Roxanne Modafferi's Blog, page 7

Lots has happened! Next fight vs Liz, Star Trek, BJJ kids, Aladdin, training, lots of pics

I haven’t written a blog for a while but a lot has happened.

My fight got set! I’m fighting Liz Carmouche July 20th in Texas! I’m so excited!

I feel like this fight was a long time in coming. We both fought at 135 for a while, and then both dropped to 125, but never met in the cage.

Now she’s ranked #3 and I’m #5. I’m also excited to be fighting three months after my last fight. For me, that’s the ideal time in between fights. I’m usually not that lucky.

I’m ranked #5! Dad’s retirement party, Invicta tournament, Cameo, Endgame, the Champ Jeslen

My dad’s retirement party was amazing. He was the president of a branch of an insurance company for transportation vehicles, basically. I had panda eyes from my fight so I paid $60 bucks and got a professional make-up job done at an Ulta near Boston, so I would look good in front of other executives and former co-workers. And I drank lots of tea.

My adventurous trip to Russia and the fight! pics, stories, thoughts, etc!

I’ve never been the best at doing any one thing. However, I learned since childhood that if I prepared well, I could do many hard things. That’s why I got good grades in school. I studied hard and started projects well in advance – I never procrastinated. One of my father’s mottos is, “Do it. Do it now! NEXT!” I remember him jokingly almost shouting this advice in a booming voice in reply to a question one day of whether I should do the thing now or later. It stuck with me. “JUST DO IT NOW!” I could always summon his voice when I needed motivation to not procrastinate on something.

You guys should have seen how well-prepared I was for this event… you might even say over prepared, but I ended up utilizing every single iota of preparation.

I was worried about the long 20-hour trip with three flights, getting food without sodium on the trip, and water retention effecting my weight cut. I interviewed about five different friends and teammates who’ve fought or cornered in Russia or in a foreign country and got their opinions and advice. Cory Hendricks said he packed little baggies of meat and veggies, so that’s exactly what I did. I have a cloth insulated lunch box so I boiled plain, bland chicken breast and put them in baggies, next to ice cubes in baggies. It melted slowly but lasted almost the entire trip! I also brought raw carrots, celery, broccoli, etc.

Heather (Jo Clark) sold me on the benefit of bringing a mini hot plate and pan to cook my meat in the hotel so I wouldn’t have to worry about communicating in Russian, which I happen to NOT speak. For my weight cut, I water load and salt cut, so I’m not allowed to have sodium in my food starting the Monday leading up to my weigh-in on Friday.

It worked out! I cooked oatmeal, eggs, and chicken!

It was a real challenge to find a small, light-weight single burner hot electric hot plate. I looked in Walmart, online and finally found the perfect one at Fry’s Electronics in Vegas! I got a six dollar mini pot at Walmart. I also bought the smallest, light-weight scale I could find, so I could wake up and weigh myself in my hotel room. I brought a mini-wheely suitcase that I thought would be easy to handle and checked it with those items.

Going back to the language thing, I felt I needed to communicate just in case, so I studied the Cryllic alphabet – the Russian characters. THEY ARE SO COOL, btw. Well, I’m a linguist, so although my task was daunting, I told myself, “Roxy, if any fighter was going to learn the foreign language of the country they were going to, it’s YOU. You have a college degree in linguistics.” lol I memorized about 80% of the symbols and still forgot some here and there just because …well, I could have made more of an effort I suppose, but I’ve been SO busy with other prep and training and stuff. I prepared a paper with phrases written phonetically and in cryllic. I got my Ukranian friend G to teach me some things and I practiced my pronunciation.

I took my sheet in to Syndicate and practiced on the mother of my one of my students, who is Russian and doesn’t speak English. She complimented my pronunciation. I had a hard time memorizing long sentences but I remembered how to say “spaiceba Sanct peterburg! Spaiceba” in the Octagon (Thank you, St. Petersburg!”) at least. I also remembered ‘Sol!” when tying to buy salt in the grocery store, and various other things. Oh, reading stuff on signs and on menus, I could see something was the exit, the elevator, female vs male, St. Petersburg, hotel, etc.

