Bec Rawlings

Bec Rawlings (born 11 February 1989) is an Australian mixed martial artist and bare-knuckle boxer, who currently competes in the flyweight division.

Rawlings was raised in Tasmania, and frequently played sports such as basketball, gymnastics and athletics during her pre-teens.

As a teenager, however, Rawlings experienced rapid weight gain and suffered from a lack of motivation before turning to the sport of mixed martial arts as a way to battle her issues in 2010.

This is where she met Australian professional MMA fighter Dan Hyatt, and decided that she wanted to become an MMA fighter.

Known for her aggressive fighting style, Rawlings began her mixed martial arts journey in Launceston, Tasmania in 2010 before relocating to Brisbane, Australia to further her opportunities and experience in early 2011.

Rawlings made her professional MMA debut on 15 October 2011 at BRACE 12 in Hobart, Tasmania.

Rawlings fought at bantamweight in her debut against Rhiannon Thompson.

In what was declared "fight of the night" by the promotion, Rawlings lost her debut fight by way of a highlight reel head kick knockout.

Bouncing back and publicly rallying within the Australian MMA circuit for more fight opportunities at her suited weight class, Rawlings secured consecutive submission victories over Sarah Morrison (at BRACE 14) and Daniela Marjanovic (at Australian Fighting Championship 3).

Two more victories over Rachel Sheridan and Christina Tatnell propelled Rawlings to a four-fight winning streak in 2012.

This streak, coupled with a noticeable lack of legitimate Australian opponents for Rawlings, caught North America's Invicta Fighting Championships' attention in late 2012.

In November 2012, Rawlings signed a three-fight contract with Invicta Fighting Championships to compete in their strawweight division.

This led Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp to say that she had never seen anything like it, and at the 2012 Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards she was voted 2012 Favourite Female Fighter with 265 votes by WMMA fans, 70 more than Ronda Rousey.

She was originally scheduled to fight Joanne Calderwood on the undercard of Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Gadelha on 5 January 2013, but an injury to Cláudia Gadelha resulted in Rawlings being pushed up to an Invicta FC Strawweight Championship fight in the main event against Carla Esparza.

Rawlings lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Her first fight outside of Australia, combined with her personality, gave her a lot of coverage in the Australian media.

Rawlings' next fight within Invicta Fighting Championships was against Jasminka Cive at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson on 5 April 2013.

She won the fight via submission in the first round.

Rawlings faced Mizuki Inoue at Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg on 13 July 2013.

Rawlings lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Rawlings' Invicta FC contract was assigned to the UFC on 11 December 2013 after the UFC created a women's strawweight division.

The promotion also announced a women's edition of The Ultimate Fighter, which would crown the first UFC women's strawweight champion.

Rawlings was the seventh pick to go to coach Gilbert Melendez.

She was initially scheduled to face Justine Kish in the preliminary round, however Kish hurt her knee during practice and was replaced by the previously eliminated Tecia Torres.

Rawlings went on to lose the fight in a two-round unanimous decision.

Rawlings' first fight after The Ultimate Fighter was against Heather Jo Clark at The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned Finale on 12 December 2014.

She lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Rawlings was expected to face Seo Hee Ham on 10 May 2015 at UFC Fight Night 65.

However, Ham pulled out of the bout on 10 April and was replaced by Lisa Ellis.

Rawlings won the fight via submission in the first round.

Rawling's next fight was expected to be against Joanne Calderwood at UFC Fight Night 72 on 18 July 2015.

However, on 11 July.

Rawlings pulled out of the fight due to injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Cortney Casey-Sanchez.

Rawlings next faced Paige VanZant on 27 August 2016 at UFC on Fox 21.

She lost the fight via KO in the second round after being dropped by a flying head kick and a flurry of follow up punches.

Rawlings next faced Tecia Torres in a rematch at UFC Fight Night: Bermudez vs. The Korean Zombie on 4 February 2017.

At the weigh-ins, Rawlings came in at 117.5 lbs, over the women's strawweight non-title limit of 116 lbs.

As a result, Rawlings was fined 20% of her purse, which went to Tecia Torres and the bout proceeded at a catchweight.

Rawlings lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Rawlings was again expected to face Joanne Calderwood in flyweight bout at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura on 19 November 2017.