Joanne Calderwood

Joanne Wood (Calderwood; born 23 December 1985) is a Scottish retired professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai champion who competed in the Women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Wood first started Muay Thai training by accident.

When she was 13, her younger brother was meant to go to a class with his friend, who did not turn up.

Her mother asked her to go to keep him company.

She fell in love with it and begged her mother to allow her to give up competitive swimming to do the two classes each week.

This led to doing two sessions a day and spending all of her time training on her own between these sessions.

She worked several jobs growing up, including one after secondary school that involved her helping children and people who were on ventilation machines, monitoring them in the hospital and assisting them when needed.

But those were 12-hour shifts, which drained energy and made training difficult.

She eventually found another gym, left that job to work at the gym and made a significant commitment to her training.

"I had to make a decision if I wanted to keep fighting or stay in my job," she said.

"I wanted to keep fighting."

Wood started in Muay Thai in 2000 and was named STBA Fighter of the year in 2009.

She was the current ISKA World Flyweight Champion, IKF European Flyweight Champion, the WKL European Flyweight Champion, and the WBC UK Bantamweight Champion, and was ranked #2 in the world by the World Professional Muaythai Federation.

She next competed at Invicta Fighting Championships' third event, Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama, against Ashley Cummins on 6 October 2012.

Wood won the fight via knockout from a knee to the body in the first round.

She was awarded a Knockout of the Night bonus for the victory.

Wood was scheduled to face Bec Hyatt at Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt on 5 January 2013 in Kansas City.

However, Hyatt was moved to the main event and Wood was instead matched up against Livia von Plettenberg.

Wood won the fight via unanimous decision.

This was Wood's debut on the main card of an Invicta FC event.

At Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 53 on 13 April 2013 in Glasgow, Scotland, Wood faced American Sally Krumdiack.

She defeated Krumdiack by first-round TKO.

Wood was scheduled to face undefeated BJJ black belt Claudia Gadelha at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg on 13 July 2013, but Gadelha was moved into a fight against Ayaka Hamasaki after Carla Esparza suffered an injury.

Wood was then set to face Sarah Schneider.

On 23 June, Schneider also withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Norma Rueda Center.

Wood defeated Rueda Center via unanimous decision.

On 7 December 2013, Wood faced Katja Kankaanpää at Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith.

She won the fight via unanimous decision.

On 11 December 2013, it was announced that Wood was signed by the UFC along with ten other strawweight fighters to compete on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, which would crown the first-ever UFC women's strawweight champion.

She defeated Emily Kagan by majority decision after two rounds to advance to the quarterfinals.

She was defeated by Rose Namajunas in the quarterfinals via kimura in the second round.

Despite her loss in the semifinal round fight, Wood was awarded a $25,000 Fight of the Season bonus for this bout.

Wood's first fight after The Ultimate Fighter was against Seo Hee Ham at The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale on 12 December 2014.

She won the fight by unanimous decision.

Her final Muay Thai fight was in September 2012 and she had earned a record of 19-2-0.

Wood is Scotland's first professional female mixed martial artist.

She won her debut bout against Noellie Molina via TKO from punches in the first round.

She next fought at India's Super Fight League's third event, SFL 3, against Lena Ovchynnikova.

She won the fight via unanimous decision.

Wood then competed at On Top 5, defeating Ainara Mota via TKO from punches.