Women's MMA

MMA Prospects UK wanted to have a closer look at Women’s MMA and how it has evolved and grown over the years as well as looking at what it is like to start out on the journey now, as a newcomer to the sport. We spoke with a number of fighters to find out how easy it is for women to get started in this fast growing sport. 

We firstly spoke with accomplished, veteran fighter, Danielle West to get some background on WMMA and what it was like when she started out.

Danielle West

MMA was an entirely different kettle of fish when I got involved 9 years back for both men and women. It was not uncommon for fighters to come in to a match training striking or BJJ in isolation. There wasn't as much knowledge about the fitness and nutritional aspects or even optimal methods for training. Gyms were just doing the best they could to prepare a fighter. Over the years the sport evolved and with it many gyms would draw best practice from watching or engaging with top athletes.

In terms of the women’s division they were very thin on the ground in terms of actual women training and it was tricky getting a space on a fight card to compete on (with the exception of Cage Warriors who have always seemed very supportive of Rosi Sexton) up until Bodog when women’s matches were really given a global spotlight. The UK had Rosi Sexton and Lisa Higo as two of the first really high profile fighters competing on major promotions in the US, which I think lent a lot in terms of awareness and Rosi has been instrumental in fostering the women’s division for as long as I can recall; holding seminars and opening the women’s area of the CW forum. Ais Daly made a grand entrance about 5 or 6 years back with an aggressive and well-rounded style, memorable pink hair and a fascinating off stage persona, (a self-confessed shoe fanatic who works at a shoe shop in Ireland, one of my favourite post match victory dances was this girly jumping in the air expressing unadulterated delight at having submitted her opponent in under a minute at Cage Rage with a choke). There are quite a few UK pioneers for the sport like Cherie Buck, Lisa Newton, Diane Berry  and Carla O'Sullivan to name a few though Daly and Sexton are the most prominent, ranked and active from that generation.

For a while there were almost no events that featured women’s matches. Over the past few years probably around the time Gina Carano became well known, shows in the UK started to have women’s matches on the cards again. I now tend to see at least one or two (sometimes more) women at an MMA class at various gyms which is encouraging. The skill level is definitely higher now than 9 or even 5 years ago. With more high profile women emerging on the global stage in the sport it should only stand to reason that there is definitely a future for women in the sport. I think media support is critical for facilitating this growth as it will have such a big influence on fans and fighters alike. 

We then spoke with four up and coming female fighters who are at the beginning of their careers and are top prospects for the future of UK WMMA.

Joanne Calderwood trains and fights out of Griphouse Gym in Glasgow with the Dinky Ninja fight team. She has been training in MMA for about two years.

Helena Donkin trains with Jack Sexton in MMHA and Alex Enlund at Sixth Sense MMA, both in South Shields. She has been training in MMA for about 18 months and has her debut on 25 Feb 12.

Lisa ‘Lights Out’ McCallum trains and fights out of EKBJJ at London Muay Thai Academy with the Bloodline fight team. She has been training in MMA for about three years.

Rachael McMillan trains and fights out of First Generation Combat in Eastbourne. She has been training in MMA for a year now.

Why did you want to train in MMA?

Jo: I have already fought in Muay Thai and have competed in BJJ competitions, I’m always looking for new challenges and like to stay active so MMA is another way I can get a fight, test myself and learn new skills.

Helena: I have always trained Taekwondo from being about 8 years old. Whether in ITF or WTF I always found I like to compete, to push myself. I have always had a passion for my training and even managed to become ITF British champion 2 years in a row. A friend convinced me to go watch a local MMA show in June 2010 and as soon as I saw the abilities of the competitors and felt the atmosphere I was hooked and knew I wanted to be part of it. I attended my first private tuition within a week.

Lisa: I am a very competitive person, I love pushing myself and testing my skills: I started off doing Muay Thai and BJJ aged 14. The best way to test your skills and all your training is MMA, I love what I do, I had my first MMA fight at age 16, won that and from then I never looked back. I’m 17 now and a Pro MMA fighter, this is what I love and this is what I’m best at!! I believe and that’s what makes a difference.

Rach: I was inspired by how well my coach had made the transition from BJJ to MMA and I decided it was time for a new challenge. At the time I didn't know too much about the sport, it was probably a bit of a crazy decision looking back.

 

How easy was it for you to start and find somewhere to train?

Jo: I was already training Muay Thai at the best gym in Scotland and with it also being home to the DINKY NINJAS one of the best MMA teams in UK and Europe, it was pretty easy, just a case of going into the next room.

Helena: Luckily when I started I was within a few miles of some very good coaches, people such as Eddie Ng, Alex Enlund, Warren Oliver. I started at Fight Factory and have to admit it was more than a little daunting walking into my first session especially with there being no other girls there. It took a few weeks to fit in and once the guys saw I was serious about it all, they were very supportive and I was treated no differently to anyone else.

Lisa: Ermm..... it was hard for me as I was in school. I loved MMA but never knew where to go for training or how I could get into it. I lived in north London and I was pretty clueless where to train, then an MMA gym opened up, "Bloodline Fight Team" which was 5 mins walk from my house. I was only 14 when I stepped in to meet Eddie Kone, the head coach and owner of the gym. I saw the cage and I knew this is what I wanted to do in life: I wanted to be an MMA fighter!! I gave up everything and put it all on the line to become a Pro fighter, look at me now…. unbeaten 2.0.0!

Rach: As I mentioned my coach had been doing well in MMA and had opened up a new gym, it inspired a lot of the people who had originally just been doing jiujitsu to start doing some wrestling and boxing and so I didn’t feel like I was making the transition alone.

 

What difficulties have you faced as a female in wanting to train and compete in MMA?

Jo: For training its mostly men, but I don’t see that being a difficulty as I’m treated the same in my gym, the only difficulties would come down to weight differences, but luckily we have flyweights and bantamweights (three being in the top 3 rankings in Europe). For competing it’s still pretty early stages for female MMA, I’ve had a lot more difficulty finding a fight with already having Muay Thai fights.

Helena: Truthfully there haven't been any difficulties training, no-one has ever treated me any differently to any of the lads. Although, there are the occasional lessons where you hear the words "partner up!" and the newbies part like the red sea rather than wrestle a girl.
There are big problems competing just due to the fact there aren't enough other girls. At grappling comps I end up in with the male categories, this isn't a massive problem but I'd like a fairer match when I compete. I've also waited a year to be matched, shows have struggled for 12 months to find a girl above 65kg for me, there seems to be a shortage of heavier girls.

Lisa: Sometimes it’s hard to find fights being a female fighter and being so young (aged 17) most shows you’ve got to be 18 to compete in. I don’t look it as difficulties, I know I’m a baby in the sport but I’m growing and I train with the best team, EKBJJ London Muay Thai Academy, home of Bloodline fight team. I have no difficulties training as I found the right team and a family, and I love them all. But at training time it’s all business, they don’t see me as a female when I’m training and fighting, they won’t go easy, they will hit me just as hard as the next guy.. haha!!

Rach: I have been really lucky as my coaches, friends and family have all been really supportive. I would say it’s more just the challenge of finding good sparring partners, but even then I have a group of women that now regularly meet up to do some training so I really can't complain.

 

What do you think of the current growth of UK WMMA and what else can be done to improve this?

Jo: We already have a role model to look up to in Rosi Sexton, she has achieved a hell of a lot and that was even before there were any girls training MMA. Everyone in the MMA community can help: the coaches out there making sure the females are ready to fight and that they are well rounded, not sending them out with inadequate skill sets, the promoters willing to put female fights on and making sure they are matched fairly, and fight fans supporting WMMA.

Helena: Its definitely growing but not enough, there is no encouragement for women in this sport. If I say I train MMA its frowned upon a lot, if I didn't have such a strong inner drive to succeed in the sport I would've been talked out of it a long time ago. As much as I disagree with it becoming popular because of the 'sexy' aspect, I think things like Gina Carano's appearance in Haywire will show women that you can be feminine, beautiful and still be a strong competitor in WMMA. The biggest battle to overcome is the stigma attached. Even for the guys who train, they'll be associated with steroids, mindless violence etc, when in fact it’s a technical martial art and you always have a lot of respect for your opponent and team mates.

