JOANNE Calderwood knows she may never earn the same eye-watering sums as UFC golden boy Conor McGregor but for her just having the opportunity to fight is priceless.

The Kilmarnock fighter is the only Scottish woman currently competing in the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotion.

It can be a brutal sport but for the likes of Irish superstar McGregor with his silver-tongued trash talk, the rewards are tallied in the tens of millions.

The softly-spoken Calderwood, however, has to get by on more modest sums.

But so long as she gets to occupy the octagon – the caged ring she describes as her “happy place” – then money will always be a secondary concern.

“It’s tough,” Calderwood, who will return from her Montreal base to fight in her homeland next month when the UFC stages just its second ever Scottish show, said.

“If you’re not a Conor McGregor type who puts yourself out there and gets the opportunity to earn a lot of money, it can be hard.

“But the route up is hard for everyone – it would have been just as tough for Conor coming up as it is for me now.

“I just try not to focus on the money side and just focus on where I am. I have enough money to survive and do what I love.

“You’ve got amateur fighters or guys just making their way who still have to work a job and struggle to pay for training, where I’m lucky than I can now do this as a job.

“It’s about being grateful and staying in the moment.

“You have to invest in yourself, which means spending money. I’ve just started doing that in the past year or so. I’ve got guys who come in to help me with my boxing, my grappling, my wrestling as well as conditioning and nutrition.That’s all expensive.

“People see what you get paid on the night but you might only fight a couple of times a year and that has to do you the whole time you’re not in action.

“I’m not like Conor. I’m pretty shy. Interviews are not what I love doing. I don’t like talking about myself. I’d rather doing anything but this.

“But when I’m training and fighting, that’s when I’m in my happy place and that’s what I’m best at.”

However, it would be wrong to believe that Calderwood – who will face undefeated Cynthia Calvillo at the July 16 event at Glasgow SSE Hydro – lacks ambition.

Currently ranked seventh in the UFC’s strawweight division with a record of 11 wins and two defeats, she has dreams of one day going to the top.

But she has also learned to take a patient approach. “A few years ago I was chasing that title shot but now I just want to get the best performance I can muster. If I can do that, the big opportunities will follow.”

Now aged 30, Calderwood knows the clock is ticking for her fight career but she is determined to make it last.

“This journey has been crazy but I’m in it till the end,” she said. “I’m in it until somebody tells me I should start looking for something else to do.

“This is all I know. It’s all I’ve done and it’s the only thing that I love and that I’m happy doing.

“It scares me to think it might come to an end one day because I think, ‘Oh God man, can you imagine not fighting any more?’ “But you can always train no matter what age you are and if I can’t fight, I’ll just put my focus on training other people.

“I love coaching but it can be hard to find the time to do it when you’re still competing so I haven’t been able to squeeze much of that in. But once I’m finished with UFC I will be able to give it more of a go.”

Tickets for the UFC Glasgow event are available now from Ticketmaster.