Joanne Calderwood


Joanne Calderwood is a Scottish professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai champion who competes in the Women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As of September 9, 2019, she is #3 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings.

Biography

Calderwood first got started in Muay Thai training by accident. When she was 13, her younger brother was meant to go to a class with his friend, however they never came. Her mother asked her to go along to keep him company. She fell in love with it and begged her mother to allow her to give up competitive swimming to do the two classes each week. This quickly led to doing two sessions a day and spending all of her time training on her own between these sessions.
She worked several jobs growing up, including one after high school that involved her helping children and people who were on ventilation machines, monitoring them in the hospital and assisting them when needed. But those were 12-hour shifts, which drained energy and made training difficult.
She eventually found another gym, left that job to work at the gym and made a significant commitment to her training.
"I had to make a decision if I wanted to keep fighting or stay in my job," she said. "I wanted to keep fighting."

Muay Thai

Calderwood started in Muay Thai in 2000 and was named STBA Fighter of the year in 2009. She is the current ISKA World Flyweight Champion, IKF European Flyweight Champion, the WKL European Flyweight Champion and the WBC UK Bantamweight Champion and is ranked #2 in the world by the World Professional Muaythai Federation. Her final Muay Thai fight was in September 2012 and she had earned a record of 19-2-0.

Mixed martial arts career

Calderwood is Scotland's first professional female mixed martial artist. She won her debut bout against Noellie Molina via TKO from punches in the first round.
She next fought at India's Super Fight League's third event, SFL 3, against Lena Ovchynnikova. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
Calderwood then competed at On Top 5, defeating Ainara Mota via TKO from punches.

Invicta Fighting Championships and Cage Warriors Fighting Championships

She next competed at Invicta Fighting Championships' third event,, against Ashley Cummins on 6 October 2012. Calderwood won the fight via knockout from a knee to the body in the first round. She was awarded a Knockout of the Night bonus for the victory.
Calderwood was scheduled to face Bec Hyatt at on 5 January 2013 in Kansas City. However, Hyatt was moved to the main event and Calderwood was instead matched up against Livia von Plettenberg. Calderwood won the fight via unanimous decision. This was Calderwood's debut on the main card of an Invicta FC event.
At Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 53 on 13 April 2013 in Glasgow, Scotland, Calderwood faced American Sally Krumdiack. She defeated Krumdiack by first-round TKO.
Calderwood was scheduled to face undefeated BJJ black belt Claudia Gadelha at on 13 July 2013, but Gadelha was moved into a fight against Ayaka Hamasaki after Carla Esparza suffered an injury. Calderwood was then set to face Sarah Schneider. On 23 June, Schneider also withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Norma Rueda Center. Calderwood defeated Rueda Center via unanimous decision.
On 7 December 2013, Calderwood faced Katja Kankaanpää at. She won the fight via unanimous decision.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighter

On 11 December 2013, it was announced that Calderwood was signed by the UFC along with ten other strawweight fighters to compete on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, which will crown the first ever UFC women's strawweight champion. She defeated Emily Kagan by majority decision after two rounds to advance to the quarterfinals. She was defeated by Rose Namajunas in the quarterfinals via kimura in the second round. Despite her loss in this semifinal round fight, Calderwood was awarded a $25,000 Fight of the Season bonus for this bout.

After TUF

Calderwood's first fight after The Ultimate Fighter was against Seohee Ham at on 12 December 2014. She won the fight by unanimous decision.
Calderwood faced promotional newcomer Maryna Moroz on 11 April 2015 at UFC Fight Night 64. Calderwood lost the fight as she was quickly submitted via armbar in the first round.
Calderwood's next fight was expected to be against Bec Rawlings at UFC Fight Night 72 on 18 July 2015. However, Rawlings pulled out of the bout due to an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Cortney Casey. After being rocked by punches and nearly finished in the first round, she rallied back to win the next two rounds to earn a unanimous decision victory.
Calderwood was expected to face Paige VanZant on 10 December 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80. However, Calderwood was pulled from the fight on 28 October and replaced by Rose Namajunas.
Calderwood next faced Valérie Létourneau at in the first women's flyweight bout in UFC history. She won the fight via TKO in the third round after striking Létourneau with a kick to the body and finishing her off with punches.
Calderwood faced Jéssica Andrade in a strawweight bout on 10 September 2016 at UFC 203. She lost the fight via submission in the first round.
Calderwood faced Cynthia Calvillo in a strawweight bout on 16 July 2017 at UFC Fight Night 113. At the weigh-ins, Calderwood came in at 118 lbs, two pounds over the strawweight limit of 116 lbs. As a result, she will be fined 20% of her purse, which will go to Calvillo and their bout proceeded as scheduled at a catchweight. Calderwood lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Calderwood was, yet again, scheduled to face Bec Rawlings, in a flyweight bout at on 19 November 2017. However, on 7 November, it was announced that Calderwood withdrew from the event due to injury. She was replaced by promotional newcomer Jessica Rose-Clark.
Calderwood faced Kalindra Faria on 25 August 2018 at UFC Fight Night 135. She won the fight via submission in the first round.
Calderwood faced promotional newcomer Ariane Lipski on 19 January 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 1. She won the fight by unanimous decision.
Calderwood faced Katlyn Chookagian on 8 June 2019 at UFC 238. She lost the fight by unanimous decision.
Calderwood faced Andrea Lee at September 9 at UFC 242. She won the fight via split decision.
Calderwood was scheduled to face Valentina Shevchenko on June 6, 2020 for UFC Women's Flyweight Championship at UFC 251. However, Shevchenko pulled out of the fight on 31 March citing a leg injury and the bout was postponed.
Calderwood is expected to face Jennifer Maia on 1 August 2020 at.

Personal life

Calderwood is engaged to Syndicate MMA head coach John Wood since October 2019.

Accomplishments

Kickboxing

Mixed martial arts record

Mixed martial arts exhibition record