Fighter ready to rumble in big bout

“Being such a small town, there’s not much to do but play sports and if you want to travel you have to play,” Clark (pictured) says.

“It’s a big sporting community. I don’t know how so many high-level athletes come out of there but I think that has something to do with it.”

Clark fought her first kickboxing bout in 2011.

Shar says she cried through the second round of the fight but has since travelled to South Korea and the US to watch her daughter fight.

“I raised my kids that there was never, ever a good reason to lay a hand on someone,” she says. “But ... this is the first thing in her life Jessica’s felt truly committed to.

“When she discovered kickboxing, she knew that was her focus.”

Clark is known for her willingness to slug it out with opponents in the middle of the octagon, but Shar says she doesn’t fear for her daughter’s safety when she fights.

“She’s always been a hardhead so it doesn’t surprise me that she can take some knocks,” shesays.

Clark credits much of her recent success to her coach, Syndicate MMA’s John Wood, whom she says has helped unleash the fighter within.

“He figured out my personality pretty quickly,” she says.

“The biggest thing where I felt I was failing was with my self-confidence.

“He’s the only person that’s been able to help me with the issues I was having.

“He helps me refine my natural instincts.”

Asked how she’ll beat VanZant, Clark says she doesn’t know.

“I haven’t decided yet,” she says. “I try to adapt to any different situation I’m in. But it’ll be a good one, for sure.”