Training for my UFC fight, Photo shoot, Smack talk, Pro wrestling, Star Trek Discovery

Training has been great! I’ve been fine-tuning skills I have and learning new ones. My opponent for April 20th is a southpaw. Coach John holds mitts backwards, and there are different ways I should move. I fought a southpaw (Nicco Montano) on 24 hours notice, but didn’t actually train for her. I didn’t notice much difference, but I didn’t have time for too much strategy and analysis with that fight. lol Antonina is a tough opponent but I know I have the ability, strength, and skill-set to beat her. I’m also excited about going to Russia.

Ironically, I feel like a ton of southpaws appeared as soon as my fight got set. Adam “The Smiling Assassin” Cook is a southpaw. He and his nice girlfriend Katie who I’ve also made friends with are visiting for three months from Tasmania, and he’s helped me out with training, being my partner for private lessons, shark tank, teaching kids, etc. He also is an anime fan and has a Rock Lee outfit from Naruto.

Southpaw striker Manjit Kolekar is one of the top Indian female fighters in the world, and she’s visiting for an undetermined amount of time. Hopefully her fight gets set soon. She’s been here and training at Syndicate for a month and a half now.

Serena, my bestie, is a southpaw, and back in training after her injury and surgery! I’m so glad she’s back. I thought she wouldn’t be back in time to train hard with me for camp. Yay! She was wise when it came to rehab and didn’t push or rush it. I’m so proud of her. NOT training is harder than training!

JoJo has gotten good at standing southpaw! She’s such a great training partner for me.

Stress lifted (funeral, jury duty), about training, new coaches, Slime anime, seminar

It was a challenging, restless week. My uncle passed away the previous Tuesday the 19th from cancer. Wednesday the 20th, my friend from Maryland Cat was supposed to visit. I had no idea when the funeral was. Wednesday the 27th I had jury duty scheduled, and I was freaking out about that, because last time I got summoned they wanted me to be on a year-long murder trial, and I was supposed to go onto the Ultimate Fighter, so I had to write a letter begging to be excused, and pray.

Finally the funeral got set to Monday the 25th, So I went to New York on a night flight Saturday for my Uncle’s funeral. I managed to squeeze in a two-hour visit to see my cousin Alison and Aunt Connie on the way on Sunday, since I flew into Newark. The funeral was small and nice. It was a blizzard outside so I think it prevented some people from coming. I’m a little disappointed about that. :/ We also didn’t go to the grave site. Quite a few people did come, even people from my mom’s church, so I’m grateful. I’m glad I was there to provide comfort for my mother and aunt.

I love my mom so much

I planned my flight on Tuesday so I would be home in time for training, but my freaking flight was DELAYED – that’s the very reason I made this huge effort to book out of Newark instead of Albany and drive three hours each way, to avoid potential transfer and flight delays due to weather. Despite that it got delayed due to mechanical error.

I was pretty mad, but okay, I’m glad I got home on the same day, and I got home safely at all. I did Mike Pyle’s BJJ class in the evening. I performed poorly because I felt crappy all around, but at least it was something.

Wednesday was Jury duty and I MISSED PRACTICE AGAIN. But I am glad that I didn’t get chosen … I mean, I want to do my civic duty, but I can’t miss days of training. :/ I did physical conditioning by myself after jury duty, was able to teach my kids, and got to roll with Rick and Mike and Justin and Joey afterwards. So I’m grateful about that.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday I had great training and I felt great emotionally. My stressors of the funeral, jury duty, the uncertainty of my uncle’s passing, and hating his living conditions had been lifted. I am back to focusing on my fight. Mostly. I have another ill relative I’m worried about, but we never know when we’re going to leave this world, so we have to just go about our life enjoying each day.

