Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a tough game. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
That’s not stopping Alix Beatty from trying. As the Cochranite proceeds, she learns a little more along the way. Like, it takes a lot of time and money to compete. And, as an amateur, there is no payday.
“It’s hard to make a career out of it. Right now, I pay to fight. I pay to train. I take the time,” Beatty says of her dedication to the sport. “It’s hard because you pay your trainers and when you go out for fight nights and stuff, people are coming out to support you and help you. And they are taking time out their work schedule, so you’re helping pay for meals and hotel rooms and stuff so they can come with you.
“It’s a really expensive sport, is what it really comes down to.”
After her first two Havoc Fighting Championship bouts last December and March in Red Deer, in which she was defeated, Beatty is focusing on kickboxing in the near team. She won an event last July and intends to compete at an International Kickboxing Federation tournament later this month in Orlando, Fla.
The 5-foot-6, 132-pound Bow Valley High School Class of ’09 grad was training at Independent MMA gym near Chinook Mall in Calgary, but the gym has moved.
“The gym was sold and the name was changed and they moved down south,” she says. “I haven’t been there because it’s too far to go. Right now I’m fighting independently.”
While similar, there are notable differences in kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Kickboxing is held in a boxing ring, MMA in an octagon-shaped “cage.” And there are no wrestling or holds in kickboxing, just striking.
“I like MMA more. Training for an MMA fight, there are so many things to work on,” Beatty explains. “It’s three, three-minute rounds. At this kickboxing tournament, it’s only three, two-minute rounds. So this training camp (for July kickboxing tournament) isn’t as intensive as an MMA one is. So right now I can train at my coach’s house and I have kind of have random classes at a new boxing gym I’ve found downtown. I’m just focusing on that. In the fall, try and figure out a situation for an MMA camp.”
It’s early days for Beatty. Just two amateur MMA bouts so far. But she’d like to advance.
“Would I like to fight pro one day? I think that would be really cool. But I work in an office downtown. So I’m at work 45 hours a week and, on top of that, when I’m doing an MMA camp, I’m probably in the gym for 12 hours a week,” she says. “So it’s busy. I think to go pro, you’re going against people who have the time and somehow the money to train all day. If I didn’t have to work, I would love to train all day and go pro. But, unfortunately, that can’t always happen.
“But I love doing it. I just want to get more amateur experience. Fight nights are so much fun. As of right now, that’s all I can really focus on.”
