Roxanne Modafferi

Roxanne Vincenta Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who most recently fought for the UFC.

Though she last fought in the flyweight division, she has fought in multiple weight classes in her career.

She has been a professional competitor since 2003.

Modafferi is of Italian and Lithuanian descent.

Modafferi's training began in Taekwondo at the age of 13 in Pennsylvania, moving on to Mark Lawler's Kenpō Karate in the high school.

She then began attending the Dalton Judo Club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Her description of that experience was: "I thought I was all cool doing Karate, like the movie stars, but then in Judo I learned what it was like to fly."

She trained for three years to gain a brown belt in the style, and then graduated from Lenox Memorial High School.

Before leaving home to study at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a fellow brown belt brought Modafferi to a Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu association in Adams, Massachusetts, where she trained intensively for three months.

Modafferi majored in Japanese Language and Literature with a minor in Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts.

While at college, she found the Amherst Athletic club, where New England Submission Fighting is based.

In addition, she trained at another Royce Gracie association in Hartford, Connecticut, for about a year (necessitating a weekly two-hour round trip), also investigating Jeremy Libiszewski's School of Self-Defence in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

During summer vacations in Boston, she trained at Joao Amaral's New England BJJ club, now associated with Brazilian Top Team.

Modafferi says, "Those guys are tough as concrete is hard, and beat my weaknesses out of me when they found them."

To work on her striking, she also attended the Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy's North American branch in Somerville, Massachusetts, run by Kru Mark DellaGrotte.

She is now a member of the Syndicate MMA team.

Modafferi spent September 2003 to June 2004, her junior year, in Tokyo, Japan.

This enabled her to compete in a number of NHB and BJJ competitions.

She achieved a 3–0 mixed martial arts record in the Smackgirl promotion and defeated Jennifer Howe.

In Japan, she trained at the Cross Point club in Kichijouji, which taught both Muay Thai and BJJ.

She hopes to one day write a book about her experiences during that time, having already contributed several articles on the topic.

After graduating in May 2005, she secured a position with Berlitz, teaching English in Japan and arriving for the second time in July 2005.

Modafferi earned a win by split decision against Cassandra Rivers-Blasso at Fatal Femmes Fighting on February 2, 2007.

She became K-GRACE Women's Open-Weight Tournament Champion by defeating Hee Jin Lee, Megumi Yabushita and Marloes Coenen on May 27, 2007.

Roxanne defended her FFF title against Vanessa Porto at FFF 4 – Call of the Wild on April 3, 2008.

She won the fight by TKO in the third round.

She signed a contract with the American Fight League (AFL) and was scheduled to face Tara LaRosa at the AFL's November event, but fought instead at the debut Valkyrie event in Japan after the AFL's plans stalled.

Modafferi moved up a weight class and made her long-awaited Strikeforce debut in a rematch with Marloes Coenen at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on November 7, 2009, but lost the fight by armbar in the first round.

On January 30, 2010, Modafferi submitted Molly Helsel in the second round at King of the Cage: Toryumon in Okinawa, Japan.

Modafferi rematched Tara LaRosa at Moosin: God of Martial Arts on May 21, 2010.

Strikeforce provided official permission for Modafferi to compete on the card.

Modafferi won the fight by split decision.

Modafferi returned to Strikeforce to challenge Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce Challengers: del Rosario vs. Mahe on July 23, 2010.

She lost the fight via knockout due to a slam in the third round.

Modafferi was released by Strikeforce on November 12, 2010, after losing both her fights with the promotion.

She was scheduled to face Hitomi Akano at World Victory Road Presents: Soul of Fight on December 30, 2010, but the fight was cancelled after Modafferi suffered a stomach illness and was unable to compete.

Modafferi faced Rosi Sexton at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 40 on February 26, 2011.

The fight was Modafferi's debut at 125 pounds.

She was defeated by unanimous decision.

Modafferi then faced Hitomi Akano in a bout rescheduled for Jewels 15th Ring on July 9, 2011.