As young girls around the United States and Japan run around with jerseys representing their new role models from the soccer pitch – players like Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, Homare Sawa and Ayumi Kaihori, who starred in the recently concluded Women’s World Cup – Liz Carmouche remembers being one of those young girls while growing up in Okinawa. She looked at former US star Mia Hamm paving the way for a new generation of female athletes and said ‘I want to be the next one.’
“When I was playing soccer when I was younger, I always hoped that I would play professionally and that I would be on television,” she said. “The way that I looked at Mia Hamm as a professional soccer player, I had always hoped that maybe I could be in her shoes one day, but never did I ever think that I would actually be in that place.”
Life usually has a way of getting in the middle of such dreams, and after spending 17 years of her life in Japan, Carmouche’s journey took her to the United States Marine Corps, where she did three tours of duty and was an aviation electrician. Soccer and Japan faded into her rearview mirror, and after settling into life in her native United States after her time in the service was done, she admits that “It was more of a culture shock coming to the States and living here than it was living in Japan.”
But two years ago, she found mixed martial arts. Two years after that, she became one of the top contenders in the ultra-competitive 135-pound weight class. It’s been a stunning turn of events for the 27-year old, who faces former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman in Las Vegas this Friday night. Now, she’s the one sought after by the media and asked to tell her amazing tale to the world.
“It comes as a surprise to me because it was only two years ago that I was thinking I’d like to do MMA, and if I ever could, in my biggest of dreams, I wish I could appear in Strikeforce. And I wish that Strikeforce would merge into the UFC. But I never thought that that it would actually be a possibility. So to be doing this, every day it’s like ‘okay you’re doing an interview with this one, and I’m like, I’ve read interviews there and heard these people.’ So every day, it’s just kinda like ‘am I really doing this or am I leading somebody else’s life?’ It’s just a surprise to me.”
It’s not a surprise to friends and family, who knew as soon as she declared that she was going to put on a pair of gloves and fight, that she had found her home.
“Everybody thought that it was fitting for me,” she said. “I’ve always been a really aggressive person, I’ve always tried to be the best that I could in sports and tried to challenge myself, and I’ve always wanted to do martial arts, but timewise I didn’t have the time dedicated to do it. So when I told people I was doing MMA, they were like ‘yeah, I can totally see that; that fits you.’”
One look at her in a fight will also make it clear that there is no better athletic fit for the young lady dubbed “Girlrilla,” as she’s an aggressive force whose takedowns and ground and pound attack make her a handful for anyone across the cage from her. 6-1 as a pro, Carmouche made some ripples in MMA waters with Strikeforce wins over Colleen Schneider and Jan Finney, but it was when she was called on 10 days notice to face Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen in March that the world saw what she could really do when thrust into the spotlight.
But were there any nerves?
“There’s about maybe five minutes where I let my nerves kinda run their way out, but honestly, the cage is where I feel comfortable,” she said. “That’s like my second home, so I’m fine with that. You put me in a ring or on a jiu-jitsu mat, and there’s where my nerves kick in, but in the cage, it’s home for me. That’s where I spend all my training time, so I feel completely comfortable in there.”
Yet this was a world title fight against one of the best female fighters on the planet, one with over a decade’s experience in combat sports, and there were only 10 days to prepare. For Carmouche, that was business as usual.
“Two weeks for a fight is the most notice I’ve had,” she laughs. “I’ve had anything from two weeks to a week, so for me, that became the norm. I felt that it was normal for everybody. This fight (against Kaufman) is actually the first one that I’ve actually had two months’ notice for. So two weeks? Cool, plenty of time. 10 days? I can do 10 days. Seven days? That’s cutting it close, but I can do it.”
It’s not just talk, because in the Coenen fight, she showed what she was made of as a fighter, dominating the bout into the fourth round, when the champion showed her own mettle, submitting Carmouche with a triangle choke. Carmouche had lost the fight, but she won a legion of new fans for herself and the sport of women’s MMA. But she didn’t want to sit back and enjoy her newfound fame.
“I’m used to a constant schedule, where every two months I have a fight,” she said. “So to go a few months without one actually makes me antsy. I like that tempo, that constant grind; I’m always in shape, and knowing that I have a fight gives me a goal to work for. So I definitely wanted five more fights lined up right away after it.”
She laughs, but she’s serious at the same time and notorious for being the kind of fighter you have to pull out of the gym.
“If it were up to me, I’d be in the gym for eight hours straight without stopping, just trying to fine tune everything and exhaust myself,” she said. “And they’re the ones who say ‘you’ve done enough today, you can go ahead and rest.’ Are you sure? I can do another hour, I can do another class. For me, I’m back in the gym training the Monday after the fight, waiting for that two week phone call, and I have to be ready for it.”
This time though, she got a full eight week training camp in, and that’s a good thing given the pedigree of Canada’s Kaufman.
“She’s aggressive,” said Carmouche of her foe. “Her standup is constantly going and she’s always pushing forward. I like a challenge and I think Sarah’s gonna be a challenge. We both like to ground and pound, and we both like to set the tempo on the feet, so it’s gonna constantly keep me thinking and reacting.”
Carmouche-Kaufman is the perfect example (along with next week’s bout between Coenen and Miesha Tate) of the kind of bouts that will elevate the sport and the fighters at the same time. It pits two determined and skilled fighters against each other with a lot at stake for both. But unlike a male fight, female fighters are tasked with not only representing themselves, but the sport as well. It’s a role Carmouche and her peers accept eagerly.
“Knowing that making a mark for women will drive our sport into the future makes me work that much harder,” she said. “It’s not more pressure, it’s just motivation to put on the best performance I can. I hope that people who see this fight take away an appreciation for it. The last fight that Marloes and I put on, it was Fight of the Night, it was on ESPN, and we made an impact with that fight. And I expect to do the same thing with this one.”
Mia Hamm would be proud.
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