May 2011 Aspiring MMA Babe of the Month - Kim Willis

Our May 2011 aspiring MMA babe of the month is Kim Willis, a 25 year old full time model originally from Nashville, TN but now residing in Miami, FL.  This stunner is 5'3", 98 lbs. and measures 32C-25-35.  She states that her eyes are her best feature.  Her future plans include her own business or to become a professional poker player.  In Kim's spare time she enjoys playing Texas hold 'em poker, exercising, shopping and traveling.  Her turn-on's are southern charm and a great smile but is turned off by arrogance.  Her favorite fighter is Georges "Rush" St. Pierre.  Check out Kim's latest published feature in Shogun Energy Calendar 2011 as Miss February.  Kim is always on the move so MMA organizations better catch her while they can.

We Salute You

For those in the armed services we salute you on Memorial Day.  Think MMA babe Stephanie Ann Cook shows it best in this picture.  Check her out on Twitter @StephannC.

Which Hooter's Girl will be a Guest UFC Octagon Girl for UFC 132?

UFC has teamed up with Hooter's once again to help pick out a guest octagon girl for UFC 132 on July 2nd.  Vote now on www.facebook.com/Hooters but you have to like the page and grant access first.  Help a girl's dream come true and vote for your favorite.

More Babes of MMA Sexiness from Stephanie Lee and Tana Ashlee

We just got in more pictures from our hot photo shoot with MMA babes Stephanie Lee and Tana Ashlee!  For more pictures from this shoot by Michael Maze check out our Facebook photo album.  Check out the beautiful ladies on Twitter @StephLeeLee and @tanaashlee.

Fighter Babe Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm in Action Tonight

Fighter babe Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm is back in the cage tonight to take on  Deize "Gorilla" in her native Brazil at Amazon Fight 8.  Damm looks to get back on track after three straight tough losses to top competition.

Rachelle Leah Disrupts Air Traffic Controllers

On Tuesday air traffic controllers in California were scrambling when a police helicopter suddenly went off course.  The reason, Rachelle Leah and friend topless sunbathing.  On another note be sure to catch all new episodes of MMAthletics on Monday's at noon central hosted by Rachelle and Jay Glazer.  Say hello to the beautiful Rachelle Leah on Twitter @Rachelle_Leah.

Fighter Babe Sarah Goodlaxson Back in the Cage Saturday

We recently connected with fighter babe Sarah Goodlaxson who will return to the cage this Saturday in Galesburg, IL vs. Sam Winkler for East Peoria Throwdown Round 8.  In her own words Sarah's roots came from Galesburg, a small town surrounded by cornfields, tractors and churches.  One can only imagine that MMA was never something people expected her to do so it still takes some people by surprise when they find out.  She often hears, "You fight?  But you're so tiny!" from everyone new that she meets.  MMA was the beginning of Sarah coming out of her shell, finding out who she really was and accepting that.  It has helped her in many different ways and opened her eyes to all different kinds of people.

After her fight this Saturday Sarah will already be back fighting on June 11th vs. Courtney Lemons for April Penrod's promotion in Mt. Vernon, IL and then on June 25th vs. Danielle Howe in Royal Oak, MI for King of the Cage!  After a busy month like that she will ease up for awhile as school will be starting and from there Sarah can assess her time to see how everything will work out.  To sum up Sarah said, "Until then, I'm hitting it hard, no pun intended."  Continue reading below to find out more about Sarah and her insightful replies to our questions.

How did you get involved in MMA and how long have you been training?

-I first got introduced to MMA in November of 2008 but didn’t start actually training for quite a while.  In the beginning I really just enjoyed working out and as anyone who trains MMA knows, it’s challenging!  I had my first fight in September 2009 and to this day still wish I would have trained longer before it because I really didn’t know what I was doing.  The fight went all three rounds and I won via split decision.  Everyone has to start somewhere and that was my beginning!  Since then I’ve had my ups and downs, wins and losses, gym changes and life changes to top it off.

Where are you currently training and what's a typical training week like for you?

