MMA athlete Corinne Laframboise has long dreamed of making it to the UFC, but three days before the fight of her life to get there in September 2023, she learned she was pregnant. After giving birth to her daughter last March, she is once again preparing to achieve her goal.
“I feel like Wonder Woman at the end of the day,” says Corinne Laframboise, whom Agence QMI met during a training session.
The one who claims to have made the decision to return to the octagon with all the necessary precautions is training to fight in Dana White’s Contender Series, the event which represents the gateway to the UFC, after her appointment missed last year.
Photos by Maude Larin-Kieran, QMI Agency
A few weeks ago, the 35-year-old athlete received a second invitation for this important fight, which will take place next September.
Corinne Laframboise believes she is in top form to achieve her dream.
“I have plenty of time between now and the fight to get back to 200% of my strength. Plus, I already have a training camp that was done before, it’s just that the fight didn’t happen,” she said, referring to the training she did for the fight. which it should have delivered in 2023.
“Wherever I can include it, I do.”
As she has “an easy baby” and receives the support of her partner Eric, reconciling her duties as a mother and those of an athlete becomes simpler. Her little one follows her almost everywhere.
“I bring him to jiu-jitsu, I bring him to wrestling. Anywhere I can include him in my training, I do. Because I didn’t feel like having a child and putting him aside to fulfill my professional dream,” she explains.
Photo provided by Corinne Laframboise
Accelerated recovery
The athlete, who is also a TV and film stuntwoman, was offered a contract just two weeks after giving birth.
«[Dans] “My body, I felt good. That’s how I started training again little by little. Doing stunts is less bad than being in an octagon and fighting for real,” she explains.
Her trainers also follow the different stages of her fitness and Corinne assures that she “gives the cue when things are not going well”.
His medical team also gave him the green light to resume training.
For Douanka Gendreau, physiotherapist in perineal and pelvic rehabilitation, it is clear that we must move away from the guidelines concerning sport after childbirth and personalize the return to training.
“You have to consider the course of the pregnancy, the course of the delivery, then the course of the postpartum period,” explains the physiotherapist.
“I have a doctor who was still quite flexible,” explains Corinne. She told me: ‘Go at your own pace, don’t make any extra movements’.”
Martial arts as a legacy
Corinne dreams of entering the UFC and living this adventure with her daughter. According to her, “without having to fight in an octagon,” martial arts teach self-confidence and discipline to children.
“Martial arts, I want to instill that in my daughter, that’s for sure. I hope she will see this on a positive note,” she said.
The fighter says she thought carefully about her decision to resume training. She first made sure that “everything was okay with the baby,” she emphasizes.