This Sunday my bestie Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus put on a self-defense seminar at Syndicate for autistic kids and their families. She is on the spectrum and knows the challenges associated. I volunteered to help her because that’s what friends do, but while it was happening, I reminded myself that I’ve always wanted to get involved with volunteer work and doing thing for my community.

Serena showing technical jiujitsu stand up and defense from a grounded position

I’m always so busy and exhausted, barely able to get enough hours of sleep into my day. I also figured it was the kind of things UFC champions did, but I guess I don’t have to be a champion to make a difference. Actually, come to think of it, I am a champion of other MMA organizations besides the UFC, and I guess I’ll always be busy.

My next fight announcement! My uncle passed away. Meerkatsu! Tuff-N-Uff!

My next fight is set for April 20th against Antonina Shevchenko! I’m so excited to have a fight set. My last one was against Sijara in NY and dropped the decision, despite having leveled up. I’m grateful to the UFC for the new fight, the chance to go to Russia, the opponent, and for the chance to show what I can do on the biggest, most coveted fighting stage in the world.

The day after I was offered the fight, it got leaked but I haven’t been allowed to say anything or talk about it until yesterday. :/ THERE’S A MOLE! (just kidding… but not really kidding)

I’m enjoying the nuance of training for a southpaw. I’ve FOUGHT a southpaw once….on 24 hours notice (Nicco for the title) but didn’t train for it. Can you imagine that in my 42 fights I’ve never run into a southpaw? I think? Unless one of my Japanese opponents was a southpaw and I never really noticed because I used to stink at stand up? Haha

One of my uncles on my mom’s side had cancer and finally passed away on Tuesday. We knew it was coming. I was just so angry at his situation – he lived in a house built probably in 1900, still heated by a coal stove in the kitchen. He wouldn’t leave. As his illness progressed and he became bedridden with one arm, he couldn’t keep up his house. Or his stove. And it’s freezing in New York. My mom had to rush over and relight his stove. Have you ever made coals in a stove catch on fire before?!? Neither have I! My mom is amazing btw. Not only her words, but her self-less actions teach me how to be a good human being. After I moved from Japan to Vegas, Mom picked up her life in Massachusetts to move in with me to enjoy being with her daughter, and also share my rent and support me. Then, she moved to New York several years later to support her brother, my Uncle. My mom’s Lithuanian family are such hard workers and our average life-span is about 95 years old. lol This is why it looks like I don’t age…. He didn’t live to his full potential. I think he was 69 or 70?

Anyway, I’m so glad that he passed without so much pain in a hospital. But I wasn’t there, so it didn’t really feel like something happened. Now, I have my fight booked to go to the funeral, car rental, hotel, etc….and it’s hitting me. This week it’s been getting harder and harder every day. We weren’t SUPER close, but I tried hard to get to know him as an adult, and visited as much as I could over the past five years since I moved back from Japan. I’m so glad I made those efforts. When I had travel money to spare, I didn’t go on vacation and sightseeing (other than Japan, but that’s ‘home.’) I went and visit him and family. I have no regrets.

A few years ago, Mom, Uncle Fran, and my other aunt and uncle visited Auriesville shrine. He power-walked ahead of us, and I took this picture of him in the nature. I thought was beautiful and symbolic. Off he goes.

Uncle Fran 2015

My Uncle Fran was a smart man, loved history, and a talented musician who used to be in a band. I remember him quoting all sorts of facts and I said, “Gee, Uncle Fran, you’re so smart.” He replied, “Well, we are all very knowledgeable on what we know, and very ignorant on what we don’t know.” I thought that was very profound, despite being so simplistic.

