Phuket Prospect: Noelle Grandjean on multi-cultural background, fighting family & nomadic lifestyle

Summary

Noelle Grandjean on multi-cultural background, fighting family & nomadic lifestyle.

Transcript (youtube_captions)

download the allstar app make your picks for UFC fights challenge your friends level up and win prizes Link in description get it now hi everyone my name is Noel I'm 27 years old I'm Dutch French and Thai and I'm an MMA fighter for one Championship so I started uh my martial arts Journey with Judo at the age of 6 years old uh thanks to my dad uh in the Netherlands back then and then we moved to France so I had a big um career in France under the French national team uh my age class the upper age class as well and then um listened to my heart mov to Thailand and I thought I needed to do something here and switch to MMA naturally with the big mui Community here and everything and yeah trained with stem back then Dennis Wonga not Wonder Girl like all the girls and down to in fex and yeah then got my steps into one Championship which I'm very grateful for and you're always like a local and a stranger at the same time you know like in the Netherlands I was kind of the Asian and FRS too and here I'm like the farang like oh you look different who are you where you from I'm like I'm TI you know yeah that's it is what it is you know I think everyone everyone who's Multicultural can kind of of relate to this like you have to dig into yourself and know who you are you know and yeah just that you know and yeah just do your best and that's it I guess who are you who are you I'm I'm everything I like I like my three countries I like the world actually anywhere in the world is nice like I've been in Switzerland as well I love it there you know you know it's just a flag and it's I mean culture impacts your personality and those things but also you can choose for yourself you know and I think that's traveling is is amazing for that you know and just be the best version of yourself and take what's good from everything leave the bat away that's it yeah you know what's funny is that I didn't like Judo actually I did it cuz yeah my dad wanted me to do it I was actually very good like I would smash everyone I was always the smallest you know especially in the Netherlands but everywhere in the world and uh then I didn't really like it I wanted to do like girl stuff like dance sing music uh gymnastics or something but fighting wasn't really but my I come from um fighter family so my dad is a MMA fighter mu Thai like he's very well known in Europe my brother too he knocked down better Harry for those who know like kickboxing and Muay Tha he's like a striker still fighting they both still fighting my dad is 66 also he want to make his like um last fight in MMA my D my brother also still fighting so yeah just it's in my blood and I've got the talent I guess to do it because I've done it through the years and Judo I guess also a great base for MMA especially in wom MMA we have a lot of Strikers so I bring something a bit new to the table I mean Ronda Rouse was there before me but you know so yeah I mean MMA is amazing it's like the five dimension sport you know it's the realest sport in the world and it's awesome and gives you so much discipline confidence and so many things that I got from MMA and which I'm really grateful for it's also a great way to express myself cuz I love music as well I wish I would could do it more but now I'm just in in fighting so I need to do it but I I do my coming up songs and those things I like to entertain you know to me it's like an entertainment is not only fighting fighting is the main thing but like yeah the music part I can express myself and after when you get the win you get to express yourself again and you can get give a message to the people and those things and and I think that's awesome so yeah cheers on Championship uh it was always awesome and entertaining I was always uh near the ring and screaming and yes it's crazy crazy emotions and being inside of the Ring yeah it's a very different perspective of course but yeah it's different but it feels also a bit natural cuz we've done it through years you know but yeah of course pressure is on and you want to make everyone proud and show the hard work and do your best you know all all eyes are on you at that time so you know yeah you just want to do your best and that's it get the win obviously right that's the goal so actually I chose uh to do MMA by myself like Judah wasn't the choice but MMA was my own choice and of of course yeah pressure cuz to me it's strange cuz I'm I'm a bit new in MMA like people don't really know me but in the Judo well that was pretty well known you know so it's like restarting again you know and like people are like who's this who's this chicken I'm like yeah you know and but for me I need to prove my name and yeah like in Europe our name is kind kind of known I guess and I feel like yeah I have to win you know so yeah I was in the national team for Judo then I stopped Judo cuz I didn't really like it and I still thought I should do something and I listened to my heart and I I wanted to go Olympic Games for Thailand actually and I thought oh hearing the national anthem of Thailand would be like this is like a dream so I just booked my flight told my parents yeah I'm moving to Thailand and I was working back then I was manager in a Thai restaurant and I had the Thai massage salon with my mom as well so just like yeah this and teaching Judo as well and I just thought yeah