I’ll start with a little background on myself. I’m 31, a wife and a mother of two very hyper and rambunctious girls.
I wonder where they get that from?
I live in what must be the most boring place on the face of the earth Des Moines, Iowa. I’m very, very far away the limelight. Around here we train hard and play even harder. Plus , I stay out of the DRAMA!
I started my fighting endeavors at a Muay Thai gym where I quickly fell in love with the “Art of 8 limbs. Nothing says you’re a great friend/teammate like a “kick to the Head.” Within a few months I was taking weekly fights at the local bar. That’s right you heard me BAR. Every Wednesday they would set up a ring in the middle of the audience and any fighter could sign up and fight that night. Fights went by amateur MMA rules and were decided by audience approval. Occasionally I encountered some hair pulling and “bitch slapping”. There wasn’t an overabundance of talent but I quickly acquired nerves of steel. To this day I’ve been complimented on my composure in the cage. I contribute that to my time at DMX. From that point on I knew I’d always be involved in this sport
Enough about the past, the future is so much brighter.
On April 28th,2012 God made InvictaFC. Well it wasn’t god but we can refer to them as the angels of Wmma . Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp did what no one else would do. They put on an All Women, All pro MMA fight card. The heavens opened up and shined down upon 22 remarkable athletes as they faced battle in the cage. I was incredibly lucky to be a part of this historic night.
It’s a whirl wind story so I’ll start from the begining. I had just returned home from Las Vegas. I had flown out to help a good friend and former opponent Michele Gutierrez prepare for her fight again Sarah Maloy for Invicta FC 1. I spent the weekend training with Michele and teammate Colleen Schneider at Throw Down one of Vegas’s elite gyms.
Like it said earlier, nothing says I love you like a
kick to the head. As I started to settle back in to my mundane life it happens. I get the call from Janet Martin that a spot had opened up on the Invicta Card. I had the opportunity to be the first fight on the first all pro female card. I needed a second to pick up my jaw, gather my thoughts and say HELL YEAH!!
There were a few hurdles I had to overcome first. The fight was in 9 days at a lower weight class then I’ve fought before (105lbs) and my head coach and mentor would not be able to make the fights. Wow, even now that sounds like rather big hurdles. What is a challenge without obstacles? I trained my butt of f and ate nothing expect Kale and water for 8 days. I made weight like a champ.
The best part to this story is I found a Conner “Women” Jessica Philippus, who was scheduled to fight my opponent, graciously stepped up to help a fellow fighter. This might sound weird at first but that’s what makes our sport so great!
Before I knew it, fight night was here. My belly is full, hair is done and outfit is Fabulous. (These are the things we really care about) It was time to put all my hard work to use. Let go of all my defeats and prove to myself that I was a fighter. The bell rings and things go blurry. It was over as fast as it started. I had done it. I was victorious in the most important fight of my life. Hundreds of thousands of people were watching us make history. It was the craziest 9 days of my life and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Watch Megan vs Rodish InvictaFC 1
No comments:
Post a Comment