Lupita Godinez knew she would be fighting for the UFC very soon.
The confidence wasn't unfounded — Godinez had already won the LFA strawweight title in convincing fashion, and the LFA belt had become one of the most reliable tickets to the UFC on the regional scene. Fighters who hold it tend to get the call; the only question is when.
After the Aguascalientes, Mexico, native, who now calls British Columbia home, beat Vanessa Demopoulos for the LFA strawweight belt, she thought she was a shoo-in for the Contender Series this summer.
Her path to this point is one of the more unusual ones on the Canadian scene — born in Mexico, raised in the U.S., fighting out of B.C., and now arriving in the UFC on the kind of short notice that turns careers. Canada's strawweight division had quietly developed real depth, and Godinez was its most immediate proof.
LFA had established itself as the most credible feeder promotion in North American MMA — the organization whose champions had gone on to UFC title fights and rankings — and a strawweight belt there was essentially a formal notice to the matchmakers that a prospect was ready. Godinez's résumé checked every box.
However, just two weeks ago Godinez (5-0) got the call from her manager that she was being signed by the UFC for a short notice fight at UFC on ESPN 22 against Jessica Penne (12-5), who fought for UFC gold in her career.
Two weeks' notice for a UFC debut is the version every prospect says they'd take and few actually do — the visa paperwork, medicals, and travel arrangements alone are a logistical puzzle, and doing it while preparing to fight a 12-fight UFC veteran makes it doubly hard. Godinez didn't hesitate.
“It was like, ‘oh finally.’ It has been a lot of work and a lot of things to get done in such a short period of time. Everything is happening, step-by-step, so I’m really happy,” Godinez said to MMA Empire.
“Then I’m fighting someone like Jessica Penne as it will be an honour to step into the cage with her. I’m looking forward to it.”
When she got the news she would be fighting on April 17, Godinez packed her bags and headed to Colorado to train for the two weeks she had to prepare.
The 27-year-old had to go to the United States to get medicals and her visa done in time. However, Godinez makes it clear this is not a short notice fight for her as she has been training at Titan MMA ever since her last fight back in October.
“I went to Colorado (for the last two weeks of camp). I had to come to the States for my visa, and I love it here in training,” Godinez said.
“The final two weeks of training were here and I’m very thankful, but I still was working back at home as always before that.”
Against Penne, Godinez admits it is hard to prepare for her. The 38-year-old hasn’t fought since 2017 due to a USADA suspension and is on a three-fight losing streak.
Penne's layoff is the story's strangest variable — a former Invicta champion and TUF finalist who'd been out nearly four years on a suspension, returning at 38 against a fresh 5-0 prospect. Nobody really knew what version of her would show up, which is exactly the kind of uncertainty that makes a UFC debut harder to game-plan for.
Although Penne is on a losing skid, Godinez hopes this is the best version of Penne, as the Mexican says she only wants to compete against the best.
“I’m just focusing on me and being ready for whatever. That’s it,” Godinez said.
“I hope it is the best Jessica Penne on Saturday. She’s one of the best and those are the people I want to fight. Anything can happen in the fight. She hasn’t fought in so long, so it is hard to know if she will strike or grapple.”
If Godinez gets the win, she knows it would be the biggest of her career and hopes a ranked opponent would be next. The goal is to also make a quick turnaround if everything goes her way.
The ambition is calibrated correctly — a win over a name like Penne, even a diminished version, is the kind of debut result that immediately gets a fighter into real conversations. Strawweight was a division in flux at the time, and an impressive newcomer could move fast.
“A win here will get me in the mix. Hopefully, a win gets me someone near the ranks as Penne is known. But, one step at a time, and we will see what happens after the fight and after I win,” Godinez concluded.
Follow Godinez on social media: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
