On this edition of Parallax Views, Jilian “Lionheart” DeCoursey has been ranked as one of the top ten female atomweight division Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) athletes in the world. On May 11th, 2022 she scored an impressive knock-out (KO) punch victory against Lindsay VanZandt in just over a minute. Now with a 5-3 win/loss professional record (and an 8-1 win/loss amateur record) she’s heading into an Invicta FC Atomweight championship bout against reigning champion Jéssica Delboni on September 28th, 2022 at Invicta FC 49.
But Jillian isn’t just a world-class MMA athlete. By day she’s a mental health counselor who runs her own practice. She’ll be joining us on this edition of the program to discuss MMA, mental health, how the two are connected, and her big match against Jéssica Delboni.
Additionally Jillian and I will tackle such topics:
– The rising prominence of female MMA thanks to the popularity of Ronda Rousey’s UFC run and the growth of the female talent roster in the world of MMA
– Sexism in the world of MMA and whether or not Jillian has experienced any brushes with it
– How she got into MMA after life-long involvement in competitive sports like collegiate basketball and the challenges she faced, like physical injuries, getting into MMA
– Misperceptions about MMA as merely violent or brutal “human cockfighting”
– What Jillian has learned from her MMA career that’s helped her in her mental health practice
– MMA and psychology
– Mindset coaching
– Her knockout victory against Lindsay VanZandt at Invicta 47 and what that experience was like
– Experiences with fans and performing in front of U.S. troops
– Men who are intimidated by women that practice martial arts like kickboxing and jiu jitsu
– Her professional MMA debut and the feelings of excitement and self-doubt that came with it
– Having a positive mental attitude
– Inspiring younger women to get into MMA
– And much, much more!
