“Even without fights scheduled, I’m always training. Now, training is going to get more strenuous,” she said. “I’m looking forward to pro training more because once I do get a fight, I’ll be able to tailor it more to (my opponent).

“When I do something, I want to go in 100 percent. You can’t have one hand in and one hand out, and I’m definitely all the way in.”

MMA holds a special meaning to Kaaze outside of a profession.

She met her husband, Nick, while both were training at Spartan MMA, a gym in the Twin Cities suburbs. She found a passion for the sport because it constantly tested her.

“What I love about MMA is that I’m never perfect,” she said. “I’m such a perfectionist, and that can be a downfall in other ways of life, but I want to be perfect in MMA. I’m striving to be perfect even though I know I’ll never be perfect.”

But what MMA and this Invicta FC contract prove is that the sacrifices she’s made to earn this shot were worth it.

She’s missed events, missed out on travel opportunities so she could continue training, and put some relationships on the back-burner because of her commitment to the sport. But Kaaze said those sacrifices are worth it because of what she’s gained from MMA.

“I’m a totally different person than I was. Everybody tells me that, even my co-workers,” Kaaze said. “I’m a lot more confident. I know myself. I have found myself in MMA. Those struggles, the sacrifices are worth it because I’ve found myself.”

Colten Bartholomew can be reached at colten.bartholomew@lee.net or on Twitter @cbartdizzle.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0

Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.