Everything happens for a reason.
Timing is everything. Trust the process.
Sitting on the pier at Deerfield Beach in the glow of the late Florida sun, it’s a case of choose your cliche for Michelle Montague as she reflects on her road to the top level of mixed martial arts.
The achievement, however, is anything but.
The 31-year-old former rugby player and Commonwealth Games wrestler from Matamata has etched her name into the history books as the first New Zealand woman to sign with the UFC.
She will make her debut in the octagon when the promotion returns Downunder in September, against Brazilian Luana Carolina in Perth.
It’s a destination Montague has walked a long, winding road to reach, and one that she admits she has questioned along the way.
“It’s not really something that I let out, but man, I’ve had so many of those freaking chats with my parents, you know what I mean?” Montague tells the Herald.
“The chats I’ve had with my parents in the last few years through it all, and it’s not because I doubt myself.
“It’s like, I know I could be happy and great at certain things, and this is my favourite thing to be doing, so if I can’t be growing in that or progressing or, you know, I’m here on a visa that allows me to only make money fighting so I can’t be sitting with my thumb up my a** for eight months of the year.
“There’s definitely been some reassuring chats with my parents where they’re like, ‘Shell, you’re in the best place possible for you at the best time possible and even if you don’t make it, or you fall short, whatever it is, you’ll never look back and think, man, I wish I never tried doing that.
“You’re always going to look back and be so happy and grateful that you decided to try that.’ So, those times with my mom and dad, like, definitely knowing me the best out of anyone in the world, they hit part of my soul that I’m like, yeah, you’re right.”
As she speaks, it’s fitting that Montague is conducting her interviews at Deerfield Beach.
Twelve years ago, Montague would visit the same beach while working as a lifeguard at Disney World in Orlando, making the hour-long trip south to play rugby with the locals.
She got started in MMA soon after returning to New Zealand, joining Core MMA in Hamilton under the tutelage of Carlo Meister, who remains a consistent presence in her corner, and has also spent time training with Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym.
But it was relationships she made during that time spent in Florida that she leaned on when she was unable to get a border exemption to return back into New Zealand after travelling to Russia to compete in an amateur MMA tournament in mid-2021.
She has since ingrained herself in the fabric of the famed American Top Team gym in Coconut Creek, alongside some of the sport’s top talents – including current UFC bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, whom Montague has a strong relationship with outside of the gym as well.
It’s a move Montague might not have made permanently had she been able to return home.
“There’s no coincidences. It’s all written there. I just get to be so humbled and so blessed in the fact that those things did happen,” she says.
“That’s why when those things happen, you can’t be like, ‘oh man I’m so gutted that either I couldn’t get back in, or I have to be a stranger at this new gym with all these very high-level international fighters’ and all that.
“Like, those are all really, really good things.
“You just have to get through the fear of being this ... little Kiwi bug-eyed in the new world kind of thing, you know?
“Because that’s how you grow and it’s exactly what’s been able to happen through those events that have happened.”
Following a long amateur career, during which she claimed a lightweight world championship in 2019, Montague signed with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) and made her pro debut in early 2022 in the same weight class.
She dropped to featherweight later in the year to take a bout with the iKon FC promotion.
That has since been her permanent weight class on her way to a 6-0 professional record with all wins by submission.
She says the PFL was accommodating and she didn’t have any issues being released by the promotion as she looked to lock down a UFC contract.
She will join the UFC in the bantamweight division, taking another step down in weight class.
It’s a similar pathway to that of Harrison, who won two lightweight titles with the PFL and successfully fought at featherweight before joining the UFC as a bantamweight.
It’s a weight Montague has yet to cut down to.
However, the ease she made featherweight gave her confidence with her prospects in the division. She has also linked up with The Fight Dietitian Jordan Sullivan to ensure she is ticking every box ahead of her UFC debut.
“[Bantamweight] is the perfect weight for me. Especially with the girls I’m around training, like Kayla and [UFC fighter] Yana [Santos].
“They’re the exact same size as me, give or take, and they make it every time.”
Her UFC debut in Perth will see a series of firsts for Montague: her first fight with the promotion, her first professional fight Downunder, and the first time her parents, Grant and Karen, will be able to see her go to work.
“They haven’t seen a pro fight yet, so for them to be at my UFC debut is insane,” she says.
“I’ve got friends and family friends that are messaging me saying that they don’t want to miss it, they’re going to be there. That to me is like, so beautifully overwhelming to know.
“Like, man, I don’t know how to explain it, but it does feel good and it does feel like being able to spot them in the crowd or whatever it is, or see them in fight week... every fight’s the biggest fight you ever have, obviously, but this one definitely is quite large for me.
“So I don’t take it for granted, being able to have my bloodline there supporting me and knowing that they’re going to be s****ing bricks during it as well or, honestly, they’ll be more nervous than me, which makes that a little bit easier.”
As for being the first Kiwi woman to sign with the promotion, the achievement was certainly not lost on Montague.
Reflecting on her journey so far and those who have helped her get to where she is, Montague credited the likes of Genah Fabian, Nyrene Crowley and other Kiwi women who have fought at home and abroad to give others something to strive for.
Now, she hopes that can be a role she takes forward for the next generation.
“I really hope too, with this platform, the amount of girls that will be able to be like, ‘wow, we really should stick at this.’
“A - the girls around us get better by having us there, and B, there’s a pathway to follow... I just hope that other girls in New Zealand can jump on board too.”
Light heavyweight main event: Carlos Ulberg (NZ) v Dominick Reyes
Light heavyweight: Navajo Stirling (NZ) v Rodolfo Bellato
Bantamweight: Michelle Montague (NZ) v Luana Carolina
Bantamweight: Colby Thicknesse v Josias Musasa
Featherweight: Dooho Choi v Daniel Santos
Strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee v Alexia Thainara
UFC Fight Night Perth, September 28, RAC Arena.
Tickets will go on sale in the coming weeks and fans can go to UFC.com/Perth to register for pre-sale access.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.