Female MMA fighter – Mandy Stewart

Posted on June 28, 2010 // 2 Comments

The Girls of MMA Interviews female MMA fighter from Australia Mandy Stewart. Mandy is the first Australian female to compete Internationally in MMA. Mandy trains with the Integrated MMA team in Queensland. Integrated MMA holds some well known MMA fighter with the likes of Adrian ‘The Hunter’ Pang and Kyle Noke who has just won the Ultimate Fighter Challenge season 11 against Josh Bryant.

A couple of Mandy’s fight video are available in the Video gallery.

GIRLS OF MMA- Hi Mandy, How are you feeling today?

MS – I’m great thanks

GIRLS OF MMA – We heard your one of the First Female MMA fighter to make it into an International MMA event, please tell us your experience?

MS – I think I was the first Australian female to compete internationally. It wasn’t that long after I’d had my first professional here on the Gold Coast. I’d be training for a while and there wasn’t any fight options here in Australia at the time. I’d seen on the fightergirls.com website that Jeff Osbourne (Promoter of Hook ‘n’ Shoot) was putting together another all female fight card. I tried my luck and sent him an email to see if he would be interested in having me fight on the event. Jeff was really supportive from the first moment I contacted him, he took a chance bringing a fighter over that he pretty much knew nothing about. I really have Jeff to thank for that opportunity, It gave me a chance to meet so many other female fighters, Some of which are the best in the world at the moment, like Roxanne Modafferi, Tara Larosa, Megumi Fuji and of course Lisa Ward (my opponent). It was such a great experience

GIRLS OF MMA – Any more offers to fight overseas?

MS – Not just at the moment, I’ve had a bit of time off since my last fight in New Zealand. My brother was involved in a pretty serious motorbike accident a few years back so I wasn’t able to train while he was in hospital as I spent every day/night at the hospital with him. Lee was in hospital for about 2 years and also needed a lot of looking after when he first came home. I’ve started training again this year, which has been great; thanks to my sponsors Wadsworth Constructions and Peer Building Products that have really helped me get back into training.

GIRLS OF MMA – Do you have a scheduled fight coming up soon you want to tell the fans out there?

MS – I wish!! I just tore the MCL in my knee at the end of April, which has put all my plans on hold. I’ve spent a lot of time at the Physio and just doing bits of weight training on the other days to keep myself active. I’ve been in contact with a few promoters since I’ve been back in training. Once my knee is completely recovered and I’m back into normal training I’ll be able to get a fight scheduled.

GIRLS OF MMA- Tell us about what your training consists of on a day to day basis.

MS - Training is normally 6 days each week, which consists of submission grappling, freestyle wrestling, kickboxing/Thai boxing, MMA training.

If I have a fight coming up I’ll run in the mornings and train each night of the week, as well as all the extra conditioning training that starts 6 weeks or so out from the fight.

GIRLS OF MMA- What brought you to the sport of MMA?

MS - Hmm that question sort of makes me feel old thinking back that far , I started kickboxing at the end of high school and my coach at the time was into MMA and fought on a few of the early Spartan Fight shows, he was always trying to incorporate grappling etc into our training and I was never really interested in it at that stage… until I went and watched a few MMA shows, had my first fight, then I was hooked!

GIRLS OF MMA- What was the reaction of your friends and family when you told them you were getting into the ring/cage?

MS – Actually I don’t think anyone was too surprised really, I’ve always been involved in sports from Swimming most of my life to playing Soccer & Rugby League in high school. My mum and my brother have supported me in so many ways from the very beginning.

GIRLS OF MMA-When you had your first cage fight tell us what the walk to the cage was like and what was going through your head once the cage door was locked?

MS- I haven’t had the privilege of fighting in a cage yet, All the organizations I’ve fought for to date have only had rings. My first Professional fight though seems like a blur! It was back in 2003, I don’t really remember the walk out, I do remember being told about 10 mins before the fight to get ready to go out, which was when I started feeling pretty nervous . Once the fight started everything was ok though.

GIRLS OF MMA- As the women’s side of MMA begins to get more media attention, where do you see the sport evolving on the women’s side and where do you see your career going?

MS – There are definitely some big things happening for women in MMA, not only thanks to the extra media attention, but also the fact that more and more promoters are willing to have women’s fights. As more girls are starting to train and fight, the choices for opponents and quality match ups is only going to continue to get better.

I feel like my career is only just beginning, I’m only 25 and feel stronger and more focused than I’ve ever been. Our family has been through so much over the past 4-5 years, it’s made me realize that at any moment things in your life can be taken away from you and you have to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way.

GIRLS OF MMA – what advice would you give other females who have an interest in the sport?

MS – Just do it!!! you’ll have so much fun, meet so many great people and learn so much along the way.

GIRLS OF MMA – A couple of special question, who is your favourite Aussie MMA Fighter? and what is your Favourite walk-in song to a fight?

MS- My favourite Aussie MMA has always been Adrian Pang.

I don’t have particular song I use. I like to change it for each fight, depending on what I’m into at the time. Usually its some sort of fun, chick song .

GIRLS OF MMA – What is your current MMA record ?

MS – My current Pro MMA record is 2 wins and 2 losses.

GIRLS OF MMA – When was the last time you fought in Princess of Pain? Tell me about the atmosphere of the night and your experiences.

MS – I’m so glad I was apart of the last Princesses of Pain event, it was such a great experience. It was more than just a night of fights. All of us girls (on the Australia/New Zealand Team) lived and trained together for about a week before our fights. I’m not sure when all the footage will be released for that, but it should be interesting to see when it does . The atmosphere was great, the crowd really got into it, it was such a fun event because we became really good friends with all the girls on our team, so for every fight on the night, we all helped each other out preparing and supporting each person for their fight.

GIRLS OF MMA – Finally, any special mention to your supporters out there?

MS – I just really want to thank my team, Integrated MMA in particular Dan Higgins and Adrian Pang, without them we wouldn’t have the team that we have, and I wouldn’t be where I am today. My sponsors Wadsworth Constructions and Peer Building Products for making it possible for me to get back into training and every single person that have supported me along the way.

THANK YOU FOR SPENDING A FEW MINUTES OF YOUR TIME WITH US.

ALL THE BEST AND HOPEFULLY WE SEE YOU IN ACTION ONE OF THESE DAYS!

MS – Thank you! I hope you see me in action someday soon to