ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando’s own Felicia Spencer knows a thing or two about paving a path.
What You Need To Know
- An Orlando-area female MMA fighter coaches others to success
- Felicia Spencer motivates and inspires young girls by trying to be genuine
- One of her trainees, Ariana Melendez, won her first professional fight in March
“That’s like the ideal road to the top for me. It’s like Invicta first, UFC next, then the rest is history,” said Spencer, a professional MMA fighter.
With an 8-2 professional record, Spencer is still working her way to the top, but an even more important checkmark is the example she is setting along the way.
“The first thing I think about is the young girls at the gym, the kids... The picture you get on TV of female fighters is it's not a real person that they present, it’s an athlete, so I try to be a real person in the gym.
"You can smile, bad hair days — I’m just a normal person,” Spencer said.
She's also laying a foundation for female fighters like Ariana Melendez.
“I get to train with someone who's where I want to be eventually," Melendez said. "No matter how many people doubt you, no matter how many people say you can’t make it, there is living, breathing proof that it is possible.”
Melendez won her first professional fight in March, and her dream is now one step closer as she prepares for her first fight with Invicta fighting championship, a pro women's MMA promotion.
“I started from nothing, and I’m at this amazing fight promotion now that people like Felicia and great UFC fighters have been to. It’s great because I hit that mile mark, and I’m ready to keep crushing the goals that I have,” she said.
It's those goals that are within reach, thanks to female fighters like Spencer who forged the path before her.
“I still get it all of the time (people asking), 'How can you let yourself get all beat up? What about your face?' and I'm like, 'I'm fine. It’s all cosmetic.' You’d be surprised how fast all that heals up, but the character-building and the mental toughness — that stays forever,” Spencer said.
As Spencer’s journey to the top continues, her ultimate priorities become clearer.
“At the end of the day, if I have the belt, if I have money or this or that, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just the people in your life that matter,” she said.
Meanwhile, she's not only dominating in the cage, she's constantly motivating the people in her octagon.
“If you believe in yourself, and you have someone that is at the level you want to be at, believe in you, too. There’s no doubt left,” Melendez said.