March 2016 was the last time I was in the cage and a lot of you have been wondering what has been happening ever since.
When I tried out for TUF 23 I was still very early in my MMA career having only 1 MMA fight under my belt. I made it onto the show, with vitcories over Ashley Cummins and Helen Harper then I lost to Amanda Cooper in the semi finals.
I knew I had holes in my game but I believed in my striking, in my heart and in my determination. Unfortunately though, those didnt see me through and losing that last fight was heartbreaking. I wasn't light years away from from the other girls' levels but I was definitely behind and I decided I needed to improve certain areas before getting back in there.
I didn't actually plan to have 18 months off from competition but my travels in order to help me progress and improve took me firstly to Brazil to train at Nova União for 1 month. Then back to the UK with my home team at The Lab in Darlington for a few months before I headed over to the states spending 3 months at Kings MMA in LA then 3 months at Jackson Wink Academy in Albuquerque. Time has absolutely flown by, I've already been back in England for 3 months and at the time of writing this I have 1 week before flyng back to Perth, Australia for 1 month. According to one of my friends I'm a 'flight risk'!
It's been a strange few months adjusting to life back in Darlington. My routine has been a bit out of whack but all is good and I have a busy few months coming up which I will fill you in with now.
So my travels continue, here's some dates for your diary as I may be near you at some point!
July 30th - August 23rd: I will be in Perth, Australia training and teaching at Ste Walton's Mach One gym.
August 26-27th: I will be back in the UK at Fighting Fit gym Manchester teaching at the 2017 UK Female FIghter Camp.
September 2nd: My return to the cage. I will be fighting Bryony Tyrell on Made4TheCage in Houghton le Spring.
In between those dates you'll find me at The Lab Martial Arts gym in Darlington.
I am so excited to fight again. Although I train out of my home gym with my fellow Lab Rats under Martin Wilby, many other people have helped and continue to help me progress including Pete Irving, my main sparring midgets Sam Robinson and Wil Harrison, Ellis Younger and his guys and the coaches and training partners I've met on my travels all over the world.
Martin Wilby is my head coach, Barry Gibson is my S&C coach, Rob Dawson is my Mindsport Coach, Samantha Leighton is my sports masseuse and Steffan Abel is my chiropractor.
My sponsors:
LED Supply & Fit - www.ledsupplyandfit.co.uk
Functional Self - www.functionalself.co.uk
Cutting Up Gym Apparel - www.cuttingupgymapparel.com
Thank you all involved, hope you are looking forward to my return as much as I am. Bryony is a very respectable opponent and I suspect we will put on an amazing fight for the fans!