20-Year-Old Evelyn Martins: ‘I’m Here to Make Some Noise’

Even though she just turned 20, Evelyn Martins is confident she can take any opponent who stands in her way to a Professional Fighters League contract.

Martins (2-0) is called to overcome one of the toughest tests in her career as she faces Jeslen Mishelle at the upcoming PFL Challenger Series 2 card. “Spartan” was supposed to fight on the Challenger Series last year, but some last-minute visa issues prevented her scheduled clash with Jackie Cataline from going down. On top of that, Martins couldn’t find an opponent in all of 2022, ending up spending the year polishing her skills in the gym at the American Top Team. Her upcoming clash on Feb. 3 will be her first fight in nearly two years. While Martins is one of the youngest contestants to ever compete in the Challenger Series, she believes that her young age is actually an advantage over her foes.

“I think I'll be the youngest on the PFL Challenger Series card, the women's night. I just turned 20. I do not feel the pressure because I’ve been fighting since I was 11 years old and I always got older opponents, so I was 13 fighting with 16-, 17-year-old girls. When I did my pro debut, I had just turned 18 and my opponent was 28. In my second fight, I was 18 and my opponent was 29. This is the sport. The thing is I'm too young, but I’m here to make some noise.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:19) Moving down to featherweight
(01:00) Her canceled fight with Cataline
(01:23) Going all of 2022 without fighting
(02:43) Training at ATT
(03:23) Her sparring partners
(04:09) Preparing for Mishelle
(05:05) Being one of the youngest fighters in PFL
(06:02) Her 2023 goals
(06:39) Outro