this this life isn't for me like Thailand is calling me all the time and I just need to go and I just book my flight and I'm I'm a doer you know so I just went you know and my parents were still living in France and staying in France and they joined me later you know cuz life is just better here life is is amazing like yeah sub bye sub bye and people are so peaceful and the weather and look at the view like it's Paradise you know it's Paradise everywhere just drink your coconut and enjoy life and train if you like to train or whatever is your thing you know but yeah it's just it's just a beautiful life here so when I came here first I was staying in Bangkok cuz my mom had a place in Bangkok so it was Bangkok fight Lab First which was an amazing place but we were I was living Bangkok is huge I was living like up to 1 hour traffic jam to the training and it was just so complicated and I was thinking I was sitting with my friends and I was saying hey you know what would be awesome is to sleep in the gym and you know also the food and everything have everything in one place and eat eat sleep train repeat and it was like late in the morning and I was just on Facebook and I saw a faex faex uh we are looking to sponsor MMA fighters we provide the hotel the food everything and I'm like wa this is exactly what I was talking about and I was like okay I don't have a MMA Pro record yet but maybe with my Judo background who knows I just sent the email straight away and it was like 2:00 in the morning and I got an email back like in the five minutes and they were like hey come down yeah we're interested come down and then I went down like the day after or something and I trained with stamp grappling and everything and everything went well I got my hotel room sorted like was a great experience Mr Wong is amazing and yeah that was a great uh start into like professional MMA I guess yeah I was to I went to Tiger first yeah tiger to me it was like okay what I I want to do is is MMA pure MMA like Muay Tha is awesome but I want to first of all I'm small so striking I mean it's cool and I really enjoy it but I'm an MMA fighter this is my goal this is my dream this is my purpose so MMA I thought yeah puket is pretty abundant in MMA fighters and quality training Partners everything and let's go there like it's calling me as well you know and puket also like like the sea here is clean and everything I like it you you know it's it's a Vibe as well so yeah just came down here got also sponsored kind of straight away and I was really grateful that day and just yeah it's awesome training here always like strong training Partners strong energies and I feel I'm kind of Lucky with my background and how everything that's why I choose to chose to do MMA as well you know it's just the process um yeah I think I think it's easier to learn striking than grappling right especially out than a little bit more advanced age uh but I really do en enjoy the Striking part as well um I I'm a perfectionist you know so I'm seeking excellence in everything I do MMA is everything is not only grappling it's not only striking it's like everything like as I said it's five dimensional to me and I want to be the best in everything in MMA so yeah how about the no man you know what when uh my dad was uh when I was in the Judo world my dad would always bring me uh with the car to every day we would train in a different gym with Judo but at that time but like to switch training Partners to switch learning styles and those things and I think this is how I got good you know honestly and with MMA maybe it's a little bit the thing or maybe it's it's a sickness that I got you know always on the move it's pretty stressful sometimes I I'm looking forward to find my balance like now it's pet I'm kind of settled in poet you know and pet Fight Club is great I love the training it's like family team Vibes which is very important I understood with time cuz it's such a lonely Sport and everything you know and it's important to have like a team and family and when you're training you feel supported and you learn that you go every day and you learn something this is the goal if you come down and you don't learn anything then you're losing your time right so that's important to me and also the gym is cleaning those things so that's cool and yeah I lost myself that's why I get yeah got to flow switch Yeah switch flow and see what works you know what works for you and everywhere is great it's just where you feel valued and I think this is an important thing you know if you have high goals it's important to feel valued as well where you are and yeah everywhere is great you know honestly I'm very grateful for this journey I'm grateful for all the gyms who have welcomed me throughout this journey I've learned so much and uh I'm looking forward as well like yeah yeah my first MMA debut in one Championship was Malaysia One Prime video 3 so it was also on Prime video which was kind of a bigger thing right it was an awesome experience obviously like my I brought both my parents with me and just good energy with my dad and my mom she's a messager so it was I couldn't could benefit from that too and yeah I had my own coming up song and a great first round knockout uh also it was like a punch so for judokai cool you know um and then I got a Bonus so everything was perfect sounds sounds perfect getting bonus and everything right High emotions actually I didn't realize straight away that I want like everyone was texting me and messaging me oh congrats and I'm like I don't