Mixed martial arts has been legal in Pennsylvania for a little over two months and in that time, there have been several events, but the state has yet to see two female fighters step into the cage.
Two amateur fights booked for the WKU Warrior Challenge event on June 26, appear to be the first overall, but probably the first high-profile women's fight will be the next night, June 27, when LionHeart Fighters' Meghan "The Babe" Wright takes on Angela Magana at Ultimate Cage Fighting Challenge's Rumble on the Rivers in Pittsburgh.
Wright, who was 6-5 as an amateur, is 1-1 as a pro. Standing 5'4", she'll fight at UCFC at 113 pounds, and her next fight, in New Mexico on July 25, will be at 105 pounds, she said.
Wright said that after she "wins those two fights," she hopes to get a contract with a major MMA organization. "I know with LionHeart, I'll be able to make it happen," she said.
A wrestler since seventh grade, Wright, 23, grew up in Michigan. A friend turned her on to MMA about two years ago. "I was completely hooked," she said. She said she got her nickname, "The Babe" from one of the MMA academies where she trained in Michigan. Although she was the only female there, no one could remember her name and just called her "babe," and it stuck. But don't let the nickname fool you - she's not hung-up on looks, and when she steps in the cage, it's all business.
Earlier this year, Wright trained at Matt Hughes' H.I.T. Squad gym in Illinois, where she lived in the fighter dorms, an environment she described as "exactly like The Ultimate Fighter" in terms of drama.
Leaving Hughes' gym, Wright relocated to Kennett Square to be closer to her boyfriend's family while he is serving in the U.S. Army overseas. Coincidentally, Wright is now in the same state as her longtime sponsor, Tattoo Fightwear.
Relocating to Pennsylvania, Wright is now training at LionHeart Fighters in State College. "I absolutely love it there. They take care of me so good; they train me really hard," she said. Wright mentioned head coach Ryan Gruhn and streangth and conditioning coach Matt Cocher, saying of Cocher, "He absolutely makes me want to kill him after an hour," and of Gruhn, "Ryan has helped me a lot with my stand-up."
As a full-time fighter, Wright said she doesn't have a lot of down-time. What little she has is filled with talking to her boyfriend, eating and sleeping. Still, she manages to squeeze in some time to give back, managing and cornering others. "I'm helping out a lot of up-and-coming fighters," she said.
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