No. 8 women’s strawweight contender Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig talks about life after The Ultimate Fighter, her journey through MMA, staying grounded, and facing Paige VanZant. Felice Herrig takes on Paige VanZant during the main card at Fight Night New Jersey.
UFC Fight Night Jersey takes place Saturday April 18th coming live from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
UFC women’s strawweight fighter Joanne Calderwood talks about her experience during The Ultimate Fighter show, how she found MMA, her family ties and her upcoming opponent. Calderwood takes on Maryna Moroz at UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2.
UFC Fight Night Krakow takes place this Saturday, April 11th live on UFC Fight Pass or SKY Channel 152 PICK TV which is a FREE to AIR, FREEVIEW channel in the UK.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WkYRDLs0QA
Re acquaint yourself with the former Invicta FC strawweight champion, Carla Esparza who has widely been considered to be the top 115-pound fighter in the world, and she didn’t disappoint on The Ultimate Fighter 20, defeating Angela Hill, Tecia Torres, and Jessica Penne to earn a spot in the finals tonight against Rose Namajunas.
Carla Esparza defends her belt for the first time, this Saturday, March 14th at UFC 185 against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Bryony Tyrell will be making her fifth amateur MMA appearance tomorrow night, Saturday, February 21st on UIC 14 at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester.
Bryony trains out of Exile Gym in Southampton; is a working mum with two children and competes up and down the country. Here I get to find out what Bryony has been achieving since I last spoke with her 18 months ago and I for one can say WOW!
It has been awhile since I have last caught up with you [July 2013] and since then you have been one busy lady. Can you talk me through the last year of your achievements for which I know you have achieved a lot.
It’s lovely to catch up with you again, I can’t believe it’s been that long! Yes it has been a very busy couple of years.
In October 2013 I fought on Extreme Cage Championships – Banned 1 in Blackpool and won by split decision. A few weeks later I was asked to do a white-collar boxing match at short notice in Andover which I won by decision.
In November I fought on the Muay Thai World Series in Bournemouth and lost by decision.
In December I fought Main Event (MMA) on a small local show in Andover and won by first round rear naked choke.
The day after that I competed in the Grapplers Showdown Strike and Grapple UK Championships in Watford winning Gold in my weight division (-60kgs) and Silver in the absolute (NoGi).
In February 2014 I competed in the Hampshire Open Grapplers Showdown and won Silver in both my weight division (-60kgs) and the absolute (NoGi).
In April, at the Grapplers Showdown London Open in Watford I won Gold in my weight division (-55kgs) and bronze in the absolute.
In May I was lucky enough to fight on Cage Warriors 68 in Liverpool and lost by decision.
In September I competed in the Grapplers Showdown London International NoGi Open and won silver in my weight division (-55kgs) and amazingly won the absolute!
The week after I competed in the British NoGi Open in Birmingham and won Gold in my division (-56kgs) and Bronze in the absolute.
The week after that I fought on Warrior Fight Night in Bournemouth (Muay Thai) and won by decision.
Last but not least (lol) in November I fought on Shock ‘n’ Awe in Portsmouth (MMA) and won by TKO second round.
That’s a lot of achievements for a working mum of two, to fit all of those achievements into your ‘spare’ time. How do you do it?
I’m not really sure how I managed to do all that. My life is absolute chaos for the most part to be honest, but I love it! I couldn’t do it without the amazing support of my husband, coaches and teammates.
You train out of Exile Gym in Southampton, alongside Arthur Frost who is another top amateur MMA fighter and also Pro fighter Benny Carr. How does it feel to train alongside Arthur and Benny when it comes to a fight camp?
Benny and Arthur are a massive inspiration to me. Arthur in particular has helped me out immensely; I’m very lucky to train side by side with someone of his calibre.
Your’re now 2-2 in your amateur MMA career; have been on one of the biggest shows as in Cage Warriors, when can we see you make the move to the Pro ranks?
My aim was to turn pro at the end of this year if I do well in my next two amateur fights. My concern with turning pro though is the lack of opponents at my weight. The amateur scene for women is definitely expanding but the pro level still seems to be very scarce in the UK.
You’re facing Jemma Jacques at UIC 14 at GL1 in Gloucester this Saturday February 21st in an Amateur MMA bout; do you know much about your opponent or the challenges she may pose on the night?
I know quite a lot about Jemma because I’ve been matched against her before. I’ve never met her but I like her. She seems savvy and a bit fiery, good characteristics for a fighter . We’re both from a kickboxing background so I’m quite familiar with her fighting style. She has powerful striking which I’ve got no doubt could cause me serious problems if I don’t keep moving (lol).
Where do you feel that you will be stronger in this fight and where do you feel it may end up?
To be honest I’m not sure what will happen on Saturday, I’m quite comfortable standing and on the ground, although I think my grappling is stronger. I expect this fight to go to the ground at some point where I think I’ll dominate.
Are you still part of ‘Rosi Sexton‘s’ mentoring scheme? If so, how is that going?
I’m not part of Rosi’s mentoring scheme anymore. She was understandably very busy when she got signed to the UFC so I think that went on the back burner. I will always be very grateful for the help and advice she’s given me. She’s a true icon for WMMA.
