Ozyurt faces the former wrestler in a bare-knuckle boxing match and expects Cataline to try to go the distance and work in the clinch. However, the Turkish-Dutch fighter is confident he can dictate the action with his hands and believes the bout could result in an early knockout.
In addition to fighting, Ozyurt takes pride in representing his Turkish heritage on the international stage, while using his experience as a fighter and senior prison official to inspire others.
Hatice Ozyurt is confident in her hitting ahead of her match against Jackie Cataline
“I’ll leave it in God’s hands. But one thing I know for sure is that it’s not going to go the way he planned it,” Ozyurt said in a taped interview on Oct. 30. “Yesterday I had an interview where Jackie made it clear that she wants to make out with me. She can try, but like I said, I’m not going to hug her to change her level.” Ozyurt hopes his experience will allow him to finish the race before the scheduled five rounds are completed.
“It’s professional boxing without gloves, so I expect it to be the fight of the night. Hopefully, with my boxing skills and experience, maybe a KO in the first or second round. It won’t last all five rounds. I hope not.”
Ozyurt acknowledged Cataline’s grappling and grappling background, but insisted she was comfortable with the challenge.
“He’s got a wrestler, a wrestler’s background. And everybody knows me. I’m a professional fighter with almost 70 fights to my name. My special background is striking. So it’s going to be very interesting to fight a wrestler. I hope it’s not a fight where he takes me to the ground. And if he takes me to the ground, we’ll be able to handle it, if he doesn’t. That’s a problem for me, but I think it’s me as a fighter, but because of my background as a striker, it’s my playground.
While Ozyurt hopes she has the striking advantage, she also recognizes Cataline’s accomplishments and sees the contest as an opportunity to showcase her skills at the highest level of bare-knuckle boxing.
“I was born and raised in the Netherlands and my background culture is Turkish. I will represent Turkey with pride as the first female Turkish fighter in the Netherlands,” said Ozyurt. “It’s very exciting for me to be there fighting at the highest level bare-knuckle. Of course, Jackie has a legend behind him. I’m very grateful and very excited for this fight between us.”
Hatice Ozyurt hopes to inspire others through struggle and prison work
Outside the ring, Ozyurt works as a senior manager at a Dutch prison, and he says he has been there for almost 17 years. He believes that his experiences in combat sports and his professional life have given him the ability to encourage people who are facing difficult circumstances.
“Yes, I want to inspire them. I am a senior manager in the toughest prison in the Netherlands. We do not deal with men who stole candy from a store. We work with murderers and rapists. But also with children who are harmed by their loved ones and who have never had the opportunity to stand up for themselves,” said Ozyurt.
The Turkish-Dutch fighter stressed that his achievements have come from years of hard work and he hopes his journey can serve as an example to those he encounters in his profession.
“I’ve been doing this job for almost 17 years. With my personality and who I am as a woman, who I am as a fighter, I always give them a message of where I come from. I wasn’t handed things on a golden plate. I worked hard as a fighter and a woman in this society.”
Ozyurt said his approach to working with incarcerated people focuses on respect, understanding and helping them build better futures.
“As the senior manager of the prison, I always get respect from the prisoners. They like to listen to what I say because I speak from the heart. Some children didn’t even have a chance to develop themselves and I want to guide them when they come into society. Some things are not taken for granted. Some things have to be worked for. And I hope that if I help them, they will take me as an example.”
For Ozyurt, the people he works with are more than their circumstances or the crimes that brought them into the prison system. He hopes to provide them with the encouragement and support they lacked earlier in life.
“I am very grateful that there are prisoners… I don’t want to call them prisoners. They are people in my eyes. They are children who are damaged. I want them to have a chance. I want them to feel that there is a person who wants to hear them, wants to help them and wants to create solutions for them to become a better person in life.”
