Squamish's Jamey-Lyn Horth Wessels signs with the UFC

No one wanted to fight her.

So Jamey-Lyn Horth Wessels had to find an organization that would actually provide an opponent, and that organization was the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Following a lengthy hiatus at Legacy Fighting Alliance, or LFA, the Squamish MMA fighter has made it to the highest echelon of the sport.

Horth Wessels was slated to defend her flyweight title in the LFA this past December, but her opponent had to cancel due to an injury.

Despite the promoter's effort at trying to find another fighter to take her on, she was left without anyone to challenge her in the ring.

Numerous other fighters were offered the chance to challenge the Squamish athlete, but no one wanted to put themselves on the line.

"So we ended up having six or seven other girls … from December till February say no," Horth Wessels told The Squamish Chief. "And then the girl that broke her leg, they offered me her again in May. And then shortly after we all had that conversation, she reinjured herself."

It was deja vu.

"So that's kind of when my agents and LFA and a couple other promotions that I'd fought for, [such as] Battlefield [Fight League] started pushing and saying, 'Hey, like, we can't find her anybody, nobody wants to fight her, like, you have to take her," Horth Wessels said.

Following this drought of opponents, the UFC agreed to have the Squamish fighter enter the octagon.

Horth Wessels, who has been undefeated as a professional fighter with a 5-0-0 streak, has at last found an opponent in Hailey Cowan, who has a professional record of 7-2-0.

They will be squaring off on April 29 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The local will be moving up a weight class to take on the American fighter in the bantamweight division.

Reaching this level of competition has been a long time coming.

"I told myself when I was 29, that if I hadn't made it to the UFC by the time I was 33, I'd start to think about what I was going to do with my life and my career going forward," she said.

Horth Wessels turned 33 in March.

"I'm really grateful for sort of the platforms that I got to showcase my learning and abilities to grow as a fighter," said Horth Wessels.

Her first major foray into fighting came as an amateur in the Battlefield Fight League, or BFL. She then graduated to the league's professional division.

Horth Wessels then moved on to Legacy Fighting Alliance, which has a track record of grooming athletes for the UFC.

Along the way, she was scheduled to participate in the UFC Contender Series, which also serves as a path to the UFC, but travel visa issues threw a wrench in those plans.

"I kind of got to get tested and showed who I was as an athlete," she recalled. "I would say [they] never took it easy on me. They never sort of padded my career for me, you know. They really tested me."

As for this upcoming match, the fighter said that she's treating her preparations the way she's treated every other match.

"I think it's still just a job," said Horth Wessels. "It's the same game plan; I'm still going in a cage, I'm still fighting against another opponent, you know, what I mean, who's just as skilled and, and in the same boat that I'm in."

On a final note, she thanked Squamish for all its support.

"Everybody here is so supportive, and they're just amazing when it comes to local athletes and supporting them and motivating them," she said. "Let's put Squamish on the map."