I just want to give a big shout-out and huge thanks to my Mind and Body for holding it together while my Heart is hurting. For anybody who’s read my book “Memoirs of a Happy Warrior,” you’ll know how I discovered that those three aspects of me work together to operate “Roxanne Modafferi” efficiently. I’ve written out full conversations with myself in my book (found here: http://roxannemodafferi.net/RBlog/store/books/) . For example:

Heart: I don’t feel like doing anything today. Can we go back to bed?
Mind: You just had breakfast. We need to take a walk. Go, body.
Body: Okay. *goes*
Heart: But I’m not gonna do my sprints today.
Body: Ooh it’s the stop sign, time to sprint to the fire hydrant. *sprint*
Heart: Let’s go back to bed now.
Mind: It’s 9 AM, time to go to the gym.
Body: *gets in car*
Heart: I’m not gonna do my burpies for cardio. I don’t feel like making an effort.
Mind: It’s Tuesday, 30 mins before mitts, burpie time!
Body: *does burpies*

My autopilot is amazing. I’ve been really productive this week. Well, I’m always productive, but I just haven’t let up. Kids classes are going great, got chores done, had dinner with a friend, made strides and improvements in my striking and wrestling. Business as usual. For the most part. My friend Cat had to cancel her training trip. I have a jury duty next Wednesday which is stressing me out. My mom won’t talk to me. I keep calling and texting and she just keeps saying she’s busy. :/ I’m hoping it rains, not snows, when I visit. This will be like the fourth time I visit New York in a three month period. And so many travel delays. ~_~;

My friend and former training partner Chelsea Rae won her Tuff-N-Uff fight! I’m so so happy for her! Yaaay! Great to see all that cage control stuff we did paying off.

My Power Level, my BJJ kids won! Manjit arrived from India

Gosh, my fan-friend Jack just told me I haven’t written a blog in a month! Oh no!

So much has happened. Let’s see. Manjit Kolekar came out to train with us! She planned for a few months, but after a few days at Syndicate, said she wanted to stay six month! Whoa!

Check out this article about the best Indian Female Fighters! https://www.mmaindia.com/the-best-indian-female-fighters-to-watch-out-for-in-2019/

J0Jo, Roxy, Manjit, Nao

This past weekend my students competed at the NAGA (North American Grappling Association) tournament, and all placed!

Pre-competition kids team

I’m so proud of their growth and accomplishments! Everybody placed and got firsts, seconds, and thirds!

Kyani and Ayden…. jiujitsu teammates who became good buddies!



Artem and Illia

I adore these two Ukranian kids Artem and Illia! They’re some of my hardest working, toughest students! They’re some of my longest students, as well. I taught their first classes and here they are, tearing it up as gray-white belts. By watching their mistakes at the tournament, I know what to teach them next.

Thomas face-cranking the shiznit out of spiderman

Thomas has a history! I remember begging his father to let him quit jiujitsu because he didn’t seem motivated. Now, three years later, he scrambles the hardest out of everybody. Just seeing him going for the submission makes me so happy beyond words. He wanted to win so badly that he started crying when there were 20 seconds left and he knew he was losing. He ended up taking second place, but I’m so proud of his effort now. That’s all I want: effort. I adore this picture so much because it is such a contrast how he used to be, just getting mounted and laying there not caring or crying and not trying. He’s face-cranking this kid in the Spider-man rash guard so hard, trying for the choke. He didn’t get it but won by decision.

Thomas won by decision

The ref looks like Elias Theodorou’s cousin or something. *_*

Artem on podium

Artem fought like eight times. He was in two divisions (gi and no-gi) and then the staff kept asking if he’d do exhibition matches for other kids of different wights and skills who had nobody in their division, so Adam and I kept saying “sure sure sure” for him. LOL He won most of them. BEAST FROM THE EAST!

Coaching staff!

Serena, myself, leader of the big kids class Rick “The Flying Squirrel” Davis, and wrestling specialist Adam Starr (Thomas’ father) went and coached! Go Team Syndicate!

Victory group! Plus siblings and supporting kid teammates

Let’s see, what else… JoJo is back to training, after taking some time to heal up after her fight. It’s great to have her challenging me again! And training with friends is fun!

I miss training with Serena! Her injury is healing well, so in a month or so she should be able to resume training! YAY!!!

I’ve been trying really hard to support the BJJ team at Syndicate! I’ve been learning so much from Mike. I love that he teaches classes, but I’m going to keep doing private lessons with him when I can.

“Okay, I’m watching. Show me your technique!”

