Kaitlin Young(I)
Kaitlin Rose Young grew up in Circle Pines, Minnesota. Young was not
interested in sports until she began Taekwondo training at age 14 which
lead to a black belt. Young competed in full-contact Olympic-style
taekwondo and later gravitated to Muay Thai after finding its rules
less restrictive. When she was old enough at age 19, she started
training in Muay Thai at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, and later
competed as an amateur with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses. Young's
interest in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) began at the suggestions of her
coach, Greg Nelson, whom incorporated ground fighting in her training.
Nelson had also cornered another fighter during a
BodogFight (2006) MMA event. After
4 months of preparation in MMA, Young's was given an opponent with 5
weeks notice. That person was Lindsey Frandrop who she fought in
October 2007 in the Minnesota-based Brutaal promotion. Young defeated
Frandrop by technical knockout in round two.
A month after she competed in the Hook N Shoot Bodog Women's Grand Prix
Tournament. The winner, in addition to being crowned the tournament
champion, would receive a contract with
BodogFight (2006). Each round went
a maximum of 3 minutes. Called "Last Woman Standing," the tournament's
opening bout put Young against Suzy Smith, who was having her first
professional MMA bout. Smith hit Young with a right punch then landed
body kicks before Young retaliated with kicks and punches of her own.
Young grabbed Smith's head and hurt her with knee strikes to the face,
punches then a final knee, causing Smith to collapse. The referee
intervened and waved off the fight which was a knockout at 22 seconds.
Young advanced to the semifinals to meet
Miesha Tate, who got past the first round by
winning a fourth round referee's decision over
Jan Finney. Tate attempted a takedown but was
kneed in the face by Young, who then staggered her opponent to the
ground with a punch and kick. A disoriented Tate stood up and Young
landed a powerful right kick to the head which knocked her out at 30
seconds. Her final opponent in the tournament was Patti Lee, whom
earlier surpassed Jordan Sprague and Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc in the 125
lbs portion of the tournament, while Young won the 135 lbs side. Like
Young, Lee had a background in Muay Thai plus grappling skills. Young
hit Lee with kicks then punches with knee strikes to her opponent's
body. Lee held off Young for a short time with a push kick.Young
connected with a leg kick then punched her way into a clinch and landed
knees to the body. A final knee to the ribs sent Lee to the ground and
the referee stopped the fight.Young defeated her 3 opponents in under
two minutes to win the Hook N Shoot Bodog Grand Prix Tournament
Championship. Young impressed
'Tara Larosa',then Bodog Fight's Bantamweight
champion who attended the tournament in Evansville, Indiana, and
Jeff Osborne,
the commissioner of
BodogFight (2006).
Under her new Bodog Fight contract, Young signed to fight Sarah
Schneider on a Tuff-N-Uff card in the Las Vegas Sports Center on
Feburary 1, 2008. Featured in the main event was Young's Minnesota
Marital Arts Academy
teammate,Nick Thompson. Young
was taken down by Schneider early and escaped an arm-bar by before
standing back up. Young hit Schneider with a kick and a punch and was
took down again but landed more strikes before the round ended. In the
second round, Young knocked Schneider down with a left punch to the
face. Young followed her opponent to ground and landed more strikes,
but Schneider secured an arm-bar and submitted her 35 seconds in the
round. The loss to Schneider did not hurt Young's career. Days before
Young had signed a contract with
Elite XC (2007), after the fight
with Scneider, booked her in a high profile bout with
Gina Carano. Young moved up in weight to the
featherweight division and weighed 140 pounds before fight day while
Carano went over at 144.5 pounds. Young agreed to fight Carano despite
the weight issues, and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board (NJACB)
put in a stipulation that Young would receive 12.5% of Carano's
earnings for the fight. The two would fight on May 31, 2008 at
Episode #1.1 (2008),which
made history as the first time a MMA event aired on network television.
Carano landed kicks on Young in the opening round. Young attempt a left
kick but Carano held her foot and swept her right leg. Young had Gina
in the guard position on the ground and quickly stood up. Carano landed
more punches, push kicks, while Young landed some leg kicks. Young
reversed a takedown attempt by Carano and ended up on on top in her
opponent's guard. Carano attempted a leg choke submission on Young
before the round ended. In the second round, Young was aggressive as
she hit Carano with punches and leg kicks. Carano responded with kicks
and combinations of punches. The two Muay Thai veterans ended up in a
clinch and exchanged knee strikes. Carano struck with more combo of
punches a front kick which dropped Young. Carano jumped on Young's back
and attempted a rear-naked choke submission. Young resisted until the
round ended. Young had a large swelling near her left eye and cuts on
her face. In her corner the fight ended soon after she sat down. Her
loss to Carano, officially a technical knockout due to doctor stoppage,
lead Young commented on Debi Purcell's
Fighter Girls message board that the attending physician had approved
her to continue for round 3, however the NJACB officials stopped the
fight. Young speculated that CBS might have been perturbed at the
visual of a woman with an injured face on camera. Young also noted that
she was not granted a post-fight interview or given an opportunity to
thank her sponsors.