even realize what's happening you know like I'm it's just a normal day I guess I don't know you know it's crazy emotions yeah it was great uh was it still covered back then or not it was a little bit like end of covet so the crowd wasn't but there was some crowd and it was also in the morning you know so only the people who woke up early we were there but it was still great like people screaming and no it was awesome you know and uh getting into the cage yeah I I was a little bit stressed it was my first time in one and everything so a little bit stress which is normal I guess and but great great feeling you know just yeah for my style is to stay calm and true to myself and uh in the moment of course and yeah also being humble and just making great memories also enjoying the moment you know cuz time flies you know and yeah just enjoying the moment and also share with your beloved ones it's important you know I'm very grateful to have my dad in my corner like I hope he can be there until I get my belt h yeah obviously the belt is the the goal you know for sure um how do I move yeah I just want to fight you know I trust the process this is something it's not really on me you know it's just about trusting the process and like release you know when you're too stressed like oh I need to fight I need to fight now or I need to fight actually I want to fight before Christmas but like oh I need to Fight Before Christmas maybe when you force things it doesn't go you know so sometimes it's also about letting go and maybe you know take a day and go to the beach or something just to let go and don't stress out yourself you know and um yeah just keep on living and do your thing train and just be the best version of yourself and you'll attract more in that way I guess the mental battles I've had mental battles of course like I've been up and down and it's such a journey like MMA is also High emotions High energies and you know it's like it's like a wavelength you go up high emotions and you go down and and you go down you know when you're down in life in anything you have to just enjoy the Downs embrace your emotions and you know that there's going to be a peek up right after you know just keep enjoying the process and you know we we're all the same we're all one and we we go through different stories and but there's always the up you know after down so enjoy the Downs as well and embrace your emotions and just keep going and yeah you know just make them listen to your heart and your calling you know yeah you can you give it like an example so people can understand like something that you've been through something that I've been through I've my my last relationship my last relationship was wasn't the right for me you know and it was um just I got isolated let's say it wasn't good for my so all my relationships business MMA friendships just was down you know so it was a very hard time depressed lonely everything you know and that's I went into my last fight with this energy you know so maybe it explains a little bit um and also it helped me to get a voice you know I was always uh I would never speak out my emotions and those things and this experience taught me to express myself more and yeah that's it kind of now I'm I'm pretty good you know yeah life is life is great and I have my dad who came down to puket right now so I'm really happy about that also we're for 27 years I haven't really talked with my dad like deeply about things and we're get going there tomorrow so I will find true peace in my life so he's the person I love the most in this world so making peace with my dad is really important as well he's my corner so great things to come yeah I'm really grateful for this um it's uh of course it isn't easy like you know to me I think fighting is like survival right it's like survival mode you're in fight or flight mode so it's something you need to activate but you also need to be able to deactivate to be a woman in a man's world it isn't easy especially in the beginning you know you need to go there and you don't really know how they're going to approach you but just be chill you know you have also something to bring to the table which is different maybe you have more speed maybe you're faster or more flexible as a woman you know you have something to bring on the table to the table and you have to be confident in that and just you know respect is the main thing in every relationship in this life so just be respectful with your camarades and you know it's great energy like you can also try different places you know where you will feel better and um yeah you know it's then you get used to it you know just uh facing your fears it's a very good one to do and uh it gives you so much satisfaction after it you know just be proud of yourself and yeah just just do it it's yeah it's it's scary for anybody just a regular person just going to like a kickboxing classes it's not it's not easy and the guys they they they're not they're they going H they don't let me like it's not like oh she's a woman let's go easy on her no they're like she's a woman let's beat her ass no it's good a message to my family fans everyone supporting the journey we are nobody without you and thanks for your support and always believe in your dreams be happy be in the present moment enjoy your time with your beloved ones get off your phone as much as you can cuz life is awesome get in touch with nature and just do what you love and do your best and just be the best version of yourself so you can impact the world world you know