What did you think of TUF 20: A Champion will be crowned?
I really enjoyed TUF 20. It was quite interesting to have an insight into some of my favourite fighters. It’s a shame they gave so much airtime to the more unpleasant characters in the house. Angela Magana was particularly vile. It was nice to see Jo Jo and Aisling coming across so well, both a true credit to WMMA.
After your fight will the ‘Gazelle’ be eating lots of cake?
Haha…yes I’ll definitely be eating lots of cake after the fight, I might even indulge in a cheeky cider too! I can’t relax too much though because I’m fighting again in March.
Lastly, is there any sponsors or anyone you would like to thank?
I don’t have any sponsors, only my brother who spoils me with random MMA related pressies..lol. So obviously I would like to thank him and my beautiful sister-in-law Lisa who are always there for me. I’d also like to thank all my fantastic coaches and training partners at Exile and Look Borai, in particular Daniel Bourne, Gareth Blair, Dean Kendall, Janis Meiksans, Trevor Birmingham, Jarrod Speed, Rich Harding and Arthur Frost. I’d also like to thank my Mum for being brave enough to come and watch me and last but not least my husband for enabling me to chase my dreams and only complaining a little bit..lol.
Thank you for your time Bryony it is very much appreciated.
Bryony is next fighting on March 28th on Phoenix Fight Night XXV at the 02 Academy in Bournemouth.
You can follow Bryony on her Twitter here.
Bryony’s Facebook page here.
If there are any sponsors out there that would like to sponsor Bryony (every little helps) you can contact her via her Facebook. I for one know she would be very grateful.
Photo Credit 1: Vandal Panda Photography
Photo Credit 2: http://www.grahamfinneyphotography.co.uk
Photo Credit 3: Grapplers Showdown
Fightcard:
Invicta FC the all female WMMA promotion has signed a deal with UFC Fight Pass to stream all of their content on the UFC Fight Pass digital streaming service.
The official press release from The UFC was released last night and as follows:
The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Invicta Fighting Championships are excited to announce that UFCFIGHTPASS.com, the UFC’s digital streaming service, is now the exclusive digital broadcaster of the world’s leading all-female MMA organization.
UFC FIGHT PASS chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik said: “This is a historic multi-year, multi-event deal. When we launched UFC FIGHT PASS last Christmas, we said that we would never rest in bringing the best value to our subscribers. The addition of live and archived Invicta programming is going to be of enormous interest to our existing subscribers and bring in new subscribers, too.”
He added: “UFC FIGHT PASS already has subscribers in over 155 countries, which is a huge platform the Invicta athletes. Invicta fighters are now sharing the same stage as elite UFC fighters like Alexander Gustafson, Conor McGregor, Cung Le and Michael Bisping. For any UFC fans that haven’t seen these women compete before – I guarantee they will be blown away when they see what Invicta is all about.”
Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp said: “This is a great day for my company. Since the start of Invicta, I’ve been committed to providing the biggest and best possible platform for women athletes and, with this distribution deal with UFC FIGHT PASS, Invicta will reach the most passionate MMA fans, wherever they are in the world.”
In addition to every upcoming Invicta event screening live, the entire Invicta archive will be made available anytime, anywhere, on UFC FIGHT PASS.
That means subscribers will be able to check out fights featuring talents like atomweight world champion Michelle Waterson and flyweight title-holder Barb Honchak, as well as Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen and early-career fights of UFC stars like Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Liz Carmouche.
The Invicta FC library joins the libraries of PRIDE FC, Strikeforce, WEC, WFA, EliteXC, Affliction Entertainment and the UFC on UFCFIGHTPASS.com.
Invicta will be announcing the first event to be screened on UFCFIGHTPASS.com shortly.
Knapp said: “We are targeting a late-summer event, headlined by a world title fight. This is an historic event for myself, the company and my athletes, and every one of them is going to want to be on this first card.”
Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis have both been named to coach the female Strawweights on this season’s TUF 20, yes you heard right.
Gilbert Melendez has now accepted a new offer from The UFC and one it appears he just could not refuse (again), exact contract details were not revealed but here is the Press Release from The UFC.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced tonight that No.2 ranked lightweight contender Gilbert Melendez has agreed to a new contract with organization. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Melendez will now coach against UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter. The two will then meet for the UFC lightweight title later this year. The show, which will begin filming in May and premiere on FOX Sports 1 on Sept. 10th features the launch of the UFC women’s 115-pound weight class. The winner of this season of The Ultimate Fighter will be crowned the UFC strawweight division’s inaugural champion.
We last saw Melendez in a toe-to-toe all out war with Diego Sanchez at UFC 166 last October in arguably one of the best fights of 2013, with Melendez coming away with the unanimous decision and ‘Fight of the Night’.
The coaching stint on TUF 20 will more than likely give Pettis the extra time for his injured knee which forced him out of his title defense against Josh Thomson back at UFC on Fox 9.
I’m going to have a guess that Melendez will bring in Nate Diaz somewhere along the line, which will make interesting viewing if you know the history of the two training camps involved!
It’s all about the women come September 10th when we can watch TUF 20 and I for one cannot wait.
Five Rounds with Emma 
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