Elise Reed on wedding madness during UFC fight camp: Never again

LAS VEGAS – Elise Reed emerged victorious over Jessica Penne in a unanimous decision on the prelims at UFC Fight Night 245 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Get an inside look at Reed’s performance, as she bounced back with a win after a streak of alternating wins and losses in her last nine fights.

Elise Reed def. Jessica Penne

Elise Reed

Result: Elise Reed def. Jessica Penne via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)Updated records: Reed (8-4 MMA, 4-4 UFC), Penne (14-9 MMA, 3-6 UFC)Key stats: Reed landed at a 75 percent clip, far above the average, and outstruck Penne 229-98 overall.

Reed on the fight’s key moment

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 19: (L-R) Elise Reed punches Jessica Penne in a strawweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on October 19, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

“I am feeling f*cking great – great, splendid, any word that’s positive, you could say it and that’s how I feel. (The game plan was) kick her in the leg, stay standing, hit her hard, don’t let her take me down – and it went exactly like that for 15 minutes. It was great.”

Reed on getting married the week before the fight

Elise Reed, wife Dana Leary, UFC Fight Night 245

“That it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done, and there was so much contrast with finding a wedding dress, doing a dress fitting and then getting my lip split during camp and going to urgent care for stitches, to then trying on shoes to then talking about flowers and color themes and everything else – and then talking about fighting Jessica Penne. I mean, it was the largest contrast I think I’ve ever had in my entire life. … I looked f*cking fire from the wedding and I pretty much had to turn it off the moment we get on the plane. The wedding was Saturday. We unpacked from the hotel Sunday, recovered, packed on Monday, and then we were out in Vegas Tuesday – so not much of a honeymoon. But it was great. It was flawless, but I would never do it again. I’m getting married once and calling it a day.”

Reed on what she wants next

Elise Reed def. Jessica Penne, UFC Fight Night 245 (via UFC)

“Every time, I always say I’m going to take time off, and then the only time I took time off was because I had surgery and I had to take time off. I love this. This is the greatest thing that I’ve ever been able to do, and I love the UFC, so if they tell me, ‘Hey, fight again in a week,’ I’ll say (to my wife), ‘Hey, Dana, looks like we’re pushing off this honeymoon a little bit longer.’ But it’ll be a few months, probably, whenever they come back and they say we’ve got a date. We’ll talk with our coaches, but I’m feeling fantastic from this fight. I’ll be able to turn around and get right to training camp as soon as they want me to jump back.”

To hear more from Reed, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.