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8 Stunning Ring Girls Who Became MMA Fighters

MMA is not a sport for the feint-hearted and few people are in a better position to witness that first-hand than the ring girls who sit front row at mixed martial arts events around the globe each and every week. Not all are put off by what by they see though, and in fact in

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Not all are put off by what by they see though, and in fact in some instances the chance to view the sport at such close quarters only serves to fuel their own competitive instincts and desire to train and compete.

Such is the case with the eight ring girls featured in this article, who have all proven the old age that ‘you should never judge a book by it’s cover’ to be true by being courageous enough to put it all on the line in an MMA fight, and for some that’s led to more success and a greater sense of accomplishment in the cage than on the catwalk.

Paige VanZant

These days Paige VanZant may be one of the most high-profile young stars in the UFC, but only a few short years ago she was just a humble ring girl working on the regional circuit.

PVZ briefly held the board for a number of promotions, including Shark Fights, but the former cheerleader never had any intention of seriously pursuing athat line of work further as her heart was already set on becoming a fighter.

”The only reason I did it was to get as close to the action as I could, and there were free tickets to the fights,” PVZ told Newsday in 2015.

’12 Gauge’ made her amateur MMA debut at 18 and just four fights into her professional career she had already signed for the UFC where she’s so far compiled a 4-2 run, taking her her overall record to 7-3.

VanZant’s swift to rise to stardom led to her securing a Reebok sponsorship deal, being offered a place on ABC’s ‘Dancing With The Stars’ in 2016 (finishing in second place) and also signing a book deal.

However, despite appearing to have the world at her feet the 22-year-old has turned down other opportunities, including an acting role in an upcoming ‘Kickboxer’ movie, to continue focusing on her MMA career, and with youth still very much on her side her best years in the Octagon are still to come.

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Joanna Jedrzejczyk To Rose Namajunas: Shut Up, You Had Your Chance

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk doesn’t want to hear about a title defense against Rose Namajunas right now. Jedrzejczyk is currently slated to make her fifth title defense against No. 3-ranked Jessica Andrade at UFC 211 live on pay-per-view (PPV) on May 13th from Dallas, Texas. A title eliminator has already been set up to challenge

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UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk doesn’t want to hear about a title defense against Rose Namajunas right now.

Jedrzejczyk is currently slated to make her fifth title defense against No. 3-ranked Jessica Andrade at UFC 211 live on pay-per-view (PPV) on May 13th from Dallas, Texas. A title eliminator has already been set up to challenge the winner of that title bout in Dallas, as No. 4-ranked Rose Namajunas takes on No. 6-ranked Michelle Waterson on April 15th at UFC on FOX 24.

Last week Jedrzejczyk joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to discuss her upcoming title defense against Andrade, and the eliminator bout between Namajunas and Waterson. When asked about ‘Thug’ in particular, Jedrzejczyk said she is impressed with her Octagon work and is interested to see her matched up against ‘The Karate Hottie’ (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I’m impressed with her,” Jedrzejczyk said. “Let’s see. She has a good fight coming up with Rose, so we will see. We will see. I think that she might be my next challenger after I beat Jessica.”

Namajunas is 5-3 in her mixed martial arts (MMA) career which includes big-name wins over Paige VanZant and Tecia Torres. However, ‘Thug’ has been on the losing end of bouts against 115-pound title-contenders such as Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Carla Esparza.

While Jedrzejczyk holds a great deal of respect for Namajunas the Polish champ believes there is something wrong with ‘Thug’s’ head after calling for a title shot after a loss:

“You know what’s weird? Like, I met Rose. I have so much respect for this girl,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I think she’s one of the most talented strawweights in the UFC, but she needs more experience. But, I think there is something wrong with her head.

“She got her chance to fight the Polish chick. But she lost to her and now she says ‘oh, I want to fight Joanna, I want to beat her, I know how to beat her.’ Come on. Get your chance, beat the best, and become a challenger. It’s so crazy.”

Jedrzejczyk noted that she and Namajunas met once before in Denver and they had a good encounter after shaking hands and conversing. Soon after that meeing, however, Namajunas went out and stated that she wanted the opportunity to beat the strawweight queen.

‘JJ’ doesn’t appreciate the quick change in personality just days after their cordial meeting in ‘The Mile High City’:

“The thing is, like, I met her in Denver,” Jedrzejczyk said. “We shake hands, we spoke to each other. And two days after, I heard that she was like, ‘oh, I want to beat Joanna.’ Shut up. You had your chance to beat Karolina and Carla Esparza before, and some others, but you just lost. Come on. Work hard, get your ass to the gym, put on better fights, and you’re going to get this title shot.

