Fiona Muxlow is a first-time guest at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand. She is currently preparing for her first fight with the all-woman MMA organization Invicta FC, where she will take on Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on April 5 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
This one time, in Auckland, Fiona Muxlow (6-2) made her MMA debut and ended up beating three women on the same night.
It’s easy to tell the story, with Muxlow stepping into the ring in an 8-woman tournament, having competed in the ADCC Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competition just one month prior. The Townsville-native won all fights by submission: the first two by armbar, taking home the belt after tapping out a kickboxer via rear-naked choke in the final.
That last woman, she hit hard – so hard that Muxlow had lumps under her hair for days. Still, even though the only thing she won was a belt and having had all her expenses paid for, she craved another fight. This was 2007.
“I started training at university, when I saw a notice posted on the board. This was in 1996,” Muxlow said,” It was an excuse to get out the room. As a kid I ran around with my brother, both thinking we were Jean Claude Van Damme.”
Muxlow trained in Aikido and even had a go at Tai Chi as a kid. But the moment she began her MMA training, she can tell you it was the 2nd day of the 1st semester of the 1st year of university, a random Tuesday that would change her life.
She eventually picked up skills in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (Purple Belt) as well as Renshinkan Karate (Black Belt). In 1998, she began competing in BJJ tournaments, a journey that would allow her to qualify for several ADCC competitions later on.
“I remember competing in ADCC when they had 5 female divisions, instead of the two they have now,” Muxlow says. She hopes that one day the female division will once again expand.
An avid CrossFitter, Muxlow was competing in a CrossFit competition in 2009. Just one week later, she ended up fighting Kyra Purcell. Just before her fight, Muxlow had contracted swine flu and was unable to spar. With swollen arms, Muxlow stepped into the ring and came out with a split decision victory.
“My arms were aching and I couldn’t bend them much,” she says, “ After the win, I just wanted to sit there in the back for a while I was so tired.”
After two more fights (both wins), Muxlow concentrated on her CrossFit gym in Australia and training. Then she got a call from a friend about possibly fighting women’s MMA veteran Marloes Coenen (21-5).
“I jumped at the chance. The only way to get to know how good you are is to fight one of the best, and this was an amazing opportunity,” Muxlow says.
The fight took place in Japan, at DREAM 18 on New Year’s Eve 2012. Muxlow would eventually lose via armbar in the waning moments of the first round.
“To fight in DREAM was pretty cool, except for the whole knees to the head thing,” Muxlow says, smiling.
Now, after signing a multiple-fight contract with women’s MMA promotion, Invicta FC, she is training at Tiger Muay Thai & MMA Training Camp Phuket, Thailand for her bout against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (10-1) on April 5 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
