At some point during a three-round tussle with Brazilian upstart Ketlen Vieira, Ashlee Evans-Smith wondered if she’d been downsized out the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

So powerful was Vieira in exchanges, Evans-Smith thought she’d have to move divisions after a decision loss. But she couldn’t move down. Not until “The Ultimate Fighter 26” and the women’s flyweight division was officially a thing. So there was a problem.

Then Evans-Smith took on Sarah Moras at UFC 215, and she had another epiphany.

“I’m like, ‘Nope, I’m strong,'” Evans-Smith (5-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC) told MMAjunkie Radio. “Then I got caught.”

The leveraging power of jiu-jitsu turned out to be her biggest problem as the “TUF” vet hyperextended her elbow and forced a tap, setting in motion a long period of recovery. During that time, she went vegan after 10 years of vegetarianism. She started to shrink. Then an another idea came to her: Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to drop a little more weight.

“I was really excellent on my diet, like better than I ever have been, even in fight camp,” said Evans-Smith, who underwent PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy for her injured limb. “Everybody simultaneously was like, ‘Dude, are you dropping down to 125?’ Then the idea got put in my head.”

With two losses on her ledger, she needed a fresh start anyway.

So that’s what Evans-Smith is making now, officially registering her debut in the women’s flyweight division, a class that several veteran bantamweights defected as soon as it became available. One of them, Bec Rawlings (7-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC), will be her trial run at UFC 223.

The fighters face off on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed prelims of the April 7 card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., which leads off a 13-fight card that also airs on FS1 and pay-per-view.

Evans-Smith started her career at 145 pounds and first made waves in the industry by stopping transgender fighter Fallon Fox. When the UFC started promoting a bantamweight division, she knew her frame could support a drop of 10 pounds. That she had a little extra bulk didn’t matter much.

“It’s not bodybuilding, so who cares? Look at Roy Nelson,” she said.

At her new weight, Evans-Smith said it’s not the reduced poundage that makes her a faster, better fighter. It’s the training.

“The mixture of (a lighter) weight class and working with (my former strength and conditioning coach), I feel super fast,” she said. “Yeah, the weight drop does play a part, but I think it’s the kind of training you’re doing.

“You can see these big guys, and you’re like, whoa, how did he move like that? It’s not because he’s light. It’s because he’s doing the right training.”

Evans-Smith can’t say the same about Rawlings, who’s lost three straight fights, including a debut at flyweight.

“I don’t do a lot of tape study,” she said. “But all my coaches and all my friends, even teammates, they watch her, and they’re pretty unimpressed with her performance. She doesn’t change much from fight to fight. It’s just kind of the same person.

“Maybe she has a little more oomph in her punches, but she’s not growing as a fighter, I don’t think. And that’s definitely not good with how fast our sport is growing and how quickly women and men are being cut. She’s definitely not a fighter that’s ever evolving, and it definitely makes our game planning easier.”

For more on UFC 223, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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