Sara McMann


Sara McMann is an American mixed martial artist who currently competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. McMann is a former Olympic wrestler and she is the first American woman in history to receive a silver medal at the Olympics, which she won at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. McMann is a World Silver Medalist and 2-time Bronze Medalist. As of January 27, 2020, she is #9 in the UFC women's bantamweight rankings.

Wrestling

McMann started wrestling at the age of 14 in Marion, North Carolina at McDowell High School. She is the first American woman in history to receive a silver medal in Olympic wrestling, which she won at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. . McMann won silver medal in the 2003 world championships and a bronze medal in the 2005 and 2007 world championships n the Women's Freestyle 63 kg or 138.75 lb weight class.

Mixed martial arts career

McMann announced in late 2010 that she had signed a three-fight contract with Strikeforce. She planned to fight at 135 pounds. However, she did not sign on with the promotion due to an extension clause in the contract.
McMann was first scheduled to make her professional mixed martial arts debut on November 14, 2010 in Jamaica, but the event was cancelled due to safety problems with the cage.
She then had more fights fall apart after opponents backed out, including a scheduled April 30, 2011 fight against Mariah Johnson.
On May 28, 2011, McMann made her pro MMA debut at Universal Cage Combat: Revolution. She defeated Christina Marks by submission in the first round.
McMann faced fellow Olympian Julie Malenfant at Blackeye Promotions 4 on June 17, 2011. McMann defeated Malenfant by TKO early in the first round.
McMann faced Tonya Evinger at Titan Fighting Championships 19 on July 29, 2011. The fight served as the co-main event. McMann defeated Evinger by unanimous decision.

ProElite

After ProElite reincarnated under new management, McMann faced Raquel Pa'aluhi on the promotion's first event post-EliteXC at ProElite 1: Arlovski vs. Lopez on August 27, 2011. She defeated Pa'aluhi by submission due to an americana in the third round.
McMann returned to ProElite to face Hitomi Akano at ProElite 3 on January 21, 2012. She defeated Akano by unanimous decision.

Invicta Fighting Championships

On April 28, it was announced that McMann would face Shayna Baszler in the main event of Invicta Fighting Championships 2. The event took place on July 28, 2012. McMann defeated Baszler via unanimous decision and the bout was named fight of the night. The bout was a title eliminator, with the winner scheduled to face the winner of Alexis Davis vs. Hitomi Akano.

Strikeforce

On September 4, 2012, it was announced McMann had signed with Strikeforce. She was expected to debut at against former bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche, but the event was cancelled.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In February 2013, McMann officially joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship. It was rumored she turned down a fight with then-title holder Ronda Rousey. However, this was false information and no such fight was offered or even presented to McMann at the time. She became the third female to earn a victory in the UFC by defeating Sheila Gaff at UFC 159.
McMann was slated to face former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman on August 28, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 27. However, McMann withdrew from the bout for, at the time, undisclosed personal reasons. In January 2015, she disclosed that the reason for withdrawing was due to her father battling aggressive lymphoma.
McMann faced Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship at UFC 170. She lost the fight by TKO after getting knocked down with a knee to the body. This stoppage created controversy, with many sports writers and attendants finding it premature.
McMann faced promotional newcomer Lauren Murphy at UFC Fight Night 47 on August 16, 2014. McMann won the fight by split decision.
McMann faced Miesha Tate at UFC 183 on January 31, 2015. Despite a strong first round, she lost by majority decision.
McMann faced Amanda Nunes on August 8, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 73. She lost the fight via submission in the first round.
McMann faced Jessica Eye at UFC Fight Night 88 on May 29, 2016. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
McMann faced Alexis Davis on December 3, 2016 at. McMann won via submission in the second round.
McMann was expected to face Liz Carmouche at UFC Fight Night 105, on February 19, 2017. However, Carmouche was forced to pull out of the fight due to injury and will be replaced by newcomer Gina Mazany. McMann won the fight via submission early in the first round.
McMann was originally expected to face Ketlen Vieira at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017. However, the fight was moved to UFC 215. She lost the bout via arm-triangle choke submission in the second round.
McMann faced Marion Reneau on February 24, 2018 at UFC on Fox 28. After dominating the first round, McMann was knocked down and submitted by Reneau in the second round.
After a year hiatus due to maternity leave, McMann was scheduled to face Nicco Montaño on July 13, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 13. However, McMann pulled out of the bout citing an injury in mid-June and was replaced by Julianna Peña.
McMann faced Lina Länsberg on January 25, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 166. She won the fight via unanimous decision.
McMann was scheduled to face Aspen Ladd on June 27, 2020 at. However, Ladd suffered a training injury, torn both her ACL and MCL and was forced to withdraw from the event. It is unclear at the moment if a replacement would be sought by UFC officials.

Personal life

McMann's parents are Paula Jean and Thomas William McMann. She has one sister, Nickolina, and had one brother, Jason. Jason, who wrestled at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, was murdered January 23, 1999 at the age of 21.
McMann attended McDowell High School in Marion, North Carolina where she was coached by Timothy Hutchins. In addition to wrestling, she participated in theatre productions. She earned a degree in Theatre at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the school's wrestling team under the coaching of Carl Poff from 1999 to 2003. She previously attended University of Minnesota Morris from 1998 to 1999, where she was coached by Doug Reese.
In August 2010, McMann was awarded a MA/EDS with a major in mental health counseling from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.
McMann does volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity, a Christian housing ministry. She traveled to Sri Lanka with Olympic teammates to help victims of the tsunami rebuild homes for those displaced by the tidal wave. She also helps with youth clubs and speaks to upcoming girls and boys about wrestling.
On September 3, 2004, while driving her Jeep in Colorado on the way to Iowa with her fiance, former ASU three-time NCAA All-American wrestler Steven Blackford as her passenger, the vehicle ran off the road and rolled over. He was ejected from the vehicle, and died at the scene. McMann was hospitalized with a broken arm and minor injuries, and later charged with careless driving.
McMann and her former training partner Trent Goodale have a daughter, Bella, who was born in 2009.
On May 30, 2018, McMann announced on social media that she and her partner Chad Bingham were expecting a child, and that she had put her career in mixed martial arts on hold. In December 2018, she announced that she had given birth to her son, Lucas.

World/Olympic Championships Matches

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Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts