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Print this pageGO Getter: Mariah Reed
Mariah Reed is a 115-pound spitfire who’s already ranked by the ISCF as the number one amateur female mixed-martial arts fighter in her class. And that’s even before she goes pro on November 22 at the Xtreme Cagefighting Show at the Shrine Mosque. Mariah took time out of her busy schedule of training, business classes, and working as a server at TGI Friday’s to answer a few questions for us.
GO: So what exactly is MMA cagefighting?
Mariah Reed: Mixed martial arts, a combination no-holds-barred fighting. You are actually locked in a 6 to 10 sided cage. Anything goes except biting, eye gouging, head slamming (spikes), and hair pulling. And you aren’t supposed to try to break each other’s fingers or anything like that.
GO: Sounds intense. Are you a rough-and-tumble kind of girl?
MR: Oh no. If you see my normal pictures, you’d never guess I’m a fighter! I don’t look it. I’m a girly girl. I like to shop, I like the color pink, I like to eat chocolate once in a while. My favorite movie is Sex and the City.
GO: How long have you been cage-fighting?
MR: I have been fighting a year and a half, training for two years.
GO: How do people—friends, family, guys—react when you tell them what you do?
MR: Most the time people laugh and think I’m just messing with them, guys especially. At that point I usually let them believe that I’m just joking, because sooner or later they will know who I am. My family knows what I do now. For a while I only told my mom and my siblings, because I didn’t know how the rest of my family would react. They know now even though I don’t think they like the idea of me getting hit in the face.
GO: What is your workout regimen these days?
MR: I work out five days a week for three to four hours a day, doing boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
GO: Have you always been pretty athletic?
MR: No. Before this I was never involved in any sports, or competitions of any kind. I mean, I ran some to keep in shape, but that’s it.
GO: What would you say is your fighting strategy?
MR: I don’t think about it too much ahead of time. I only know my opponent from her poster picture. Anything can happen, so I don’t have a game plan. Just go with flow, take it as it comes. I usually have a couple of takedowns in mind and then look for opportunities to use them.
GO: Who is someone you look up to right now?
MR: My hero is definitely Zac Cummings. He’s another fighter at the Springfield Fight Club, and a coach. He’s a total bad-ass, undefeated as both pro and amateur.
GO: What would you like to see happen in your future?
MR: Cagefighting started out as a hobby, but now it’s a career too, for a while at least. You don’t make money as an amateur, but as a pro you do get paid for fights. I’m also going to OTC for a degree in Business Accounting. And someday I’d like to retire to a beach somewhere and learn to surf.