-I’m currently training with the H8 Squad and living in Warren, Michigan.  I moved to Michigan in September 2010 and the team has been very welcoming.  My schedule looks a little something like this - Monday: Kickboxing, Tuesday: Judo/GI-BJJ, Wednesday: MMA sparring, Thursday: No-Gi, Friday is normally a rest day, Saturday: rolling/sparring.  Occasionally Sundays become a “roaming” day and we team up with other MMA teams in the area to get new sparring and rolling partners.

-I only work Monday through Wednesday so Thursday and Friday I meet my teammate Kelly Warren at the gym for muscular endurance circuits which are absolutely killer!  After training Monday and Wednesday we do our sandbag workouts which are one of Kelly and my sponsors from Brute Force Sandbags.  It’s NOT easy and extremely exhausting when you do rounds and rounds with it!

What is your best experience as a fighter? What is your worst?

-My best experiences as a fighter have been meeting so many amazing people!  Most are so kind and I’ve made so many friends.  My last opponent, Jessica Philippus, is actually driving 5 hours to come to my fight on May 28th!

-My worst experience has been trusting people that don’t have my best interests in mind.  My second amateur fight was against a girl that went pro right after our fight and I’d only been training for 6 months at the time.  She's amazing and we're friends now but fight-wise, it was a terrible fight to put me in at that time.  In the beginning, I was just too trusting of everyone.  I’ve learned you have to always watch out for yourself and do what you know is right!

What advice would you give to other women who are reading this interview and want to get started in MMA?

-Train for at least a year before your first fight!  It will take years to learn this sport and even the best are still learning because MMA is always evolving.  Take your time, it’s better to be overly-ready than not ready at all.

What are some of the hurdles that you think Women in MMA need to overcome before Women's MMA will be considered a top level sport like Men's MMA is today?

-Who cares if you’re a man or a woman?  I don't.  If you’re a great athlete, then you’re a great athlete.  That’s the bottom line.  It’s a fact that Women’s sports aren’t “held as highly” as men’s sports in every genre.  In general, we aren’t as strong, as big, as fast, or as athletic in some aspects.  Women in general, just weren’t made with the same body type as men!  It doesn’t make us any less valuable than men, or any less-worthy, we’re just different.  And until women accept that and get over it, they’re always going to have a sort of “equal rights” mindset to everything they do!  Obviously men aren’t going to compete against women and there has to be some degree of separation, but it’s time for women to stop saying, “we’re just as good as the men” and BE what their words are asking for.

When do you think we will see women’s divisions in the UFC?

-When it happens, it happens.  Whining, complaining and calling Dana White a sexist pig (like I've seen a good number of women do) isn’t going to help one bit.  It’s like being a nagging housewife; you’re going to eventually get tuned out.  Like I said above, do the work, be a great athlete and it’ll happen.

What or who are your inspirations in MMA and life?

-I really just have people I like a lot!  I enjoy watching people grow and improve and I've especially seen that a lot lately!  In general, those are all the people that inspire me to keep training, keep pushing and I know someday I'll be that person!

Who are your favorite MMA fighters?

-I love Cris Cyborg and really wish there were multiple people ready to fight at her level and that could give her a great fight.  Her recent fights have been very one-sided.  This is just one example of how our side of the sport really needs to grow.  We just don’t have the numbers!

-I love Cat Zingano, a great 125lb fighter.  She’s an awesome wrestler and comes up with some of the coolest takedowns I’ve ever seen.  Her fights are always interesting and explosive, it’s people like her that are the present and the future!  I just ordered a pair of her Vale Tudo shorts she sells through Zingano BJJ; they're cow print, how enthralling is that?  Everyone should definitely check her shorts out!

How do you enjoy your free time when not training or fighting? Any hobbies?

-I try really hard to just relax when I’m not training! When I get home from training I chill out on the couch with my boyfriend and watch TV.  The weekends are always crazy as we’re always doing something.  Summer is coming up (it still feels like early spring here in Michigan, it’s really crazy) so I’m sure as soon as the weather begins to cooperate, we’ll be gone every single weekend camping, kayaking, anything outdoors really!  Today my hobby was shopping and I got a manicure and a pedicure!

