How our athletes break stereotypes
Phrases like “you are a girl”, “your place is in the kitchen”, “be more feminine” are often heard by athletes, because society is not used to seeing women in such a role. In this regard, domestic sports lag far behind Western ones: the industry there is developing at a more intensive pace. But this does not prevent sportswomen from different countries from striving for victories with the same zeal.
Anastasia Yankova
30-year-old champion and candidate for master of sports. She began her career in martial arts at the age of seven with karate, and by the age of fourteen she had already won the Moscow championship in this sport in her weight category. Despite a forced pause of five years, due to her studies in high school and the choice of a future profession, Anastasia kept fit in the fitness rooms.
At the age of 19, she continued to improve, but already in Thai boxing. Rapid successes helped the girl literally in a year to get the championship of Russia, and a year later she already acted as a professional and defeated two of her rivals: Anna Veselova and Victoria Korkoshko (who, by the way, was the best kickboxing representative in Ukraine).
In professional MMA, Anastasia has five wins and one loss, losing in 2018 to American Kate Jackson. At the moment, Yankova is a frequent guest of sports television programs, participates in filming, advertising, where she admires those around her for her beauty (you will find photos of another 15 beautiful and sexy athletes in our article).
Yana Kunitskaya
From an early age, Yana’s parents contributed to the development of combat abilities: her mother is a professional gymnast, her father is a professional skier. Until the age of twelve, Kunitskaya knocked out not only girls, but also boys in taekwondo, and then switched to hand-to-hand combat. After entering the boxing department in St. Petersburg, she took up mixed martial arts.
In 2009, Yana’s first fight took place with Magdalena Jarecki, the leading MMA athlete in Poland. As a result, Kunitskaya sent the opponent to a technical knockout. In just 21 fights, the girl won 6 losses and 15 victories, but one of them was canceled thirteen days after the fight with the US champion Tonya Evinger.
The belt was taken from Kunitskaya because Evinger filed an appeal, according to which it was decided that the actions of the referee were ambiguous and influenced the outcome of the fight. A year later, in 2017, a second meeting took place, but in the final minute of the second round, Yana was defeated.
Milana Dudieva
The Ossetian began her career in hand-to-hand combat at the age of eight, and came to MMA in 2008. The first fight against Yulia Berezikova was unsuccessful, but this did not stop the athlete. She continued to practice and today has 7 losses and 12 wins.
Plays for the sports club “Peresvet”. She does not take defeats tragically and is always ready to win back in the next fights. Showing her fearlessness, Milana admits that victory is the happiest moment for her. At weigh-ins and other conferences, he does not like to create shows, but behaves quite modestly and restrainedly. She does not have special PR people, because popularity is not the main thing for a girl.
Diana Avsaragova
Another Ossetian broke into mixed martial arts relatively recently and has not won a single defeat in all four fights. The girl’s father was a wrestler, but due to an injury, he ended his career early. Diana herself was brought into heavy sports by her mother, who was once forbidden by her parents to engage in freestyle wrestling.
At the age of sixteen, the athlete has already become the bronze medalist of Russia in hand-to-hand combat. She made her MMA debut in 2017, and in 2019 she signed a contract with the American sports organization Bellator MMA. At 23, Diana shows promise for a successful career. The most striking so far was the confrontation between Avsaragova and Tara Graff, whom the Ossetian athlete knocked out at 29 seconds of the first round.
World Stars in MMA
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Polish athletes are proving their positions in MMA with triumph, and Joanna is a leading leader among them, having the titles of four-time European champion in Thai boxing and five-time world champion. In total, she has 18 wins and only 4 losses.
None of the family pushed the girl to go in for sports, but was not against it either. Only once, doctors advised her to stop any physical activity (at that time, Joanna was fond of basketball) and go on a diet due to the fact that her liver was larger than usual. But after some time, the future champion took up Muay Thai and realized that she wanted to devote her whole life to this.
Despite the fact that Yoanna’s rivals often talk about her irresistible rage, determination and fearlessness, in life she is a sensitive person who loves her family. Over time, the relatives accepted the seriousness of the girl’s intentions and began to support her in everything: the father and sister of Jedrzejczyk do not miss a single fight, although the mother still cannot calmly look at what is happening in the octagon. To further her career, Joanna moved to Florida and became part of the American Top Team.
So far, the 32-year-old athlete is not going to go on vacation, although she does not deny that this can happen at any moment. Then Joanna will definitely please her parents by returning to her homeland.
Gina Carano
The American female fighter, actress and model has long completed her professional development in MMA, but fans still remember her bright performances. Gina has seven victories and one defeat behind her back, which she suffered during her last fight with Christiana Justina aka Cris Cyborg.
Today, Carano often flashes in the film industry and on television. Many have seen her in the films Fast & Furious 6, The Expendables, Deadpool (the latter can be found in the selection of superhero films). Probably, if the athlete had not stopped fighting, she would have reached great heights in this matter, but what to do in life is everyone’s personal choice.
Misha Tate
The American women’s lightweight champion became interested in wrestling at school and was in no way inferior to the boys. Having become a student at Central Washington University, Misha began to go to the section and gained the support of her first and only coach, Brian Caraway.
Tate made her debut in 2007 when she defeated Jen Finney by unanimous decision. In total, the girl held 26 professional fights, of which she suffered only 7 failures. In 2016…