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Jessica Aguilar feels she "missed out" on UFC shot due to timing, but happy with opportunity in WSOF
Oct 20, 2014 - 10:15:27 PM Jessica Aguilar feels she "missed out" on UFC shot due to timing, but happy with opportunity in WSOF

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

WSOF Women's Strawweight Champ Jessica Aguilar signed with the organization just a couple of weeks before the UFC announced they were bringing the division in, leaving her without much of the top competition to face off against.

However, while she feels she definitely missed out on that opportunity, she's thus far happy with the WSOF, even as she's keeping an eye on he UFC's 115 lb. field.

"I had been with Bellator before. I was very, not as active as I wanted to be. [The WSOF] gave me a great opportunity, they called me and said what do you want and it just worked out," Aguilar said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday. "I take every opportunity the same, so it worked for me, it made sense for me, and I signed with them. So two weeks later the UFC announced it... I did feel like I missed out. [But] I'm still living my dream and I still have an opportunity here."

"I've been recording and watching as much [of TUF 20] as possible," she continued. "I'm excited for these girls, I have a fellow ATT sister on there, Tecia Torres, it didn't go as well as she wanted it, but she's an amazing talent, very tough, just happy to see the growth of the sport and what is going on with my division. It's just really exciting."

Ultimately, while she's on the outside looking in, she understands the platform the UFC offers, and though she's happy with where she's at right now, it seems a move there could be in her future.

"We're talking about UFC, the biggest promotion in the world," she said. "It's a different platform than any other promotion, and that's just the truth, when you put those ladies on a show like that, they're going to get the exposure, they're going to get the respect they deserve. Like I said again, I'm just very excited for what's happening with my division, so just to to see them on the show and do what they do is a cool thing."

"Eventually the best in the world will fight each other. I just gotta keep focused, gotta keep on my path, and my path is doing what I do and continue with my training. The rest will come, you know?"

Penick's Analysis: Aguilar honestly belongs in the UFC's 115 lb. field, and if she finishes out her WSOF contract with two more wins, she needs to head to the Octagon. That's where the best fighters in the division will find themselves, and if she wants to stake her claim as the best strawweight in the world, that's where she'll need to be. I think she'll get there, because when she signed with WSOF the UFC wasn't an option. It is now, and when she's got the opportunity to make the move, she probably should.