Will U.S. Olympian Mikaela Mayer ever leave boxing for MMA?

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Mikaela Mayer is excited for her first Olympic Games, and she doesn’t want it to be the last.

The 26-year-old from Los Angeles will try to win a gold medal in the women’s boxing lightweight division in Rio de Janeiro, but is getting used to questions about a possible transition to mixed martial arts in the future.

“I definitely get that question a lot,” said Mayer, who trained Muay Thai before starting her boxing career.

But can Mayer follow the likes of Holly Holm, a former boxing world champion who became UFC bantamweight champion in November of 2015 with a stunning knockout win over UFC superstar Ronda Rousey?

“For me, right now, I still have so much that I want to accomplish in boxing,” Mayer said. “I’m 26 years old, but I still feel like I have so much more to learn. I wanna go for 2020, so I plan to go for another Olympics, and then I feel like the professional rings need women like me, for us to kind of help shine light on our sport in the professional rings as well. Hopefully we can turn pro one day and do a little bit for women’s boxing in the pro world.”

Mayer says she never got any offers to compete in mixed martial arts, but realizes that many female boxers are making a transition to MMA for better paychecks and exposure.

“I think so, probably, because, you’re right, they do put women on TV when it comes to MMA and they are making good money and getting recognition,” she said, “so I think some are turning towards that direction, but I think boxing needs girls like me to fight through and to really help build it up because if we abandon our sport, who’s gonna do it for us?

“In the U.S., we’re not highlighted, we’re not put on TV. Some people don’t even realize that women box. They don’t know that’s an Olympic sport yet. I still think we have a long way to go, but we’re on the right path.”