UFC Tampa flyweight Miranda Maverick is in for a big change that has little to do with fighting.

While Maverick (14-5) will appear this Saturday at UFC Tampa, the final event of the promotion’s 2024 calendar year, she also plans to expand her family. Specifically, she and her husband have begun the adoption process; Dating a new son or daughter could come soon after the fight.

That’s one more thing Miranda “Fear the” Maverick has to look forward to, along with her pickle business Prowler Pickles, honey business High Stakes Honey, and of course her fighting career.

“I have wanted a child for some time. My husband and I live in a situation where we want children. And right now, of course, among other reasons, that’s just not feasible,” Maverick said in a recent interview with Cageside Press, outlining the couple’s thought process regarding the adoption.

“We always wanted to adopt. We’ve talked about it quite a bit since the first date, it’s been mentioned. We discussed it then and we discussed it now. It’s been a long, scary and expensive journey, but we’re finally at the point where we’ll start matching, probably the day after the fight. Wait until the stress of combat is over. Even if we don’t know when we’ll hold a baby, it can take up to a year. Here’s hoping it happens sooner rather than later and the fight doesn’t get in the way. But the baby would be the top priority at this point.”

Maverick and her husband originally hoped to have their own children first. Of course, that would mean she would be taking some time off from her fighting career. And she further emphasized that it shouldn’t really matter.

“We wanted our own children first, and it was one of those things where we thought, ‘Well, we want our first chance at parenthood to be our own blood, our own genetics.’ And then we discussed it and I asked myself, ‘Then why do we adopt at all? Like, if we think we’re going to treat them differently or feel differently about them as parents and stuff like that.’

With that in mind, Maverick instead opted for a more spiritual approach, thinking that Jesus adopted his followers, so “we should adopt them here on Earth whenever we can.”

“We just want to have a better life for this child than he might have had, and we’re going to treat him as if he were our own blood and our own genetics. And we are very excited.”

Undoubtedly, motherhood will eventually lead to a discussion about what mom does for a living. Fighting in a cage is not a normal 9-5, desk-driving, clock-punching job. In fact, it’s certainly not what’s pushing the clock for Maverick when it comes to her career.

However, she has no qualms about introducing her children to her fighting life when the time comes. “Listen, it’s a lot easier than explaining why I’m on Only Fans with my butt hanging out, which a lot of women out there do. For me, fighting, I explain to them that it is a sport, but I also explain to them the abilities of God that he gives to people, what potential I had out there and how it came about with MMA.”

“And beyond that,” Maverick continued, “how the sport works.” I’ve never been hurt so badly. Explain to them the injuries that come with it, the mental toughness that comes with it, the adversities that you face in life, and how life will knock you down no matter what career path you take. No matter who you are or what you do in life. And that one day they will have to get over that too and hopefully understand that they can be strong and tough and strive for anything in life that they think is possible.”

Before the adoption takes place, Miranda Maverick has to fight a fight with Canadian flyweight Jamey-Lyn Horth. Neither fighter is currently ranked, although Maverick has done so in the past. Horth was coming off a win in Edmonton just last month and was willing to fight on short notice, which is why the fight was put together.

The relationship between the two was “very nice and cordial for now, of course it will be different in the cage,” Maverick noted, revealing that the pair exchanged pleasantries via social media. “I think as far as their skills go, I’m better in all areas. Of course everyone will say I hope for interviews and stuff like that, I hope they have that confidence. But I believe that I am almost on the leaderboard for a reason and that I was placed on the leaderboard for a reason. And in my opinion I’m in the top eight in terms of ability and all that, I just haven’t had a chance to get to this point yet.”

Watch our full interview with UFC Tampa’s Miranda Maverick above.