My kids classes are going SO well. I have an average of 20 kids each class. I love them and they love me. I think of them as my children for an hour. I’m so thankful Serena and Jeslen assist me because I can’t help everybody at once. Unlike adults, if a kid is confused they leave their assigned spot and come GET me and tell me they are confused. So I’m confronted by multiple kids tugging on me, in the middle of helping a set of partners. Yeah, I need Serena and Jeslen.

I write for Bloodyelbow now!

Cornering adventures for JoJo who won her UFC fight! My trip to NY, The Fun Bus

I had a great week last week, and a stellar weekend! Training was great, as usual. Since John wasn’t around to give me my normal striking and wrestling private lessons, I decided to drop by Dunham’s Jiujitsu Academy to drill some gi technique from Rene Lopez. Then I went back to Syndicate for MMA class. Dunham’s is my only chance to do gi classes nowadays since Mike’s classes at Syndicate are at the same time as my kids classes. Anyway, everything he taught I managed to use over the course of the week, including guard retention from the leg drag by rolling on my shoulders, an open guard pass, and a few things from guard. Thanks, Rene! I also made friends with this lady Lilly, my drilling partner of the day! Yay new jiujitsu buddies!

I had a great strength training session with Lorenzo on Wednesday. I’ve really been liking what we’ve been doing. He says I’m getting stronger, so that’s good. It’s hard for a person to judge their own minute improvement, but I believe him.

I took a night flight, leaving Thursday night and arriving on Friday. It’s really convenient for me not to miss training by having to have a travel day, since flying to the East Coast uses up most of a whole day, but now I realize that I don’t recover from training AT ALL. I got a few hours sleep on the plane, but I landed on Friday feeling like I just got smashed at practice. My lower back was KILLING me so I could barely stand for periods of time, or bend over. Sarah Kaufman texted me that she’d be there cornering JoJo, too, and I should bring clothes to train in. I was like, “Dude, if you stack-pass me I’m gonna break in half.” It kind of sucked because I really wanted to train with her. Now I know.

Mary AKA Mama Wood AKA Coach John’s mom also went to New York to watch JoJo fight and also have a mini vacation. We ended up traveling together on the same flight. Since JoJo wanted to just chill out after weighing in, I ended up talking a walk with Mama Wood and we walked by the World Trade Center area.

statue that was in front of the Towers while they still stood

I had never seen what became of the spaces. It turns out, they were made into waterfall pools, where fountains poured water down into a hollowed out cavity in the ground.

Pool 2

It was very sad and profound, seeming to represent all the lives lost, just sinking deep into the ground like the building did.

Mary suggested going into the museum. I probably wouldn’t have if she hadn’t been there, but I agreed, and was glad I did. I knew a lot of the information, but things were really put into perspective. I learned a lot and saw a lot. It was a good reminder that bad things can happen on American soil. War and tragedy isn’t just for “over there” in other countries.

Back of a Fire Truck

I’m so fortunate to have grown up in a safe neighborhood where I could go outside and play in my yard and not have to worry about my life being in danger.

So JoJo weighed in successfully and made weight like a pro!

I was also cheering for my TUF 26 teammate, Rachael Ostovich!

While at official weighins, I spotted Katlyn Chookagian in the crowd. Our conversation went like this:

Me: Is that Katlyn?
Katlyn: Yeah! Hello! *shakes hands*
Me: How are you? *chat chat* Do you have a fight set yet?
Katlyn: No, not yet!

JoJo’s UFC fight prep, Sarah K, skinnyjeans, strength training, Serena’s Bday, anime, etc

Last week was challenging because I was off my normal rhythm for training, but it was still fantastic. I usually skip one MMA class in the middle of the week and replace it with physical conditioning to get a mental and physical break, but I’ve been trying to match JoJo’s schedule to help her prepare for her fight. I’m so happy she wants me to be her partner! She’s become one of my best training partners because we challenge each other, foil each other’s moves, and then have to ask Coach John or Pyle how to do better. We’re better at different things both on the feet and on the ground. For example, she triangle choked me out a few times in sparring. wth? I never get triangled. I was bewildered. So it forced me to review my escapes. I forced her to get better at escaping from underneath. I’m VERY aware of elbows from a clinch now. I really love our training together. She’s very controlled, too, so she can go hard without hurting me. Thanks for being such a good training partner. None of us want concussions or injuries in the gym where we are training to get better and do our jobs at a later date.

