Unified women’s minimum-weight champion Seniesa Estrada says she was in subpar condition going into her tough bout with Leonela Yudica last Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Estrada, who holds the WBA and WBC belts in the weight class, had to dig deep to fend off Argentina's Yudica over 10 rounds in their back-and-forth affair. All three judges scored the bout 97-93 for the native of Los Angeles, but Estrada, who has mostly dominated her opposition, took her fair share of punishment in the fight.

In a recent interview, Estrada maintained that she had been severely dehydrated going into the Yudica fight due to a strenuous weight cut.

“I made it tougher than it should’ve been just because physically I felt like at 40%,” Estrada said on The 3 Knockdown Rule with Steve Kim and Mario Lopez. “My weight cut was not the easiest. I just felt dehydrated before and after the weigh-in and during the fight so my body wouldn’t allow me to do certain things that I should have done.”

Estrada credited her ability to adjust on the fly, despite the physical distress, for leading her to victory over Yudica, a former flyweight titlist.

“Yeah, one thing about my style is that I can adjust very quickly, and I have a great trainer who told me what adjustments to make and I was able to make those adjustments,” she said. “I mean, there aren’t too many fighters who can make adjustments in the middle of the fight and towards the end of a fight. I’m just grateful that with my style I’m able to make adjustments.”

Estrada admitted it was a mistake skimping out on using her dietician, the nutrition team, Perfecting Athletes, for the entire duration of her camp and promised to utilize them more fully in her next outing. The Florida-based company has a long track record working with world-class fighters.

“The weight has never been an issue for me, which is why I thought it would be easy this time,” Estrada said. “My last fight for my WBC and WBA titles, I used my Perfecting Athletes nutritionists, so everything was smooth, everything was great. I used them this time, but I just didn’t have them as involved and I didn’t have them there fight week, so I just started my weight cut a little too late. First time I ever experienced feeling dehydrated, talking very slow, kind of slurring my words. I tried my best not to show it during the fighter meetings and fight day as well, I still felt that way.

“But hey, you live and you learn and next camp I’m gonna make sure I have Perfecting Athletes with me throughout the whole camp, throughout fight week, and make the weight cut easier.”

Estrada could be headed for a unification fight with WBO and IBF minimum-weight champion Yokasta Valle of Costa Rica, who greeted Estrada in the ring Saturday night after her win over Yudica.

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.