One-time UMM Cougar, McMann Set For Title Shot

McMann at the 2002 Women's Wrestling World Championships

One-time collegiate wrestler at the University of Minnesota-Morris, Sara McMann is set to challenge for the +UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title on Saturday. The 33-year old McMann (7-0) was a silver medalist at the 2004 Olympics in freestyle wrestling. The current UFC champ Ronda Rousey (8-0) won Olympic bronze in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games.

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Olympic Medalist Sara McMann Interview

Olympic Silver Medalist Sara McMann, currently 5-0 in her pro mma career, was gracious enough to talk about some of her wrestling roots and combat sports career.

Sara, thank you for taking some time to answer these questions about your career!

• Your wrestling career began in high school competing against boys. How did the experience of being the only female wrestling males shape you as an athlete and as a person?

SM: I had a difficult time initially, but wrestling with boys helped speed up my learning curve. I now prefer the training environment that puts me at a physical disadvantage because it pushes my abilities to their maximum.

• You also competed in the first ever USGWA National Tournament in 1998, winning the 129 lbs. championship with 4 victories (2 by pinfall). After competing against boys throughout your youth, how did the female competition compare?

The girls were very tough competitors because they also trained with boys. I was happy to compete against women because it showed me where I really stood as a wrestler.

• How has the sport of womens wrestling grown since then?

SM: It has grown in numbers and in depth. There are also more collegiate and youth programs that have developed since the addition to the Olympics.

• After high school, how did you ever end up in the small west central Minnesota town of Morris?

SM: Minnesota-Morris was the only program at that time that had an all-female wrestling team. So UMM was the only forward-thinking college that promoted women's wrestling at the time.

• What was it like competing that year at UMM?

SM: I learned a lot of technique and gained a lot of experience during my year at UMM. It was a great learning environment also.

• How did UMM Coach Doug Reese, who started the UMM womens program in 1994, influence your career?

SM: I learned how to balance a full collegiate course load while working out twice a day. I practiced with some of the best women in the country and met some of my closest friends there.

• Today, 14 colleges in North America have programs sanctioned by the WCWA (32 others compete at the NCWWA level), and it is an Olympic sport. With the rise in womens mma, do you think wrestling will continue to grow or is growing in the U.S.?

SM: Yes. More exposure and opening minds will help the sport grow.

• You have had five pro mma fights and three amateur fights (correct?) and have yet to taste defeat. Your most recent win was a dominant decision victory over veteran Hitomi Akano. Where do you see your mma career going from here?

SM: Gain some more experience in the cage and then focus on winning world titles.

• You have fought twice for the ProElite promotion live on HDNet. Do you have a contract?

SM: Yes, currently a 3-fight contract.

• Who is next? Who would you like to fight?

SM: Don't know yet and I don't think about who I will fight since things change so quickly in mma.

• Former Pride and Vale Tudo fighter Walid Ismail, now Jungle Fight promoter, recently began an all-female promotion called Pink Fight MMA (today was their 1st event). There is also an all-female promotion, Jewels, in Japan. Do you see an promotion with all-female fighters happening in North America someday?

SM: Yes, Invictus is trying to do just that.

• Is competing in Strikeforce the ultimate goal? Japan? Brazil?

SM: I want to compete against the best in the world. Wherever that is.

• What do you think of Olympic judoka Rhonda Rousey? After just four fights she will be facing Strikeforce Bantamweight champion Meisha Tate on March 3.

SM: I think she is good at armbars, but it takes more than that to be a great fighter. I think that fight will be exciting. 

• You wrestled Kaori Icho of Japan in the 2004 Olympics Gold Medal Match (and several other times). She is still competing in wrestling, but could you see a rematch in mma?

SM: No, she doesn't do mma.

Thanks again for taking the time to share some of your history with us! Good luck to you!

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Coming Soon...

Coming soon to Minnesota MMA: an exclusive interview with Olympic medalist and former University of Minnesota-Morris wrestler Sara McMann!

Stay tuned!

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McMann Dominates Vet Akano To Remain Undefeated

Photo by D. Mandel of Sherdog.com

The women's bantamweight division is probably the most deep in talent of all the women's mma divisions. While current Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate is the current top-ranked fighter at 135 pounds, Sara McMann is making an impact. McMann earned her fifth-straight victory as a pro on Saturday in Hawaii, dominating Japanese veteran Hitomi Akano.

