Ladies Who Kick Ass: An interview with the always exciting Roxanne Modafferi

It's been 48 hours since UFC 129: St. Pierre vs. Shields, and its time for us all to close our proverbial jaws, and get back on the MMA bandwagon. There's a blank canvas for the week until Bellator 43 kicks off this weekend, and we at Gals Guide to MMA have the perfect paint to brighten up that picture- Miss Roxanne Modafferi!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Roxy, you've been sorely missing out. Modafferi has been a stalwart of the female 135 pound division for years, where she has battled the best of the best both at 135 and 145 pounds. A few names on her resume include Sarah Kaufman, Marloes Coenen, Megumi Yabushita, Tara LaRosa, Jennifer Howe, Shayna Baszler. So on. And so forth. Walking around under the 135 lbs limit, you could consider her the female equivalent of BJ Penn.

Roxy just recently made her permanent (well...maybe. This is Roxanne Modafferi after all) move to 125 pounds and met consensus top 5 Rosi Sexton in a fantastic war! Which isn't surprising. Any fight with Roxy is going to be a war. The girl always brings it for every minute of every round.

Roxy was kind enough to take time out of her busy day teaching English in Japan (my dream and future job) and being an all around bottle of hilarity in order to answer a few questions! 

1.       Any fights planned yet?

No not yet, but I really want to fight in the upcomming Jewels event in May.

2.       Have you been in contact with Jewels about a fight. I know the 3/11 show was canceled sadly

Yah I am in contact, but nothing is set as of yet.

3.       if you were a blade of grass, where would you be

In a children’s playground! I might be stepped on but I spring back up.  I think every child should play on the grass, rather than concrete.  

4. What do you think about ring boys for your fights?

I think that Ring Boys would never fly. The majority of the audience are males, right?   They want to see pretty ladies.  I accept this fact.  Plus if they were hot guys, my eye-sight is so bad, I wouldn't know enough to enjoy. ;)

5. Let’s get serious – Tom? Or Jerry? We need to know.

Neither I never really liked that show.  Jerry was just an innocent mouse, and Tom always got hurt.  Roadrunner for the win!  Although the poor Coyote always got smashed.

6. You’ve got to give credit to Wile E. Coyote though. Persistence. Is that more impressive, or is the Roadrunner’s natural bad assery stealing your heart?

The Roadrunner's "natural bad-assery" couldn't be a more perfect term. ^_^ 

7. Who’s the best color commentator in the business?

Joe Rogan 

8. You’ve started cutting to 125. How’s that going for you? Whats the cut like? Do you have to rehydrate straight to your veins?

Leading up to the cut was hard because I was constantly tired from not eating enough, and it may have impacted my cardio training.  I was so worried about it that I may have overdone it.  The day before the weigh-ins, I basically didn't drink for the entire day before.  
On the actual morning of weigh-ins, I was actually on weight without having to go to the sauna, and I didn't need an IV or anything. I also managed to rehydrate and eat enough without feeling sick, so that was an accomplishment.  I'm going to do it differently next time.

9. Respect me forever or cut out my heart. This could go either way, but I must ask… what’s your walking around weight at?

Between 133 and 136 lbs. Before Cage Warriors, I was walking around at 130ish.

10. Is there anyone I particular, in any weight class or organization, that you’d like to get in the cage? Non-fighters and mythological creatures are acceptable answers. We’re cool like that.

-I want to fight Tara LaRosa in the UFC. 

11. Scenario – The inevitable Zombie Apocalypse is going down next Tuesday. You have two options- join forces with the little Grey Men from Space or awaken the frozen head of Walt Disney and hope you can tame the beast before it destroys us all. What do you do?

-So you're saying the head of Walt Disney is the beast?  Like Naruto the anime character who has the 9-tailed monster living inside him?  He's too unpredictable, and I've never been good taming animals, so I think I'll take my chances with little Grey Men from space. 

12. What’s the coolest thing since sliced bread?

-my chat room and everyone who comes in when I post "Let's chat!" on twitter (@roxyfighter ) and facebook. :D  (http://www.roxannemodafferi.net/chat/index.php

13. What are your thoughts on the current Women’s MMA scene? What are you thoughts on how promotions with Women’s MMA are currently promoting their divisions?

I'd first like to note that I'm against calling it "Women's MMA."  The MMA I do is no different from MMA that a man does. My thoughts on the position of female fighters are that it's kind of an unstable time for us.  We had a secure home in the big leagues of Strikeforce and Bellator, but now who knows, with Strikeforce getting bought out by a man who doesn't believe in us.  Bellator just released Aisling Daly from one loss- her record is 10-1.  It's good that local organizations are holding female fights on their cards, though!  And in Japan, I never thought I'd see the day when a women's fight, Windy vs Mei Yamaguchi, headlined a card!  Naturally, it was the fight of the night.

14. Any thoughts on the Zuffa purchase of Strikeforce and what it could mean for the 135 and 145 divisions housed there?

-I don't know! 

15. Tell us about the daily life of Roxanne Modafferi. Take us through a typical Wednesday.

-Wednesday is my long work day, compared to days with other shifts, and the one day I never go to the gym.  I wake up at 5 AM, do computer stuff, maybe run a few sets of stairs (my apartment building has 13 floors.)  I catch the 7 AM train and arrive at the office at about 8:00 AM.  From 8:30 to 9:15 PM I teach English lessons, usually with a lunch break of 2.5 hours and a short dinner break.  I get home at about 10 PM, and try to get to bed by 11.  On Tuesday, I have training with Kunioku-san in the morning, then go to work for all afternoon into the evening, and then go back to the gym to lift in the evening.