Any future plans or dreams?

-Of course my future plans include fighting in the Strawweight division as a Pro.  I will graduate college with a degree in Exercise Science and my ultimate dream right now is to move to Florida and train at ATT!  But, things can change in a short amount of time so we’ll see where my head is when I graduate!

-Right now I’m just concentrating on training.  I have a while until I graduate college, which will be another two years, and until then I don’t have the time to train like I’d need to in order to even think about going Pro. I have a lot to learn, so that’s all I’m focusing on!  I’m taking one thing at a time.


Thank you very much for your time Sarah!  We wish you nothing but the best on all those upcoming fights and the incredible future ahead of you.  Being from Illinois we hope to catch of your fights live sometime very soon!  To catch up on the latest news from Sarah be sure to say hello to her on Twitter @sarahgoodlaxson.

Catching up with Fighter Babe Nicdali "The Night Queen" Rivera-Calanoc

A little over a week ago we had the honor of sponsoring and hangin with fighter babe Nicdali "The Night Queen" Rivera-Calanoc and her team here in the Chicagoland area.  After a crazy weekend from the heated weigh-ins, the fights and chillen in Chicago we caught up Nicdali for her first hand impressions.  For pictures from this weekend check out our Facebook albums XFO 39 Weigh-ins, XFO 39 Album 1, XFO 39 Album 2 and Team Calanoc in Chicago.  To see the epic stare down with Nicdali and Felice check out this video here.  Third picture above credited to Jeremy Lin of America's Angels.  Pictures four and five credited to Jeff Pape of http://www.wrestlinggear.com/.

The weigh in between you and Felice Herrig was epic with many calling this the best and hottest stare down in MMA history. What were you thinking at that moment?

-I actually thought about kissing her on the cheek for a brief moment because I had seen a Japanese MMA fighter do it once but decided against it because he got KO'd lol and I was thinking about how bad I wanted to beat her up.

If the fight happened all over again now what would you do differently?

-There are a lot of things I would do differently but the biggest thing for me is two things that stick out in my head the most!  Number one, I would listen to my corner and do exactly what they told me to do.  Number two, I would pull the trigger on the things I wanted to do instead of thinking about them.  I would just do it:)

It was a hard fought battle; will there be a rematch between the two of you?

-There is not a fight I want more than to fight Felice, nothing personal I just didn't perform to my potential and it pisses me off more than anything that I didn't do what needed to be done.  Felice has said that she will give me a rematch but I want to fight like 2 to 3 more times and win then I want a rematch.  I intend on avenging all my losses eventually.

This fight and stare down alone brought in many new fans to women's mixed martial arts.  What advice would you give to other women who are reading this interview and want to get started in MMA?

-If you have a dream or goal, go after it.  Do whatever it takes to make it happen and surround yourself with people that you look up to in whatever your goals are.  Be persistant and never give up!

What did you think about Chicago?

-Chicago is a nice urban city but the weather is awful.

What was your favorite thing, place or memory about Chicago?

-I really liked the movie theater, it was 3D, you could order drinks and food and have pillows and blankets, super ballin!  I also really liked my hairstylist at Spa Blue, she was sooooo nice:)

What's next for "The Night Queen?"

-The Night Queen will be fighting in Puerto Rico in August for MaxxFC.  They have an event June 18th so they will announce the full fight card after this event:)  MaxxFC and Puerto Rico is like a second home to me, I Love it there so much!!!

Any special shout outs you would like to give?

-I would like to thank Miesha Tate for helping me prepare for the fight also Shayna Baszler, Nina, Jessica Phillipus and Laura Marcusse.  Tussle Fight Gear, you have done a lot for me and I appreciate it!  Art painting aka Tammy thank you so much!  Owasso Auto care thanks for sponsoring me and believing in me.  Babes of MMA for sponsoring me and showing me around Chicago!  Martina Auaman for all the love and guidance given to me by her.  Last but Not least Travis Calanoc my husband, fellow training partner and coach and TEAM UNDERDAWGS!  Congrats to Charlie Mills for winning the 8 man 145 ammy tourney, what's up TuffNuff he wants to fight for yall!!!!!

