SPORTS

First Pitch: Fighting vet, Baszler, ready to seize UFC moment

By Terry Vandrovec

Shayna Baszler has been a pioneer in women’s mixed martial arts.

She turned pro in 2003, years before national audiences were aware there was much of an amateur scene. What’s more, Baszler made her own way while living in a state that was among the last in the country to sanction MMA – the first event was held just last week.

And now, or more specifically sometime after 9 tonight, the 34-year-old Lincoln High grad will make her Ultimate Fighting Championship debut on an international pay-per-view card held inside a 17,000-seat arena in Sacramento, Calif. She’s in the third-to-last-bout on UFC 177.

It’s not that Baszler doubted this day would come; rather, it’s that this day didn’t exist until relatively recently. The UFC didn’t get into the women’s game until 2012. By then, it was almost too late.

“It’s definitely the beginning of the last chapter of the book, the epic tale of the Queen of Spades,” Baszler said, a reference to her nickname. “I couldn’t have ended my career without having a fight in the UFC. There’s no better way to end it. No matter what happens, win or lose, whether I win the title one day or not, I have to have this. I have to have this fight.”

It’s like placing the last piece of a puzzle that you bought at Shopko, Baszler said, chuckling at the Midwest reference. She’s been based in Sioux Falls for most of her career, primarily at Next Edge Academy and working long distance with trainer (and fighter) Josh Barnett. He’d send a workout syllabus and watch tapes of her training sessions, their in-person interactions usually limited to a couple weeks before each bout.

But things picked up considerably and unexpectedly last year, Baszler parlaying an early round upset loss in “The Ultimate Fighter” into a contract with the UFC and an alliance with Ronda Rousey, the reigning UFC women’s bantamweight champ and her coach on the reality show. Baszler, Rousey, Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke have become known as the Four Horsewomen, a nod to an old professional wrestling quartet. They live and train together in Los Angeles. It’s like a perpetual training camp – with a sizable audience.

The crew has garnered considerable ink in the MMA world. For Baszler, the banter is fun and the publicity has a purpose.

“At the amateur level and lower-level pros, it’s almost looked down on when someone’s doing that – like showboating,” she said. “But that’s how you’re going to not only market yourself presently, but I need to prepare myself for the future because fighting doesn’t last forever.”

The certified EMT can postpone her post-fight future with a win tonight. She’s taking on an undefeated Brazilian, No. 10-ranked Bethe Correia (8-0). The 5-foot-7, 135-pound Baszler (15-8) is a slight underdog, according to the oddsmakers. Of course, the odds were far longer that she or women’s MMA would make it this far. Next Edge director Bruce Hoyer remembers passing a hat in order to collect money to, well, bribe somebody to fight Baszler after her scheduled opponent backed out.

The timing fits, too, even as her debut was twice delayed. Last Saturday, Baszler watched on national television the Resurrection Fighting Alliance 17 card at the Sanford Pentagon, the first state-sanctioned event in South Dakota. She was proud of the fans and her Next Edge teammates.

Tonight, they’ll reciprocate, gathering at a local restaurant to watch the Queen of Spades take center stage at the home of the Sacramento Kings. It’s been a long time coming.

“I realize where I’m at,” Baszler said. “I’m not the young up-and-comer anymore; I’m definitely that grizzled vet that’s fought everyone and people get in arguments about if I’m a has-been. I’m aware of that. But this fight is huge for me.”