After a rollercoaster 12-months, the 31-year-old has set herself the goal of being in title contention in 2019.

"I think I have the recipe now because finally I've been given the freedom to hand choose everyone that is involved," Clark said.

Jessy Jess, as she is known when in the octagon, is ranked no.10 in the flyweight division but is looking to move up to bantamweight after weight cutting issues at the end of last year. 

Clark was set to face Andrea Lee in December but was forced out of the bout after she was deemed medically unfit to compete by UFC physicians. 

She admitted that her body just "gave up" on her and she was hospitalised.

Clark was also in the midst of changing gyms to take control of her training and the people around her. It's only made a positive impact on her. 

"I feel more positive. Mentally and emotionally I'm in a much better spot than I have been for the last 12 months and so I think because of that I'm able to learn a lot better, recover from training, a lot happier going into sessions and overall everything has been amazing," she said.

"I'm in control of my life a lot more than I have been."

Originally from Cairns in Queensland's north, she grew up in a family of six with her mother the sole breadwinner of the family after her parents separated when Jessy was about five or six. 

As she grew up, her mum would come to inspire her with the sacrifices she would make for the family and it's helped Jessy become the person who she is today. 

"She's always taught me to work hard and if there is something that needs to be done then just do it, there is no ifs or buts about it," Jessy said.

Unfortunately, in 2015 her mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia and was given just three to five years of lucidity but Jessy has only watched her grow into a stronger person, not in spite of the disease but because of it.

"She's never once felt sorry for herself, she never complains about it and she never lets her affect what needs to be done," Jessy said.

"Whenever I'm having a bad day I'm like well look at what my mum has to go through and live with every day.

"I don't think there is anything that could come up in my life or my career that is harder than what she has had to go through, that's how she inspires me," she said.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Do as I say, not as I do... keep your hands up! 📸 @ohhbucksean

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Jessy is hard worker, there is no denying that. At the age of 16, she was working full time while still completing high school at the time but would later drop out in her final year to continue working plus get a second job. 

However, it was while living in Townsville, where she was a nightclub manager, that her life would change. 

She was powerlifting because her boyfriend at the time was trying to be a bodybuilder but would also regularly do kickboxing. It was while reading the local newspaper that she saw an article about a girl winning all these powerlifting competitions despite lifting less than Jessy. 

Jessy wanted to show her what she could do but she would need to drop weight to be in a lower weight division so she went to her boyfriends kickbox gym and well...

"I didn't lift a weight the year after that," she said.

"From the very first day I was like this is what I want to do and ever since that day my whole life has revolved around it." 

However, there was one thing she noticed while living in Australia. At every MMA gym, she had been until she moved to the United States, there were no females competing, no coaches and no training partners.

"I never had female influencers in my life at all until later in my career when I started meeting super strong women, who were trying to pave the way like I was," she said.

"I realised how important it was to find that solidarity in other women."

Jessy found that by having stronger powerful women around her that she was able to grow so she wants to encourage other women to do the same through offering advice or helping them find or create own crew of strong powerful women. 

"It's important to me because I feel like we are always forced to compete against each other in everyday life and if you are constantly fighting people, you never get to grow," she said.

"They say strength in numbers, so the only way to grow is to have a team around you."