I personally would like to say thank you to Nicdali for a memorable weekend and super proud of you.  I can't wait until your next fight!!  Great spending time with you, Travis and Miesha!  Can't wait to see all you again!

For more in Nicdali "The Night Queen" Rivera-Calanoc be sure to say hello on Twitter @Nicdali and her Facebook fan page.

MMA Babe Windy Lopez Heats Things Up

Check out some sexiness from Windy Lopez!  Windy often tweets her pictures so be sure to follow her on Twitter @Windy_Lopez.

Sexy Pictures from Bellator Babe Jade Bryce

The beautiful Jade Bryce was recently captured by the amazing Bellator photographer Eric Coleman.  Bellator season four just ended yesterday but really looking forward to Jade coming back for season five and a visit to Chicago!  Say hello to Jade on Twitter @thejadebryce.  For more news and pictures from Bellator and Eric please visit Bellator.com

New Sexiness from Tee Tremblay

Our friend Tee Tremblay recently did a couple of new sexy photo shoots.  The first shoot seen above came from Anatoli Sviajine and she also became the very first Bear Babe for Ottawa's The Bear 106.9 radio station seen here.  Say hello to this seductress on Twitter @MissPrincessTee and her official website.  Can't wait to see more great work Tee!

Meet MMA Stunner Kristi Michelle

We recently had the pleasure of connecting with a local MMA babe from Valparaiso, IN by the name of Kristi Michelle who is the official ring girl for Hoosier Fight Club since its inception in 2009.  This sexy 24 year old is 5'2", 105 lbs. and measures 34D-24-34.  In addition to her ring carding Kristi is currently attending college in Chicago for fashion business and has modeled for the likes of Miller-Coors Brewing and Playboy to name a couple.  Read on to find out more about this Midwestern head turner.

How did you get into the world of MMA?

-I started watching MMA when I was a Hooters girl and we would play the fights there.  I usually get bored while watching sports on TV but I immediately loved MMA because it was just so exciting!

Who are your favorite MMA fighters?

-My favorite MMA fighter is my fiance, Eddie Wineland.

What is something most people don't know about you?

-I absolutely HATE cheese!

What are your hobbies and how do you spend your free time?

-I love working out, kickboxing, boxing, going to fights, modeling, going to concerts and traveling.  I usually spend my free time with my family, friends and fiance.

What are your turn-ons?

-My turn-ons are a good sense of humor, a kind heart and tattoos.

What are your turnoffs?

-My number one turnoff would definitely be cockiness.

What would you say is your best feature?

-My boobs or eyes.

What are your future plans or dreams in life?

-In the future I hope for a lot more opportunities in modeling!  I also plan to graduate college and get married.  I would love to be a UFC octagon girl someday at my fiance's fight!

To get in touch with this MMA stunner say hello to Kristi on Twitter at @KristiMichelle1 and on Model Mayhem.  Thank you for your time Kristi and really look forward to attending the next Hoosier Fight Club event.

Amber Nichole Miller Heats Things up for Xyience

Amber Nichole Miller recently did a steamy photo shoot for Xyience as seen above.  This former UFC babe is also an official model for Xyience, the official energy drink of the UFC.  Catch up with Amber on Twitter @AmberNichole1.

May 2011 MMA Babe of the Month - Kenda Perez

Our May 2011 MMA babe of the month is The Best of Pride Fighting Championships television show host and part of the UFC family Kenda Perez.  First things first Happy Birthday to Kenda!  Kenda Rae Perez was born on May 18th in Laguna Beach, CA.  She grew up in Orange County but currently resides in Newport Beach, CA.  Growing up she went to a very small Christian private school which graduated a class of only ten students.  Kenda started small time modeling at the age of 12 and landed her first big job with Maxim Magazine when she entered their hometown hotties contest and placed fourth.  From there she did numerous promotions for Maxim on TV and radio as well as the magazine itself.  Low and behold this is where the UFC found this stunner and welcomed Kenda into the UFC family, the fastest growing sports organization.  UFC fans quickly found a new favorite in Kenda as she became the host of The Best of Pride Fighting Championships.  With the popular show receiving a million views per episode on Spike TV, Kenda is highly anticipating season two which will begin filming soon.  Kenda was also just recently at the grand opening of the new UFC gym in Corona, CA last weekend, always in attendance at UFC fights and will be guaranteed to turn heads walking the red carpet at the coming Spike TV Guys Choice Awards.  We recently had the pleasure of catching up with Kenda for a short interview as well so read on below.

