The Mouth of MMA

Randall and Lacey: We think other people of faith sometimes question that, but we can usually get them to see how we feel. The best part of a fight is that you are testing yourself in every way possible: mentally, physically, and spiritually. We go in there to test our true faith. Anyone can say they have faith but to truly test it in that tough of a situation will really show you where you lie. We also feel God has given us warrior spirits and that is a gift that we should utilize to the fullest.

The Mouth of MMA: If there is any MMA fighter who you would consider an inspiration, who would that be?

Randall: I really appreciate Shinya Aoki. His overall training ethic and fighting style are tops in my book. He is so original that I love to watch him.

Lacey: I really look up to Sarah Kaufman. I think that she trains incredibly hard and it shows in her fights. I also love the positive image she puts out. She is a true competitor in my eyes!

The Mouth of MMA: Lacey, What got you started in MMA?

Lacey: Well, I was always a scrapper as a kid and when I met Randall we were two peas in a pod. He started training and I got tired of always getting picked on so I decided to start training as well. We then steadily progressed into Muay Thai, BJJ, boxing, and Wrestling. Competing was the only obvious direction to go with it.

The Mouth of MMA: How do you find other women react to your involvement in the sport?

Lacey: Well I get four reactions:

The Mouth of MMA: Is it tough for you to find female training partners to work with?

Lacey: Well I have always trained with guys and I firmly believe that has been a huge contribution to my success but I am beginning to train with a few females regularly and I have to say it's alot of fun. It seems that it used to be unheard of to have other female training partners, but I feel it is becoming more and more common. They bring an entirely different energy and it's nice to be able to practice with that before a fight.

The Mouth of MMA: I imagine it's much more difficult for women to get fights. How do you come up the amateur ranks in female MMA and where do you want to end up eventually?

Lacey: Actually it is becoming increasingly more prevalent. It seems every card has a female fight if not more then one every card. Female fighters are becoming a dime a dozen just like the men. As far as working my way up as an amateur it just took a lot of hard work and determination to start to become the level of fighter I aspire to be. Once I earned my title and defended it I felt it was just time to go pro. I also had the incentive of debuting in the Hook N' Shoot 115lbs. tournament in 2009. Now as a pro I am just trying to get better and better every day and become a more well rounded fighter. Now after my 20th fight I am starting to see the sport on a whole new perspective. The level of opponents is constantly increasing and the stakes are getting higher. You have to do more then just "want" to be the best you have to make it happen and that's what I plan on doing!

The Mouth of MMA: Randall, I noticed you are a blue belt in BJJ. Did you get involved in MMA and learn BBJ as part of it or was BJJ the beginning for you?

Randall: No BJJ wasn't the beginning, I started in traditional martial arts (Karate) where I received my brown belt and did school wrestling since 6th grade. I then moved on to Muay Thai with trainer/fighter John Cronk and Boxing with instructor Hale Hilsabeck. I quickly moved on to BJJ studying under Rex Payne who I later received my blue belt under.

The Mouth of MMA: How different do you think it is to be married to someone who participates in your sport as opposed to the "traditional" type of relationship?

Randall: It's good not different. Its good because I have a 24/7 training partner. It gives me another person who understands how I feel to vent to and that pushes me to keep going and never quit.

The Mouth of MMA: Would you ever consider trying to make it onto The Ultimate Fighter?