The co-main event of ProElite 3, the show was broadcast live on HDNet.

A 2004 Olympic Silver Medalist in wrestling, McMann (5-0) faced the most formidable opponent to-date in Akano, who came into the fight with a record of 18-8 and ranked #5 in the world bantamweight rankings. After just four fights, McMann sat at #9 in the rankings, but expect that to change after a dominating decision victory over Akano.

Throughout the three rounds of fighting, McMann physically overpowered Akano. She easily won each round on all three judges scorecards to take the decision. Numerous slams followed by solid ground-and-pound work from McMann was too much for Akano despite the game submission attempts from her back.

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ProElite MMA Returns Tonight!

The return of ProElite MMA, under new owners and leadership, happens tonight in Hawaii. The event is headlined by former UFC Heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski (14-9) facing slugger Ray Lopez (5-2).

The event also features an intriguing female bout between former University of Minnesota-Morris wrestler Sara McMann (3-0) and local Raquel Pa'aluhi (3-1). McMann is a Olympic Wrestling Silver Medalist and a promising prospect in the womens bantamweight division.

The event will stream on Sherdog.com beginning at midnight (CT). If you are watching the UFC PPV tonight be sure to stay up late and catch this free card!

Weight-In Results:

Andrei Arlovski (241.3) vs. Ray Lopez(225.8)
Kendall Grove (184.8) vs. Joe Riggs (185)
Mark Ellis (244.8) vs. Jake Heun (236)
Drew McFedries (194.6) vs. Garrett Olson (195.4)
Sara McMann (135.8) vs. Raquel Pa’aluhi (135.5)
Reagan Penn (170.2) vs. Paul Gardiner (169.9)

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Former UM-Morris Wrestler Sara McMann Making An Impact In MMA

Photo by K. Mills (Sherdog.com)

It was the fall of 1998 at the college campus of the University of Minnesota-Morris. A small town in west central Minnesota, with a population of just around 5,000, another school year was set to begin. A small 18-year old girl from North Carolina had somehow made her way to Morris, a school with a high reputation in academics. And in wrestling. Women's wrestling.

Sara McMann had started wrestling at age 14 at McDowell High School in Marion, North Carolina. Her older brother, Jason, was also a wrestler and her role model. He needed a practice partner and who better than his little sister. McMann went to UM-Morris, which was, in 1993, the first college in the United States to sponsor women's wrestling as an official varsity sport. Her coach was Doug Reese, who helped build UMM into a wrestling power. Unfortunately, the program was cut in 2003 due to budget constraints.

After competing with the Cougars all winter, tradgedy struck the McMann family. On January 22, 1999 Jason disappeared from Lock Haven University after an altercation with several football players. Three month went by before the body of Jason McMann was found in the woods about 30 miles away from campus. Sara decided to transfer closer to home and ended up at Lock Haven in the fall of 1999 competing with the men's wrestling program.

Flash forward to June of 2010. Now an Olympic Silver medalist (2004 Athens Games), the first American woman wrestler to medal, the wrestler has turned to a new sport. McMann made her mixed martial arts debut as an amateur at an event in South Carolina. Three victories as an amateur before McMann debuts as a professional in May 2011. She defeats Christina Marks by submission in just 1:41 of the first round. Her second fight was against former Canadien Olympic weightlifter Julie Malenfant, who she stoppped by TKO in just 32 seconds.

In just her third career pro fight, McMann took on veteran mma fighter Tonya Evinger on live television at Titan Fighting Championships 19 on HDNet. Evinger came in with a 8-5 record, but had fought some of the top female mma athletes like Jennifer Tate (6-1), Gina Carano (7-1), Julie Kedzie (16-9) and Alexis Davis (10-4).

Using her superior strength and wrestling, McMann easily won a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). It was an impressive performance considering Sara had a total of just 2 minutes 13 seconds of cage experience.

Keeping up with her one fight per month schedule, Sara McMann (3-0) is scheduled to face Hawaiian Raquel Pa'aluhi (3-1) on August 27 at ProElite 1 in Honolulu. The event is headlined by former heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski.

Like the male wrestling athletes before her, could McMann be known for paving the way for female wrestlers to make it in mma? I would say she is off to a good start.

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