As in life, paths taken and roads traveled come in varying lengths in the fight game as well. In either case Jessica Aguilar has no problem taking the long route to the places she’s looking to go. And in doing there’s been a perseverance forged.

The Veracruz native has spent the past decade carving out her place as one of the best female fighters on the planet, earning acclaim and championship gold along the way. Aguilar touched down on the sport’s biggest stage in 2015, where her previous resume earned her an instant title eliminator bout against Claudia Gadelha at UFC 190 in Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian would take a hard-fought split decision, but there would be more adversity to follow in the aftermath. Aguilar would suffer a knee injury during training for her next bout, and the surgery and rehabilitation put her on the sidelines for the better part of the next two years.

Nevertheless, inner resilience and determination kept of the American Top Team product’s mindset sharp, and Aguilar is set to make her long awaited comeback against Cortney Casey at UFC 211 on May 13.

“Cortney  is durable and tough,” Aguilar told FloCombat. “She always comes to fight every time she steps into the cage. She has some decent ground skills and I think it’s going to be a good fight. I’m looking forward to getting back in the cage and fighting again.”

That night in Dallas the former WSOF strawweight champion is expecting nothing short of a scrap in the “Lone Star State.” That said, the two strawweights hovered in a holding pattern for weeks before the fight was officially locked down in early April.

“It was a strange process because I kept hearing I was going to be fighting at UFC 211, but you are never quite sure until you sign the contract,” Aguilar told FloCombat. “That’s the part I wanted to get done. It was kind of hard to go full blast without having everything signed, but we got that taken care of and we are in full preparation for May 13.

“I’ve done a lot over the course of my career, but this fight is also very important. It will give me a chance to get back on the winning side of the things and it’s a good fight against a tough opponent. I think we are going to put on a good show.”

While Aguilar had been back to full training for several weeks, the fight with Casey becoming official shifted her internal drive to the next level. Slowly but surely the ability to tap into the primal instincts necessary to become one of the best 115-pound fighters in the world started to rise to the surface, and Aguilar has zero doubt that ferocity will be front and center at UFC 211.

“The fire is coming back for sure,” Aguilar said. “Every week it’s getting hotter and hotter. The fire in me never stops, the competitive spirit never rests, but it’s building back up to full capacity now that I have someone to aim at. It was tough during the climb back because I had never been off so long, but was never going to let that stop me. It’s a work in progress, but that’s what I love about the sport.

“I don’t like to take breaks,” she added. “I like to stay busy, but everything happens for a reason. The break was good for me in a sense because it let my body recover a bit. I have been doing this for so long that helped in a sense, but I’m coming back full force in Dallas.”