 4, 2018.
After suffering a Majority Decision loss against Munah Holland (5-3) in her professional mixed martial arts debut at Ring of Combat 39 in February 2010, Gonzalez rattled off six consecutive victories – a streak which included four Armbar Submissions with one against current 10th-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship Strawweight Cortney Casey (7-6) at XFC 26.
Her impressive winning streak earner her a contract with the UFC as Gonzalez faced then-undefeated Cynthia Cavillo (6-1) at UFC 210 in April 2017; Gonzalez succumbed to a Rear-Naked Choke in the third and final round of the Main Card’s third fight. Six months later, Gonzalez suffered her second consecutive defeat via Unanimous Decision in the UFC debut of former Bitetti Combat and XFC Flyweight Champion Poliana Botelho (6-1) at UFC 216 in October 2017.
Cut from the UFC, the thirty-one year-old Gonzalez quickly signed with Invicta: the premier all-women’s mixed martial arts promotion – and picked up the aforementioned victory over Robbins. Next for Gonzalez is the career-Flyweight Acioly, riding a two-fight consecutive losing streak.
Scheduled as the third-to-last match on the card, Gonzalez looks to secure her second win in less than six weeks and second overall for Invicta. Ahead of her match against Acioly, Gonzalez took the time to speak about her ambitions, her husband and her goals inside and outside of mixed martial arts.
ON ROLE MODELS AS YOUTH
Growing up, my aunt Denise was a big role model for me. I also idolized Gina Carano and Cristiane Justino “Cyborg” Venâncio; they were the first women fighters to hit Pay-Per-View.
That was so important to me because I was so focused and determined on fighting that by looking at them, I knew I could become someone.
ON MARTIAL ARTS AS AN OUTLET FOR YOUTH
Mixed martial arts is extremely valuable for youth for several reasons: you learn a lot such as discipline, traditions, accountability, consequences and coordination. Learning to have your brain tell your body to do something – kick with your right foot, balance with your left – these are important skills.
If you’re not focused, if you don’t put your work in, you’ll pay for it. These are tools that will help the youth.
ON SELF-IMPROVEMENT THROUGH MARTIAL ARTS
Coming back to the sport in my 20’s, I had no confidence; I was ashamed of myself. I had to learn and grow from that. I’ve learned so much from my mistakes in life and in my training. Learning how to overcome failures is huge and has helped me so much. I gained so much confidence. I’m pushing my body and mind – I’m becoming stronger. I’ve also met so many amazing people – these people guided me. They’ve encouraged me to learn more and taught me so much; it’s important to keep likeminded people around. All these things have helped me with self-improvement.
I just want to continuously better myself and martial arts has helped me along the way.
ON LOVE
My husband is my backbone. He’s helped me become the woman I am today. Not only has he supported my choices but he’s also challenged me. He’s my best friend, my favorite person; he makes me stronger when I’m weak and believes in me when I don’t. My commitment is to be a better wife and support him.
Being a fighter and military wife has placed an extreme amount of challenges on our relationship. We spend more time apart than together. The most important part of our relationship is communication and loyalty. We help mold each other, he makes me better, we push each other, we grow together. We’re patient with one another through our trials and tribulations.
I couldn’t do this without my husband. He’s my number one fan. Through deployments and fight camps, we’ve managed to stay strong.
ON PERSEVERANCE AS YOUTH
Since I can remember, I’ve always taken care of my sister and family. I always felt like I had to take care of them. My sister wasn’t doing well and my mom couldn’t reach her. I took that role – she listened to me. I wanted to set an example; I needed to show them how I viewed life. I was brought in this world to do this right here, so I can make a difference for my family. I’ve always wanted better for my family and that was all I wanted. I’m going to fight for this. It’s easy to follow patterns of others; I knew my community and family was struggling – that’s the reason for all of this: them.
There’s more and I’m going to help show them there is. That’s the root of all my drive.
ON BOXING
This is such a fun question. OK, so I spent a couple years just working boxing. I grew this love for it; it is truly a beautiful discipline.
To me, it’s a dance… the foot work, the way you move, the way you throw punches – you create this on your own. I love boxing with salsa music, haha. It brings this rhythm out of me… no other training does this for me.
My love for boxing is interesting – I’ve spent more time on my boxing than anything else. The passion has just been re-lit for me. I’m thinking about doing some Pro matches. A new goal for me is boxing. There’s a big desire there. We’ll see…
ON IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY
This is my mission. Set an example: it doesn’t matter where you come from, you can choose to be whoever or whatever you want to be. I want to show people how to dedicate themselves and to be determined. This is my purpose: to prove just that. My nieces, my family, my community, fellow military wives – anyone struggling. My purpose in life is to face my challenges in front of the world to prove you can be anything you want to be.
Your mistakes of yesterday do not determine who you are today.
THANK YOU
I want to take everyone for their support; thank you so much for supporting me on this journey. Marly Rae, 4Life, JUNIORS, Output Lounge Chicago, 10th Planet San Diego, my team, Midwest Training Center, Functional Athlete, Premiere MMA, World Thai Boxing Association, my Tia Denise, my sailor, our military, my family and all of my fans. Without your support, I couldn’t do this.