Lisa: MMA is still up and coming, and fast growing... and it’s the same for WMMA. You’ve got up and coming semi-pro fighters, with awesome skills. I think the growth of WMMA is good, more English fighters making a name for themselves and also for the UK. We’ve all got to work hard and keep putting the time in and then UK fighters will be up there. It WON’T happen without hard work... I’m not stopping ‘till I’m number 1!

Rach: I think the sport will continue to grow and become even more popular as all the women I know train hard and want to showcase themselves as exciting and talented fighters. Most shows in the UK now have at least one bout of WMMA and organisations like Cage Warriors have even arranged a 4 women tournament for a belt at 125lbs, which will be a good way for people to see WMMA at a high level. I have been organising female only sparring sessions and seminars as it helps to get as much specific training in as possible. It’s also nice that there is a strong community of supporters of WMMA, it's good to know people are backing you and want you to succeed, especially when you are just starting out.

 

What makes WMMA just as good as men’s MMA?

Jo: I’ve never looked at it as WMMA and men’s MMA, I see it as MMA. The women can fight just as good and just as bad as the men, it’s down to the individual fighters.

Helena: A lot of guys always say to me that a fight between two women will be lacking in areas such as strength and aggression. My response to those people is to tell them to youtube fights with women such as Cris Cyborg, Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey etc; these ladies are serious about their sport and in no way have I seen them act anything but strong and aggressive when they compete. If anything I think women have a bigger point to prove, not just to their opponent but to the crowd around them too. They must show that they deserve the right to be in that cage.

Lisa: Haha great question... you see most female fighters get the fight of the night on MMA shows; we females have got more to prove! It’s a man’s sport at the end of the day. You see more men fights than females but us ladies train just as hard, or saying that harder because of the point that we have to prove to be in this sport. We just keep working and more females are coming up from semi-pro with good skills: you will see WMMA on the big shows, we’re up and coming. You can say to me, "she hits like a girl", but I’m telling you now this girl will knock your LIGHTS OUT!!

Rach: I think that in women’s MMA you don't get anyone doing it half assed, some of the men just want to do it for the bragging rights of being a "cage fighter" and so you get a lot of wannabe's that have no real talent or background in martial arts. All the women I know have worked hard for years in their respective sports and are always cross training and pushing themselves to improve.

Do you have any helpful advice or pearls of wisdom for women out there interested in starting MMA?

Jo: Shop about, don’t shop like me though by just settling for the first dress I see, find a gym that you are comfortable in. If you’re serious or even just thinking about it, definitely see through the smelly sweaty men you need to train with, it’s definitely worth it and there’s a lot of fun and skill involved. Before competing make sure you have trained all areas and are well rounded to avoid having any bad experiences.

Helena: I would tell them that the hardest part is walking into that gym. As soon as you've done that, all worries and stereotypical views will go out the window. You'll see it’s not full of huge muscly men rolling on blood stained mats. You'll make friends with so many interesting and completely different characters. You'll learn and improve in a sport which is more fulfilling than I could ever put into words. I now have a new family and a real passion for what I do in life. All you've got to do is make that first move.

Lisa: It’s a sport and if you want to test yourself, MMA is the one. If you have a goal and a dream, don’t let it go, just keep working hard because step by step you will make it!

Rach: The most important thing is finding a good coach and team who will help and support you. MMA is still a relatively new sport and there are a lot of people just jumping on the bandwagon claiming to teach MMA with no real experience in the sport itself. You might have to go to a few different gyms before you find somewhere that suits you. It will be tough, so if you decide that you want to fight, even at amateur and semi-pro level, make sure you put in the hours training and take it seriously.

MMA Prospects UK would like to thank Danielle for her insight into how WMMA has grown over the years, especially in the UK. As she comes to the end of her fighting career we wish her all the best for whatever she decides to do next. We would also like to thank Jo, Helena, Lisa and Rach as they begin their MMA journey and we look forward to seeing them feature a lot more in the UK MMA lime-light in years to come and hopefully one day, on a World stage!