‘Gangsta Mode’ Reactivated – Alyse Anderson Motivated To Bounce Back At ONE 157

After a tough setback, Alyse Anderson doesn’t plan to make the same mistakes again.

The American fell to Japanese star Itsuki Hirata in a hard-fought promotional debut, and she believes that experience will lead to a different result against Asha Roka in their atomweight MMA showdown at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot this Friday, 20 May.

Stepping into the Circle for the first time can be daunting, but with those jitters out of the way, “Lil’ Savage” intends to showcase more of her skills at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

She told ONE Championship:

“I was so nervous [against Hirata]. I really hesitated in the first two rounds. It even got to the point where I engaged in grappling when I should have been more confident in my striking because I was having success [on the feet]. 

“As soon as I used my striking in the third round, you saw it come together more [with a knockdown]. So I think now that I’ve experienced that and I’m taking the experience into this next fight, I’ll be more comfortable from the start and it won’t take me time to get going.”

Anderson is also approaching her upcoming contest with a different attitude.

The 27-year-old has been open abocut her social anxiety issues, which can make it difficult to deal with critics and doubters.

However, she’s learned to flip the switch to a mindset she calls “gangsta mode” – and that means ignoring all the outside noise during fight camp.

“Lil’ Savage” said:

“Honestly, it’s just mostly been not caring about what other people think so much and just listening to your body and listening to what you need.

“I think that really helped a lot because I’m just staying focused, staying in gangsta mode, and not letting people take me out of that with negative comments or a bad training session – just focusing on what I can control.”

Alyse Anderson Expects To Finish ‘Reckless’ Asha Roka On The Ground

With her positive attitude and a fresh move to the iconic American Top Team camp in Florida, Alyse Anderson is coming into her second ONE Championship appearance against Asha Roka with more confidence in her abilities.

“Lil’ Savage” has scouted her Indian-Nepalese opponent and feels ready to exploit Roka’s weaknesses.

She said:

“I know she’s from a boxing background. She hasn’t fought in a while, so I don’t know how much she’s improved from her time off in the cage. But from what I do see, I feel like her biggest weakness in her game is her grappling, and I think that’s really strong for me. 

“I have also seen her fights, and she comes out pretty crazy and reckless. The best thing about [training at] ATT is there are so many girl partners that are always trying to take your head off. So being used to that at a high-level gym makes me more confident and not really too nervous about all the things that she brings to the table in our fight.”

Anderson cites her reach advantage as a factor in this matchup with Roka, but she mostly envisions her dominance coming in close range. 

And after the disappointing outcome against Itsuki Hirata, the American is fired up to earn the victory this Friday – ideally with a convincing stoppage.

She added:

“Coming off a loss is really hard and that’s just motivated me this whole camp to keep putting in work because I cannot imagine myself going 0-2 [in ONE].

“I feel like I’m going to finish on the ground. I don’t know what round, but either a TKO from a grappling exchange or a submission.”