Later that year in November, Young had been booked to fight
Sarah Kaufman, however
Elite XC (2007) stopped promoting
fights in October 2008 due to money problems. She was absent from
competition for a year, which she later attributed to her work on the
side as a strength and training coach at American Performance
Incorporated, and focus on getting a degree in kinesiology from the
University of Minnesota. At Ironman MMA's first and only show in
November 2009, she fought Shana Olsen whom
she lost to by TKO in the 2nd round. Her next bout was against
Jennifer Tate at Freestyle
Cage Fighting 49 the following January for the "Ladies Night" 8-woman
bantamweight tournament. Tate was tenacious and appeared impervious to
Young's heavy kicks. Tate held her against the cage, landed strikes
then forced a trip. On top, Tate landed punches and elbows to Young's
bleeding face. Tate attempted a choke then mounted Young for further
ground and pound. Tate tried another choke as Young survived to the
second round. Tate again pushed the action as Young landed body kicks.
Young was again held against the cage before being picked up and
slammed. Young resisted Tate's arm-bar attempt until her right hand was
fully extended for the submission.
Young went on hiatus from sanctioned competition in August 2010 to
compete in the TV show
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)
with 15 other fighters. Young and the other participants were
contractually committed and could not fight outside of the show. This
led to the cancellation of a scheduled September 2010 bout between
Young and Liz Carmouche at Crowbar MMA's
"Fall Brawl".
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)was
produced by Lyle Howry, who previously
produced
Ultimate Women Fighters (2008),
Ultimate Kids Kombat (2006),
and
Ultimate Adult Kombat (2006).
The show never televised on NBC stations as planned, and as reports
surfaced about bad treatment on set and fighters not receiving
contracted payments. Young's manager
Nick Thompson, who is also a
lawyer, launched a lawsuit on behalf of her and 6 other fighters from
the show. Other fighters represented in the suit were
Heather Jo Clark,
Patricia Vidonic,Angela Magana,Barb Honchak,
Angela Hayes, and
Michelle Ould. The show's outcome
officially remained secret until it was later revealed through the
lawsuit.
On September 24, 2010, at Utah's Dixie Center, Young won a split
decision over Julie Kedzie. While the show
was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promoters of
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)
did not have a license in that state. Six professional bouts were held
in Utah which included 12 fighters from the show. Young fought Kedzie
again in a main event bantamweight championship fight promoted by famed
coach Greg Jackson. The event
was titled "Jackson's MMA Series 4" and the winner of the bout would be
the Jackson's MMA Series first women's champion. The championship fight
went all rounds and Kedzie won by unanimous decision, which some felt
could have gone either way. Young later attributed the loss partly to
being too relaxed during the fight.
interested in sports until she began Taekwondo training at age 14 which
lead to a black belt. Young competed in full-contact Olympic-style
taekwondo and later gravitated to Muay Thai after finding its rules
less restrictive. When she was old enough at age 19, she started
training in Muay Thai at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, and later
competed as an amateur with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses. Young's
interest in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) began at the suggestions of her
coach, Greg Nelson, whom incorporated ground fighting in her training.
Nelson had also cornered another fighter during a
BodogFight (2006) MMA event. After
4 months of preparation in MMA, Young's was given an opponent with 5
weeks notice. That person was Lindsey Frandrop who she fought in
October 2007 in the Minnesota-based Brutaal promotion. Young defeated
Frandrop by technical knockout in round two.
A month after she competed in the Hook N Shoot Bodog Women's Grand Prix
Tournament. The winner, in addition to being crowned the tournament
champion, would receive a contract with
BodogFight (2006). Each round went
a maximum of 3 minutes. Called "Last Woman Standing," the tournament's
opening bout put Young against Suzy Smith, who was having her first
professional MMA bout. Smith hit Young with a right punch then landed
body kicks before Young retaliated with kicks and punches of her own.
Young grabbed Smith's head and hurt her with knee strikes to the face,
punches then a final knee, causing Smith to collapse. The referee
intervened and waved off the fight which was a knockout at 22 seconds.
Young advanced to the semifinals to meet
Miesha Tate, who got past the first round by
winning a fourth round referee's decision over
Jan Finney. Tate attempted a takedown but was
kneed in the face by Young, who then staggered her opponent to the
ground with a punch and kick. A disoriented Tate stood up and Young
landed a powerful right kick to the head which knocked her out at 30
seconds. Her final opponent in the tournament was Patti Lee, whom
earlier surpassed Jordan Sprague and Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc in the 125
lbs portion of the tournament, while Young won the 135 lbs side. Like
Young, Lee had a background in Muay Thai plus grappling skills. Young
hit Lee with kicks then punches with knee strikes to her opponent's
body. Lee held off Young for a short time with a push kick.Young
connected with a leg kick then punched her way into a clinch and landed
knees to the body. A final knee to the ribs sent Lee to the ground and
the referee stopped the fight.Young defeated her 3 opponents in under
two minutes to win the Hook N Shoot Bodog Grand Prix Tournament
Championship. Young impressed
'Tara Larosa',then Bodog Fight's Bantamweight
champion who attended the tournament in Evansville, Indiana, and
Jeff Osborne,
the commissioner of
BodogFight (2006).
