A little over four months ago, Arlene "Angerfist" Blencowe made her mixed martial arts debut. In two fights, she has posted one win with one loss. But, since her last fight inside the cage, she has also claimed two boxing world titles to add to her credentials.
That's not a bad start to 2013 for someone who only took a mixed martial arts bout due to a lull in the amount of boxing fights available to her.
"Jason [Harris, Blencowe's coach] incorporated some wrestling and BJJ into my training to help with my fitness. After a little bit of training, we took the fight against Kyra Purcell at Fight World Cup to keep active. I did well with my striking, but lost to an armbar. Boxing is definitely my strength," she admitted in an exclusive interview with The MMA Corner. "In June, I flew over to New Zealand on a week's notice to take a boxing fight for two world titles and I ended up winning the fight.
With only two professional bouts behind her, Blencowe's next fight takes place on July 13 at Queensland's premier mixed martial arts event, Nitro MMA, in the promotion's ninth event. The fight takes places only a little over four weeks since her boxing world title win, and Blencowe has a tough task at hand as she faces off with Jessy "Jessy Jess" Rose-Clark, who trains out of Integrated MMA, arguably the best gym in the state.
"Everyone knows who she is and she has had about the same amount of MMA fights as me, so a win over her would certainly do big things for my name," Blencowe admitted. "The fact that I have two boxing world championships doesn't mean anything; it's a completely different game. I'm pretty happy wherever the fight goes. I have been working on my takedown defense and I am confident I'll be able to get back up if she does decide to take me down.
The "fighter lifestyle" of training every day and not having a "9-5″ isn't something that all fighters can live. Juggling a part-time job in administration as well as a job as a personal trainer along with two kids means that Blencowe has to make the most of the time that is available for her to train. It also means that long fight camps away from home are out of the question.
Whilst her fight record may be in its infancy, it's not going to take long at all for Blencowe's success in boxing to transition over to mixed martial arts. The art of grappling is a tough one to master, and it's the only piece left of the puzzle for Blencowe. But with hard work and a willingness to continue learning, there is no doubt that she will continue to impress both inside and outside of the cage.
And even if it's not going to happen this year, it can be certain that Blencowe will be adding mixed martial arts gold to the championship titles that sit proudly in her house.