16. What has been the most difficult moment in your career thus far?

-I'm not sure I can name one moment.  Every loss sets me back and lowers my value in the MMA world.  Every win boosts me ahead.  My life would have been different had I beaten Shayna in Bodog, Marloes Coenen in Strikeforce, and won my title match against Sarah Kaufman, for example.  I think losing to Laura D'August was my hardest loss, though.  I wanted that fight so much for years, like you wouldn't believe, and when I finally got to fight her, I felt like I didn't fight to my full potential.  That or my rematch in Strikeforce against Marloes.  I was waving my arms for attention for an entire year, and I finally got my shot, but lost in barely over a minute. 

17. What has been the highlight of your career?

-The hightlight of my career might be when I won the K-Grace tournament in 2007, or maybe beat Tara LaRosa in our rematch in 2010.  That was a close match, though, pretty much a tie.  
 

18. If you could communicate with one animal (besides humans) what would it be? Why?

Dogs.  I really want to know how smart they are.  Do they really have humanistic thoughts, or do they just have trained instincts or what 

19. What’s your favorite curse word?

Oh farts!
 

20. Genetic manipulation of hairy woodland creatures happens to be one (of many) of our things here at GG2MMA. If you could shake up some test tubes and pop out a mythical beast of your own blasphemous choosing, what would it be?

A squirrel and a cat.  Small and nimble, it would be able to scamper up trees but protect itself with claws. And be cute.

21. If you had a super power besides being Roxanne Modafferi, what would it be?

-First, thank you for implying that merely being "me" in of itself is a super power.  I would like to have super strength! Like Rogue in the X-men!

22. What’s your favorite submission?

The triangle choke 

23. Who’s your hero?

Kiuma Kunioku and Hiroyuki Abe
 

24. After a fight/weigh in, what’s the first thing you HAVE TO consume?

After weigh-ins, it's still pre-fight, so nothing too bad.  After the fight, CHOCOLATE MILK SHAKE, baby! 

25. What’s your worst habit?

-Snacking on sweets if I don't have a fight lined up, even if I'm not hungry
 

26. Is the glass half full, or is the glass half empty? Who cares? Maybe it’s just a really big cup. What we all want to know, Roxy, is what’s in the cup? WHATS IN THE CUP!?!?!?

Haha it is TOTALLY FULL of Japanese tea! I drink tea constantly, whether it be great or some blend!  

27. When you were 10, what did you want to do when you grew up?

A teacher :D
 

28. I would do anything for love but I won’t do that. What is that?

Quit fighting
 

29. What the craziest technological marvel you’ve seen living in the land of the rising sun?

-I don't even know.  One thing I think is super cool is my train pass, called "teiki," pronounced "tay-kee." You can buy a monthly pass to go from one station to another, but it lets you get off anywhere in between an unlimited amount of times. Just for example, it costs five dollars to get from North Boston to South Boston, so you pay for a month, which calculates using it once a day (I think, something like that).  BUT you can get off downtown and get back on free of charge as long as it's on that same train line you set it for.  Therefore, if you use the pass a lot, or get on and off a lot, it saves you a ton of money.  Because of the magnetic strip or whatever technology is in the card, the ticket gates know and remember and let you on and off accordingly.  It's a smart train pass!  You can also charge extra money to it and touch it to a vending machine panel and get tea, or even go grocery shopping!  The two most popular brands are called Passmo and Suica.  Every now and then I see an ad saying, "AAAAAND you can EVEN use your teiki at the convenience store!  Or to buy a movie ticket! Or to buy this or that!  Or in a restaurant!" etc

Heres a pic of me standing in front of the poster that is advertising that new development in technology.  I'm getting "ninja" with my Suica card :D

30. When you get old, is there anything crazy you want to do just cuz you can get away with it being old?

-Hah I'm going to take my time and not care about people who are in a hurry :D  They can wait, it's not the end of the world.  I'll have paid my dues for my arthritis and bad knees.  I'm also going to demand that people get up for me on the trains, and if they don't, I'll bang on their knees with my cane or wake them up if they're asleep in the Courtesy Seat. XD
 

31. Grab the book nearest to you. Turn to page 42. What does the 4^th sentence say?

-It says, "entire month?"
Which is boring, so the sentence before and after it are, "What the hell am I going to do by myself for an entire month?"  He'd find something to do, of course."  
It's in my Star Trek book "The Lost Years" by J.M. Dillard. 

32. What was the last dream you remember?

-I think I was escaping Tokyo with friends from the dojo and work.  (Which is inaccurate...I had escaped Tokyo with my photographer friend, but yes, I did meet one co-worker while already there.)

33. whats your favorite thing to cook?

- Oatmeal with coco powder and sweetener :D 

34. If you were a power ranger, what color would you be? Why?

-Purple.  Well, I'd have to make my own color for myself, right?  Trini was the original Yellow Ranger, and Kimberly was Pink.  
 

35. Before we go, is there anything you want to let the MMA fans of SBNation know who may not have heard of you before?

Yes, iron and calcium block each other from being absorbed, so if you ever take supplements, keep that in mind- don't take them together.