The jiu-jitsu ace competed twice in July in Japan, but both fights ended in no-contests due to an illegal soccer kick in Shootboxing and an unintentional eye poke in MMA. Garcia had a chance to end the year on a better note at Rizin’s Dec. 29 card in Saitama, but only entered the ring to apologize.

Garcia was heavily criticized for accepting an MMA fight with 53-year-old Shinobu Kandori, who hasn’t fought in 17 years, and the criticism became even worse after she showed up 26 pounds overweight. The fight was canceled, and Garcia returned to California with nothing to show for it.

In a lengthy interview with MMA Fighting on Wednesday night, Garcia opened up about what went wrong before her fight, the company’s decision to continue booking her against older opponents, and what the future holds for her in MMA. 

The entire year was troubling, right? It was a rough year. I’m not sad. I’m aware of what happened. I’ve learned a lot about my life and my body this year. It happens. Every time I go through something difficult, I come out better. I think it was a learning experience. But there are a lot of things behind the scenes that people don’t know that I hope I can say one day. It’s complicated. I had some personal problems with my family.

My father was sick, and my grandfather and my uncle were sick as well. I was taking dancing classes with Cris (Cyborg) and went to physical therapy, because of my knee, and my physical therapist checked my blood pressure. She asked me if it was normal of my blood pressure to go up and down like that, and it was not. I also had problems with some people in the Rizin staff, in terms of communication, some things I didn’t agree with, and that was hurting me inside.

I was breathing heavily, my heartbeat wasn’t normal, but it wasn’t really affecting my daily life. I left California to Japan 17 pounds over the limit, but I’m used to this weight cut. I made weight four pounds under (in 2016). I wouldn’t say I don’t suffer making weight, but I have a strong mind. But when I got to Japan, I worked out that night and my nose started to bleed a lot. I texted my manager George (Prajin) and he told me to let Rizin know of the situation, but I said I was alright.

I woke up the next morning and trained, and again my nose started to bleed. I was stressed because my team wasn’t there with me. Three visas were denied, other coaches were with Cris (Cyborg at UFC 219), and I only had one coach with me in Japan. My head wasn’t that confident anymore. I was too stressed.

I was 18 pounds over, but my coach told me to start cutting weight in the morning of weigh-in day. When I woke up at 6 a.m., I couldn’t move my hands, my vision was blurry. I entered the bathtub, and I couldn’t see anything anymore. I said, “I can’t do it, I can’t. I’m going to die in here.” When I left the bathtub, it was full of blood from my nose, and I freaked out a little bit.

I’m 32 years old, and the only time my period changed was when I took