Jinh Yu Frey looked like she was beating Invicta atomweight queen Ayaka Hamasaki when they faced off at Invicta FC 19 in September, 2016. The then 5-1 Yu Frey controlled her Japanese opponent for most of the first round, putting herself in pole position to clinch Invicta gold at 105lbs. However, late in the second round Hamasaki landed an overhand right that opened up a nasty cut on Yu Frey’s head. The action was stopped and a ringside physician called the fight off; handing the challenger a loss via TKO.

When asked how she felt as the doctor waved off the fight, Yu Frey told Bloody Elbow, “Just shock. After all the hard work that I had put in and after all the time spent, that’s how it ends?” Yu Frey had beaten Herica Tiburcio six months prior to this, at Invicta FC 16, and hadn’t taken time off from training in-between.

“I understand he’s just trying to do his job, but the blood wasn’t flowing in my eyes. It wasn’t over my eye, it was kind of to the side,” said Yu Frey. “Everyone knows that head wounds bleed profusely because there’s so much circulation there, so it looked way worse than it really was. I thought that, since there were only twenty seconds left in the round, at least give the cut man a chance to work on it and see what he can do with it.”

“If it was really that bad, he could have stopped it in the third round. Give me a chance to work, give the cut man a chance to work, especially since it’s a title fight,” continued Yu Frey. Also there to survey her wound was former UFC cut man Jacob ‘Stitch’ Duran, who Yu Frey remembers commenting, “Yeah, that’s a pretty good one.”

The cut took five stitches to close and Yu Frey was back in the gym the following week (though not sparring). Despite the disappointment she felt over the manner in which she lost the contest, Yu Frey believes the fight was a positive experience, overall.

“Considering I’m so young in my career and that I was going against Hamasaki, who is such a seasoned vet, and that I was able to hold my own and really give her a run for her money; that really boosted my confidence,” said Yu Frey. “It makes me feel like I really did deserve that title shot. I really do deserve to be here.”

Yu Frey said that after the bout ‘numerous’ people within Invicta informed her that an immediate rematch with Hamasaki was likely. Yu Frey said she believed Hamasaki was initially keen on the idea, too. With this knowledge Yu Frey went back into training, with an intensity befitting of a forthcoming title shot. However, as time went on it appeared the rematch was no longer in the offing.

Rather than face Yu Frey again with her atomweight belt on the line, Hamasaki elected to test herself at a heavier weight class at Invicta FC 22 in March. There she came unstuck versus former Invicta strawweight champion Livia Renata Souza. In that bout Hamasaki was knocked out in the first round; losing only the second fight of her pro career and her first since being TKO’d by Claudia Gadelha back in 2013.

After this, Yu Frey felt there was a good chance Hamsaki would come back to atomweight and that their rematch would happen soon. But then Invicta called and offered her a fight with 5-3 Ashley Cummins instead. Wanting to stay active, Yu Frey took the fight. Even though she’d rather be tackling Hamasaki, Yu Frey is excited and intrigued by the challenge posed by Cummins; who defeated Amber Brown at Invicta FC 22.

"Not very many people really get the opportunity to chase their dreams. I would just like to be known as a great fighter." - @littleroo1two pic.twitter.com/4xqmSgZ06V — Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) July 1, 2017

“I’ve always felt that Ashley Cummins was a really well rounded fighter,” said Yu Frey who has had Cummins on her radar since they were both competing in amateur MMA. Against Brown, Yu Frey thinks Cummins was too over-aggressive and she likes her chances of defending the take down when they square off. “I think that she’ll have a little trouble trying to put me on my back.”

To prepare for Cummins, Yu Frey went international - joining up with Invicta’s Sunna Rannveig Davidsdottir and the UFC’s Joanne Calderwood at Myöljnir MMA in Reykjavik, Iceland. It was the second time Yu Frey had visited the country and the gym that’s home to UFC headliner Gunnar Nelson. Though, this was her first official training camp there.

“A few of my main training partners were injured, one was just finishing camp, and one was out of town - so there really wasn’t a whole lot of bodies for me to work with here,” said Yu Frey who is based in Arlington, TX. “So it was just kind of a last-minute decision to go to Iceland, since Sunna is fighting [at Invicta FC 24 as well] and Joanne is competing [at UFC Glasgow]. So that was going to be three of us who were in competition mode who were able to push each other.”

Yu Frey had done the tourist thing in Iceland before (where she hiked to natural hot springs and dined on fermented shark* and lamb’s heads - eyes and all) so this time she was able to dedicate her entire time to training. While there, she said she picked things up from Davidsdottir and her camp, as well as Calderwood, which have contributed to an all-around tightening of her MMA skill set.

As she heads into this Saturday’s fight with Cummins, Yu Frey hopes this improvement will see her through the contest and possibly set-up her long awaited rematch with Hamasaki for the belt. Though, as experience has taught her, Yu Frey is apprehensive about assuming a title fight will come if she beats Cummins.

Regardless of the reward on offer, Yu Frey is looking forward to competing after nearly a year on the sidelines. And she believes the fight itself has a lot to offer spectators. “I think it’s going to be an exceptionally technical battle,” claimed Yu Frey. “I think we’re both skilled practitioners. I feel like countering is my specialty and she’s a pressure fighter, so it will be interesting to see who is better at their game.”

Jinh Yu Frey versus Ashley Cummins, and the rest of Invicta FC 24: Dudieva vs. Borella can be seen this Saturday night exclusively live on UFC Fight Pass.

*According to Yu Frey, fermented shark - which Anthony Bourdain once claimed was one of the most disgusting foods on earth - was, “not that bad.”