"Jersey Fresh” Tara LaRosa Has Been Cooking; But it Hasn’t Been in the Kitchen
Who Is the WORLD’S #1 Female Mixed Martial Arts Fighter at 135lbs?
The answer lies in a stretch of land less than 200 miles long. That’s because Tara LaRosa and Laura D’Auguste, the two top world contenders, co-sharing the title of “World’s #1 Ranked Female Fighter,” are from New Jersey and New York respectively. On July 14th in front of a sell-out crowd, at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton NJ, only one of them will be able to keep this title.
Home-town spirit plays a big role in boosting confidence, morale and adrenaline.
Three things New Jersey native Tara LaRosa will welcome, and need, as she takes on - Laura D’Auguste, an un-defeated opponent from Long Island.
Tara sat down with MMA Woman.com’s Augie Schumatti in her hometown at Bean’s Coffee Shop, to talk about this upcoming encounter and many other things going on in her blossoming career. For starters, she was signed by Bodog FIGHT and has amassed wins in St. Petersburg Russia, Costa Rica, and Vancouver, Canada. Now, she takes on the fight of her life as she prepares for Laura D’Auguste, an elite, feared striker under Renzo Gracie’s umbrella of fighters.
Well versed in grappling and MMA, Tara has been mixing it up and training regularly for this fight. When talking to her, one thing is crystal clear, she looks to be in awesome and powerful shape. And, she loves New Jersey. “There’s just something about coming home, especially for this fight” LaRosa said. With her parents taking a new liking to MMA, they’ve grown to accept Tara’s fait in the ring and will be rooting her on at this event. Her boyfriend, an ex-wrestler from Oregon, and United States Special Forces Officer fighting in the war in Iraq, also embraces the sport and will be cheering on Tara from overseas. He also competes in MMA in the US Military’s Combative Sports programs.
LaRosa impressively, is a Ft. Bragg Army Instructor for hand-to-hand combat. She believes everyone can benefit from mixed martial arts training. Her rewards from the sport are obvious. She’s confident, fit, and downright charming. Just one look at her and you know she’s got a special talent for elite competition like MMA. She’s even got the cauliflower ears to prove her time has been spent well in battle. When posed with the question, “Who’s the cutest guy in MMA today?,” Tara speaks of UFC’s Ultimate Fighting Championship contender, and winner of television’s The Ultimate Fighter, Forrest Griffin. “It’s something about his ears,” oddly enough, that Tara finds appealing about him.
Tara was extremely pleasant to interview, and humorous telling us that her funniest moment in MMA came during a fight with Roxanne Modafferi. In this fight, the two knocked each other senseless until the bell sounded in the opening round. The two, each friends, walked to each other’s corner accidentally, only to have their managers rearrange the two until they found their appropriate seats to take a well-deserved breather before doing it again the next round.
Tara has already taken on the best in the female fight game; Amanda Buckner, Julie Kedzie, Hitomi Akano, Roxanne Modafferi, Megumi Yabushita, Alisa Cantwell, Ginelle Marquez, Angela Wilson, and the late Shelby Walker. She is the 2X Runner up in the Absolute division of the world’s most elite grappling competition, Abu Dhabi. Her only MMA loss is to Jennifer Howe. And, she’s even battled her soon-to-be opponent, Laura D’Auguste on the wrestling mat twice in grappling, splitting victories with her, winning by submission and losing on points.
With all this success it seems fair to point out that Tara’s never been given a silver platter. She’s worked hard to overcome obstacles, learn a technical ground game, and come out on top, time and time again. Unlike so many women MMA fighters, Tara has been soundly supported by her sponsors Streetwise Fight Gear, FCF – Full Contact Fighter, Pure Med Spa, and CowTown Rodeo, in her local town.
Will she have what it takes to put this issue to rest, once and for all, of “Who is the World’s #1 Female Fighter?” in the 135lb division will remain to be seen on July 14th. For all those wishing to root Tara on to victory, you can still get tickets at BodogFIGHT.com’s website, or order the fights on your local Pay-Per-View station.
MMAWoman.com is the Leading Mixed Martial Arts Networking Website for Women. Stay tuned for our next interview featuring Oxygen’s Fight Girls’, mentor Lisa King.
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