“But be honest. If you don’t like me, don’t shake my hand and don’t talk to me. Don’t talk behind my back. I’m kind of a straight person and this is what makes me mad. I’m good with that, but I think Michelle Waterson will [beat] Rose.”

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Michelle Waterson Signs Huge Fight For UFC On FOX 24

“The Karate Hottie” has her next UFC fight set. After finishing popular fan favorite Paige VanZant in shockingly easy fashion at December’s UFC on FOX 22, word arrived on tonight’s (Sat., February 11, 2017) UFC 208 broadcast that Michelle Waterson will continue her quest towards a UFC women’s strawweight title shot by facing former title

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“The Karate Hottie” has her next UFC fight set.

After finishing popular fan favorite Paige VanZant in shockingly easy fashion at December’s UFC on FOX 22, word arrived on tonight’s (Sat., February 11, 2017) UFC 208 broadcast that Michelle Waterson will continue her quest towards a UFC women’s strawweight title shot by facing former title challenger Rose Namajunas at April 15’s UFC on FOX 24 from Kansas City, Missouri.

The former Invicta FC atomweight champion has won her only two UFC bouts, submitting Angela Magana in her UFC debut in July 2015 before a series of injuries delayed her next fight until the end of 2016.

The fight pits the rare match-up of a winning fighter facing an opponent coming off of a loss, as Namajunas lost a pivotal title eliminator against Karolina Kowalkiewicz in her last bout at July 2016’s UFC 201. Long billed as the future of the UFC strawweight division, “Thug” has displayed stints of brilliance and inconsistency in the octagon.

Namajunas boasts wins over VanZant, Tecia Torres, and Angela Hill, but has also lost to Carla Esparza, Torres, and Kowalkiewicz. She’s still ranked at No. 5 to Waterson’s No. 7. The promotion also announced a flyweight bout between Tim Elliot and Louis Smolka, a a middleweight bout between Andrew Sanchez and Anthony Smith, and a light heavyweight bout between Devin Collier and Jake Collier.

The first-ever UFC card from Kansas City will take place from the Sprint Center, with more bouts to be revealed in the coming weeks.

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UFC Confirms Waterson vs. Namajunas for Kansas City in April

The UFC’s debut in Kansas City, MO has been confirmed, with a key strawweight fight in tow. During tonight’s UFC 208 broadcast, the promotion officially announced that UFC on Fox 24 will take place, as was previously reported, in KC — with an exciting fight between Michelle Waterson vs. Rose Namajunas. Waterson (14-4), the former […]

Michelle Waterson: ‘I Look up to Holly Holm Because She’s Not a Talker’

You can count Michelle Waterson as a fan of Holly Holm. Waterson trains at Jackson-Wink MMA along with Holm. “The Karate Hottie” has never been closer to an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title opportunity. She could very well be one fight away from competing for the gold. It helps that she has a teammate who […]

Felice Herrig: UFC Owes Me Waterson Or VanZant

Veteran women’s strawweight contender Felice Herrig returned to action at last night’s (Feb. 4, 2017) UFC Fight Night 104 from Houston, Texas, scoring a victory over rising prospect Alexa Grasso. Herrig is now riding a two fight win streak, and she believes that the UFC owes her a bout with No. 7-ranked Michelle Waterson, or

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Veteran women’s strawweight contender Felice Herrig returned to action at last night’s (Feb. 4, 2017) UFC Fight Night 104 from Houston, Texas, scoring a victory over rising prospect Alexa Grasso.

Herrig is now riding a two fight win streak, and she believes that the UFC owes her a bout with No. 7-ranked Michelle Waterson, or a rematch with No. 10-ranked Paige VanZant:

“I would hope the UFC would do the right thing and give me either Paige or Michelle Waterson,” Herrig told MMAjunkie. “I wasn’t vocal about it, but I was offered the Waterson fight (at UFC on FOX 23), and I accepted it, and then two weeks later, I had it taken away from me and given to Paige.”

Waterson and VanZant ended up doing battle in the main event of UFC on FOX 23 where “The Karate Hottie” submitted “12 Guage” in the very first round.

As far her fight with Grasso goes, Herrig was considered by most to be the underdog, although she never felt that way:

“In my mind, I knew I wasn’t the underdog, and anyone who was around me knew that I wasn’t the underdog,” Herrig said of her win. “I think I had one bad performance, which clearly I’ve come back from.”

“I think sometimes the veterans get overlooked because we’re not these young, up-and-coming fighters that you can market,” Herrig said. “So we get left behind and forgotten about, and I wanted to prove, hey, I’m here. I never went anywhere.”

That ‘one bad performance’ Herrig is referring to was a 2015 decision loss to VanZant.

Should “Lil’ Bulldog” be granted her wish and booked against Waterson or VanZant next?

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