Davids trys-out for Ultimate Fighter
By David MichaudNative Sun News Correspondent LAS VEGAS — Having been a Martial Artist for most of her adult life, Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, knows where she wants all her practice to take her. The Ultimate Fighting Championship. Now that the UFC is adding a female 115 pound weight division they need women to fill it with. Davids is hoping to be one of those elite women. The first chance for these women to enter the UFC will be through the reality TV show The Ultimate Fighter, which is now in its 20th season. This season will be different from all the others though, as the winner will also be crowned the 115 pound UFC champion. “Just being able to be on the show would be amazing. I want to be able to represent my tribe (Ho-Chunk) and all Indian Country on TV while also working my way towards being the best martial artist I can be,” said Davids. That may end up being quite a proposition for Davids, who is going to attend the tryouts with a 1-1 professional record. Davids had planned on getting three professional fights in before the tryouts, but fighting out of Porcupine, S.D., it is a struggle to find fights in the area against fellow professional females. Davids first professional fight actually came in Kansas, for Shamrock Fighting Championships, against Nadia Nixon. Davids dominated that fight en route to a first round submission win. Her second pro fight happened in Wyoming, where she took on Rosa Acevedo, and dropped a decision to her. Davids is hoping that these fights are enough to impress the UFC. In order to get on the show Davids is traveling to Las Vegas on Sunday, April 27 to be able to attend the tryouts which are being held at the Palace Station Hotel on Monday at 8 a.m. There are 16 spots on the Ultimate Fighter this season, but several have already been taken by women in the Invicta FC 115 pound division, the premier women's MMA promotion. That leaves less than ten spots actually open for contestants at tryouts. “It has been tough, trying to do MMA. I am away from Alicia (Mousseau) for weeks at a time and all the traveling and training gets pretty expensive,” said Davids. Luckily, Davids is traveling to Las Vegas with Mousseau so she will be able to spend more time with her partner while at the tryouts. The tryouts consist of three stages, and at each stage there is a cut list that Davids must get past. The first stage of the tryouts is the grappling stage. In this stage Davids will be paired up with one other hopeful in a two-minute grappling match. “They are short matches so I have been training to be very offensive and attack right away,” said Davids. The grappling matches will be judged by UFC president Dana White, matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby along with other UFC fighters who might happen to be in town. Once past the grappling stage the next stage is e striking session. The striking session is where the ladies will be asked to hit either Muay Thai pads or boxing mitts, whichever they prefer. “I'm bringing a guy who I've been training with in Denver to hold pads, so hopefully that makes me look better.” While they are hitting these pads the judges will again be watching and seeing who they think is the most talented. After that stage of tryouts is the final stage, the interview portion. At this stage Davids will enter a room with a camera and five or six producers of the show. The producers will then begin asking her questions and seeing how she comes off on camera, seeing if she is "good for TV", as they say. At this stage is where all the other accomplishments in Davids life will really come into play. The fact that she is a practicing lawyer and a small business owner should differentiate her from plenty of other contestants. From there the ladies are told that they will be informed of whether or not they are selected to the final cut, where the ladies stay in Las Vegas for another several days and get medically cleared to compete. To even get to this stage Davids is pretty fortunate, for she has not done it alone. “If it wasn't for Alicia I wouldn't be able to so this. She supports me so much even when I'm gone all the time,” said Davids. “My tribe also really helped me out. The Ho-Chuck Nation Legislative Branch decided to help me with a sponsorship and they have been very supportive.” If Sharice Davids is picked she will be coached by either current UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis or number one contender Gilbert Melendez. (Contact David Michaud at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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