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China’s Wu Yanan is all set to make her return to the UFC Octagon on April 16 this year, and she’s chosen to make Jackson Wink MMA her training camp. In doing so, she’s placed herself in stellar company; JW MMA has been training the best of the best when it comes to women’s MMA for decades.
Active Fighters
Holly Holm (14-5-0)
- Category: Featherweight
- Weight: 145lbs
- Promotion: UFC
- Career Highlights: 18 x Boxing World Championship Titles (including WBC, WBA, WBF), UFC Bantamweight Champion, 2 x IKF/Ringside Welterweight Champion & Tournament Winner
Holly ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ Holm began her journey with JW in 1998. As the first – and only – fighter, female or male, to hold both a World Boxing title and a UFC belt simultaneously, Holm is one of the most exemplary fighters in the world.
A multiple world champion boxer, having collected 18 different titles across three weight categories, Holm brought about one of the most defining moments in the UFC when she KO’d the seemingly unstoppable reigning Bantamweight champ, ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey in 2015 and took her crown.
Michelle Waterson (18-9-0)
- Category: Strawweight
- Weight: 115lbs
- Promotion: UFC
- Career Highlights: Invicta FC Atomweight Champion, UFC Title Challenger, 2013 Atomweight of the Year Award.
Another veteran of the Octagon, Michelle ‘The Karate Hottie’ Waterson holds a Black Belt in American Freestyle Karate and Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Known for her explosive fighting style, watching Waterson fight is like taking a masterclass in technique. Whether she’s on the ground or striking, Waterson delivers the goods and has received multiple Fight of the night and fight of the year honors.
Prior to making her UFC debut in 2015, Waterson won the Atomweight fighter of the Year award in 2013 and is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion.
Jodie Esquibel (6-7-0)
- Category: Strawweight
- Weight: 115lbs
- Promotion: UFC
- Career Highlights: NABF Boxing Champion, TUF 23 Contestant, Invicta FC Veteran
Another longstanding member of the team (since 1996) Jodie Esquibel has been competing in WMMA since the early days of Invicta FC. A professional boxer and holder of the 2015 NABF Minimumweight Boxing Championship, Esquibel has long been respected as a formidable opponent – despite her 5’2 stature.
After rising through the ranks of both Jackson’s MMA Series and Invicta FC, Esquibel entered The Ultimate Fighter house in 2016. Her UFC debut came in 2017, and since then she’s gone toe to toe with the likes of Jessica Aguilar and Hannah Cifers.
Hall Of Famers
Over the years, several other leading female MMA fighters have chosen to make Jackson Wink MMA their home, whether for individual fight camps or on a long-term basis.
Julie Kedzie (16-13-0)
When it comes to resurgent fighters in WMMA, none of them can take the crown from Julie Kedzie. Back in the early 2000s, Kedzie carved out a name for herself as a determined and ambitious MMA fighter. She began her career in a one-night HOOKnSHOOT event in Indiana, then blazed a trail through EliteXC, Bodog, Jackson’s MMA Series, Strikeforce and the UFC.
While her time in the octagon is the stuff of a legend, not many fans know that Kedzie spent several years as Greg’s PA before she traded gloves for a matchmaker’s hat at Invicta FC.
Sarah Kaufman (18-4-0)
A long-standing advocate for women’s MMA, Sarah Kaufman has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with Team Jackson Wink. As a member of JW affiliate Adam Zugec’s roster, Kaufman has made regular trips to JW camp to train with both Greg Jackson and Julie Kedzie.
Gina Carano (7-1)
It may be over ten years since Gina ‘Conviction’ Carano fought professionally, but she remains one of the brightest WMMA talents of all time.
After racking up an impressive 12 wins, 1 loss in Muay Thai, Carano entered the cage in 2006 against Leticia Pestova in the first-ever fully-sanctioned women’s MMA fight in Nevada with World Extreme Fighting – she won the fight 38 seconds into the first round.
Following her devastating loss to Cris Cyborg during the inaugural Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Championship in 2009, Carano chose Jackson Wink MMA as her camp for her comeback fight in 2011.