Under her new Bodog Fight contract, Young signed to fight Sarah
Schneider on a Tuff-N-Uff card in the Las Vegas Sports Center on
Feburary 1, 2008. Featured in the main event was Young's Minnesota
Marital Arts Academy
teammate,Nick Thompson. Young
was taken down by Schneider early and escaped an arm-bar by before
standing back up. Young hit Schneider with a kick and a punch and was
took down again but landed more strikes before the round ended. In the
second round, Young knocked Schneider down with a left punch to the
face. Young followed her opponent to ground and landed more strikes,
but Schneider secured an arm-bar and submitted her 35 seconds in the
round. The loss to Schneider did not hurt Young's career. Days before
Young had signed a contract with
Elite XC (2007), after the fight
with Scneider, booked her in a high profile bout with
Gina Carano. Young moved up in weight to the
featherweight division and weighed 140 pounds before fight day while
Carano went over at 144.5 pounds. Young agreed to fight Carano despite
the weight issues, and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board (NJACB)
put in a stipulation that Young would receive 12.5% of Carano's
earnings for the fight. The two would fight on May 31, 2008 at
Episode #1.1 (2008),which
made history as the first time a MMA event aired on network television.
Carano landed kicks on Young in the opening round. Young attempt a left
kick but Carano held her foot and swept her right leg. Young had Gina
in the guard position on the ground and quickly stood up. Carano landed
more punches, push kicks, while Young landed some leg kicks. Young
reversed a takedown attempt by Carano and ended up on on top in her
opponent's guard. Carano attempted a leg choke submission on Young
before the round ended. In the second round, Young was aggressive as
she hit Carano with punches and leg kicks. Carano responded with kicks
and combinations of punches. The two Muay Thai veterans ended up in a
clinch and exchanged knee strikes. Carano struck with more combo of
punches a front kick which dropped Young. Carano jumped on Young's back
and attempted a rear-naked choke submission. Young resisted until the
round ended. Young had a large swelling near her left eye and cuts on
her face. In her corner the fight ended soon after she sat down. Her
loss to Carano, officially a technical knockout due to doctor stoppage,
lead Young commented on Debi Purcell's
Fighter Girls message board that the attending physician had approved
her to continue for round 3, however the NJACB officials stopped the
fight. Young speculated that CBS might have been perturbed at the
visual of a woman with an injured face on camera. Young also noted that
she was not granted a post-fight interview or given an opportunity to
thank her sponsors.
Later that year in November, Young had been booked to fight
Sarah Kaufman, however
Elite XC (2007) stopped promoting
fights in October 2008 due to money problems. She was absent from
competition for a year, which she later attributed to her work on the
side as a strength and training coach at American Performance
Incorporated, and focus on getting a degree in kinesiology from the
University of Minnesota. At Ironman MMA's first and only show in
November 2009, she fought Shana Olsen whom
she lost to by TKO in the 2nd round. Her next bout was against
Jennifer Tate at Freestyle
Cage Fighting 49 the following January for the "Ladies Night" 8-woman
bantamweight tournament. Tate was tenacious and appeared impervious to
Young's heavy kicks. Tate held her against the cage, landed strikes
then forced a trip. On top, Tate landed punches and elbows to Young's
bleeding face. Tate attempted a choke then mounted Young for further
ground and pound. Tate tried another choke as Young survived to the
second round. Tate again pushed the action as Young landed body kicks.
Young was again held against the cage before being picked up and
slammed. Young resisted Tate's arm-bar attempt until her right hand was
fully extended for the submission.
Young went on hiatus from sanctioned competition in August 2010 to
compete in the TV show
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)
with 15 other fighters. Young and the other participants were
contractually committed and could not fight outside of the show. This
led to the cancellation of a scheduled September 2010 bout between
Young and Liz Carmouche at Crowbar MMA's
"Fall Brawl".
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)was
produced by Lyle Howry, who previously
produced
Ultimate Women Fighters (2008),
Ultimate Kids Kombat (2006),
and
Ultimate Adult Kombat (2006).
The show never televised on NBC stations as planned, and as reports
surfaced about bad treatment on set and fighters not receiving
contracted payments. Young's manager
Nick Thompson, who is also a
lawyer, launched a lawsuit on behalf of her and 6 other fighters from
the show. Other fighters represented in the suit were
Heather Jo Clark,
Patricia Vidonic,Angela Magana,Barb Honchak,
Angela Hayes, and
Michelle Ould. The show's outcome
officially remained secret until it was later revealed through the
lawsuit.
On September 24, 2010, at Utah's Dixie Center, Young won a split
decision over Julie Kedzie. While the show
was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promoters of
Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)
did not have a license in that state. Six professional bouts were held
in Utah which included 12 fighters from the show. Young fought Kedzie
again in a main event bantamweight championship fight promoted by famed
coach Greg Jackson. The event
was titled "Jackson's MMA Series 4" and the winner of the bout would be
the Jackson's MMA Series first women's champion. The championship fight
went all rounds and Kedzie won by unanimous decision, which some felt
could have gone either way. Young later attributed the loss partly to
being too relaxed during the fight.