You have a martial arts background.  How did you get into this?

-Well I don't train but my dad is a black belt in Gen-buki Shito-ru, so I did grow up going to his classes and watching him compete.

How did you get into the world of MMA?

-I've always been a huge fan of extreme sports including MMA.  I had been to a handful of UFC fights before actually working for the company.

Who are your favorite MMA fighters?

-With a roster like the UFC has its way too hard to pick a favorite fighter.  I'm a big fan of the lighter weight classes as they have quicker paced rounds.

What are the strangest and sweetest comments MMA fans have said to you?

-Strangest, when people get x-rated with comments thinking they're being "cheeky".  Sweetest, anytime I get to meet a FEMALE fan and she tells me how much I inspire her.

What is something most people don't know about you?

-I'm a super hero!

What are your hobbies and how do you spend your free time?

-I spend a lot of my free time at home with my dog and cat, cooking and watching movies.  I've made my home a very comfortable cave to hide in.

Are you single?

-Yes.

What do you look for in a guy?

-Someone who inspires and motivates me to do things I wouldn't on my own.

What are your turn-ons?

-Laughter, love and a guy that can find humor in everything including me.

What are your turnoffs?

-Laziness, I run from it.

What would you say is your best feature?

-My sense of humor for sure.  Most people who get to know me find out I'm a much different person than I appear to be.

What are your future plans or dreams in life?

-A current dream in my head would be to host a traveling show.  Traveling to beautiful exotic beach resorts and indulging in the food and surroundings.

Well I have to say it has been an honor to speak with you Kenda and wish you nothing but the best.  You truly do inspire and one of the sweetest I have known.  To get in touch with this amazing lady check out Kenda's official website, on Twitter @KendaPerez and her Facebook fan page.  Thank you again for your time Kenda and hope you have a wonderful birthday today!

Fighter Babe Colleen Schneider Back in Action Saturday

Fighter babe Colleen Schneider is back in the cage on Saturday to take on Amber Mann at Gladiator Challenge: Warpath in Placerville, CA.  Say hello to Colleen on Twitter @ColleenFights.

Fight Lab 14 Babes

Our friends at Fight Lab Pros recently had another explosive event and shared some of the MMA hotness that was on scene.  Special thanks to Tom Bakley and to Greg Briley Photography for capturing these lovely ladies.  Fight Lab Girls Ashley, Rachel and Emily are captured in the top two pictures.  Gogo dancers Richelle and Helen are seen in the bottom picture.  Stay tuned for there next event on June 11th which will also feature a girl discovered right here at Babes of MMA!

Brittney Palmer in Playboy?

First Rachelle Leah and Chandella Powell then Arianny Celeste, will Brittney Palmer be next to grace the pages of Playboy?  UFC ring girl Brittney Palmer was recently asked by TapouT radio if she would pose for Playboy and her response was, ""I feel like, if they came to me and asked me, absolutely. But as of right now I haven't been asked so I'm just chilling. Chillaxing in the chill zone. They haven't asked me but if they do, I will."  If you want to help make this happen start tweeting @PLAYBOY and @hughhefner.  The recent pictures of Brittney came from her revamped official website.

Kelli Hutcherson Maxim Hot 100 Video

Enjoy the steamy video with Strikeforce ring babe Kelli Hutcherson.

Meet Kenda Perez and Arianny Celeste Tomorrow in Corona, CA

A new UFC gym is having its grand opening tomorrow in Corona, CA.  Go check it out and meet the beautiful Kenda Perez and Arianny Celeste as a huge added bonus.