JoJo is SO ready for her fight! Looking and feeling sharp. I can’t wait! I get to go help in her corner! I leave for Brooklyn on Thursday night.

I had two jiujitsu private lessons with Mike this week. I did three mitt sessions with John since I lost my wrestling private partner, but I have to find another one. I still am emotional about that, but that’s life right? In the striking world, minor adjustments to my balance and footwork are increasing the force of my strikes, so I’m happy about that. I’ve been constantly making great strides. I’m really grateful for the time Coach John always spends with me, in and out of fight camp, and also Mike, who stays past our private session to watch my practice and shout advice when I’m sparring somebody.

JoJo snapped this pic of me listening to Mike’s advice after three hard rounds

Both JoJo and I are wearing our Cryohelmets, which have inlaid ice packs. It feels so good after training, and aids recovery, especially after getting hit in the head. I always wear headgear, but you can never be too careful with your brain in this sport. It’s also good for regular headaches and migraines. They’re my sponsor, but I believe in the product 100% and helped me out SO much in the past when I was recovering from minor concussions, and also now, to prevent stuff. check out http://www.cryohelmet.com.

Sarah Kaufman had come to Syndicate to help JoJo train, especially during the holidays when lots of people, including myself, were away visiting family. I previously fought her so it took some getting used to to train with her (and get smushed lol) but I got a LOT out of our sessions together technique-wise, and we became friends! Thanks for helping me with my wrestling private and explaining stuff. Now she’s gone and I really miss her. ;_; Like, driving to the gym, “Dang I wish Sarah were hereeeee.” I’ll never forget our final girly shopping trip to target together when you and JoJo convinced me to buy skinnyjeans.

Or when you gave me a hug or pat on the back when I was crying and upset in the locker room over stuff.

Yeah, I own my first skinnyjeans. And a hex bar which I bought with an Amazon gift card from family and friends!

Christmas vaca to Boston & NY, Lithuanians

I had a wonderful Christmas holiday. I look forward every year to spending half a week with my dad in Boston, and half a week with Mom and her family in New York.

First, I visited my dad and it was great! Man, he sure watches the news a lot. I think I watched more news on TV in three days than I did in the entire 2018. Not having a TV contributes to this “watching,” and I’d like to think of myself as moderately aware of current events. However, I got a little chastised for not being familiar with certain things, to the degree I started pretending that I knew about them. ;_;

Sorry, I’m too busy training, eating, and sleeping. If it’s major enough news, I’ll catch a headline or somebody will talk about it at the gym. Anyway, I’m a minimalist so I don’t care so much about items as the valuable time I got to spend with the people I care about. However, presents can be nice. I got some vitamins, gift cards, supplies I requested, etc. Thanks!

I drove to my mom’s on Christmas day, and enjoyed spending time with her and also my uncle, who is very ill. We had some nice conversations. He’s so interesting and smart!

One day, I found a historical museum nearby called the Walter Elwood Museum, and told mom I wanted to go. There’s nothing else to do in that town! Forgive me for saying so, but it’s like an industrial ghost town of the past.

with Mom outside the museum



an old phonograph




an old photograph of random loom worker

I learned that a lot of Lithuanians, Irish, and others immigrated to Amsterdam to work on ALCO (American Locomotive Company), and fabric looms, which is actually what my grandfather did after he got out of the army. My uncle told me that he told HIM the bosses used to put him on broken looms because he figured out how to fix them. Um, cool? He was a valued worker?

Lithuanian dolls and photographs

My mom’s side of the family is Lithuanian, in case you haven’t guessed.