Exclusive – Gillian “The Savage” Robertson Talks UFC, Fight Night and Yas Island

Gillian “The Savage” Robertson takes on Poliana Botelho October 17th at UFC Fight Night: Ortega Vs The Korean Zombie. Already on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, Robertson took some time to sit down with bodyslam.net and talk some UFC.

First off, You just received your black belt, congratulations! How does that make you feel after the years of working on you Jujitsu?

Thank you! And it honestly means the world to me . I dont think there’s anything I’ve worked harder for in my life so to finally reach this point is absolutely mind blowing to me . 9 years deep in the game but this is just the beginning.

Truly amazing, it’s such a prestigious accomplishment and well deserved. Yas Island, Whats your experience been over there as you are preparing?

Unfortunately i haven’t gotten to experience much of yas Island so for. Its quite the process to get over here , so today was my first day out of quarantine after 4 covid tests . Today I was just happy to be able to see my coach again after 5 days quarantining so we were focused on working. Hopefully I’ll get out more through the week.

Do you think that’s effected you being prepared training wise for next Saturday or are the last weeks sort of going through the motions?

My coach din tomas has always said that he doesn’t prepare the path for the fighter , he prepares the fighter for the path. Every fight camp/fight week youre going to encounter obstacles but I’ll be ready no matter what next Saturday.

You are on the Oct 17th Fight Night Ortega vs Jung against POLIANA BOTELHO, how do you feel you stylistically match up?

I believe that poliana is a perfect match up for me stylistically. I dont believe she has the wrestling defense to stop my take downs and once were on the ground its going to be my world.

Valentina Shevchenko is the flyweight division champion but there are some other names like Jessica Eye who has fought for the title, Katlyn Chookagian and even Roxanne Modafferi who was on your season of TUF. Where do you see yourself fitting into the division with a win?

I’m currently ranked #15 so I just hope I can work my way up. I’m trying to fight anyone and everyone until I get to the belt.

So, You get the call for TUF (TheUltimate Fighter) season 26 and you were on Team Gaethje. How excited were you for a shot at the UFC? What was it like learning from him (Justin Gaethje), anything specific you can remember?

It was really dreams come true . Its still crazy to me that this is my life. I get to do what I love every single day and get paid for it . I couldn’t ask for more. Justin Gaethje still inspires me to this day. No one in the sport is mentally stronger than him or believes in themself more than him. I aspire to have his mindset.

Justin Gaethje gets a shot the title and faces undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov on October 24th, Can we get a prediction for the fight?

I honestly believe he’s going to be the answer to khabib. He’ll bring the dog fight to him like no one else has and hes got great wrestling so I dont see khabib being able to hold him down.

Nickname “The Savage” how did that come about? Were there any other names in the running?

After my first Amateur fight Din (Tomas) had wrote an email to my whole team about me claiming im as quiet as a mouse but when I stepped into to the cage I turned into a savage . A couple of my friends were like “oh did you hear that he called you a savage ” and it just stuck after that

One final question. When you’re not fighting, training or have some down time, what’s a day like for Gillian Robertson?

If I do happen to have any down time you could find me on the beach reading, smoking a joint and hanging out with my dog Robin.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Gillian Robertson’s all action style make sure you tune in on Oct 17th to see her in action as she looks to build off her last fight in which she beat Cortney Casey by submission. Please go follow Gillian on Instagram and Twitter @savage_ufc

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