Minnesota MMA Fighter Kaitlin Young: Women's MMA Is 10 Years Behind Men's

Nick CaronJun 2, 2018

Consensus top-10 women’s bantamweight contender Kaitlin Young expects 2012 to be her year.

The Minnesota fighter out of The Academy started things off strong, earning a victory in her own backyard, defeating Canada’s Anna Barone in the main event at Downtown Showdown 2.

The fight, which was originally set to take place at 140 pounds, showcased Young’s ever-growing skills on the feet as well as her ability to overcome adversity against a naturally larger opponent who did not show up prepared on weigh-in day.

“Normally I fight at 135 and occasionally I’ll go up to 140,” Young told BleacherReport.com. “And then the day before Christmas Eve, [Barone] had emailed the promoter requesting that we move up to 145. She was willing to give up a percentage of her purse, which was nice, but 145 is a lot for me.”

The women eventually agreed to a catch weight of 142 pounds, with a one pound allowance which allowed either fighter to weigh in at 143 pounds. So when Barone stepped on the scale at 147.5 and told officials that she would not be able to cut any additional weight, the fight could have been off.

“I thought maybe she would miss, but I didn’t think it’d be by that much. l mean, that’s even more than the extra weight she had asked for,” Young said. “I will say that Mel Ott and Jeremy Bjornberg [promoters] were great and didn’t pressure me at all. They made me feel super comfortable to make the decision that I thought was best.”

After weighing the pros and cons, Young opted to accept the fight with the prerequisite that neither fighter would be allowed to weigh-in above 151 pounds on the day of the fight.

“I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that she realized this was in my hometown, that I probably sold tickets and that there was probably no way I was going to pull out,” Young explained. “So why make weight? Why put yourself through hell to drop another four pounds if I’m not going to pull out anyway?”

Young thoroughly dominated the fight itself, nearly breaking Barone numerous times with a series of thunderous body kicks in the first round and then following it up with some knee-buckling leg kicks in the second. The fight was eventually stopped by the doctor between the second and third rounds after Young opened up a significant cut above Barone’s right eye.

“I didn’t see how bad [the cut] was, but I heard that she got 12 stitches. I think she is a very strong-willed and tough woman, so I can see her being bothered by a fight being stopped for just a cut,” Young praised her opponent. “Honestly, I was a little surprised that the leg kicks didn’t stop her. That’s what I was hoping to do.”

A victorious Young told fans after the fight that she was looking to take some time off from the intense training schedule she had in 2011. But the time off won’t be too long as she is still looking to step back in the cage sometime in April.

“I’ll still be in the gym. I need a little time off the diet. When you train that long with a lot of intensity, you don’t get time to develop your other skills and improve your weaknesses,” she said. “I’m looking to get a little heavier into boxing, because I feel like that’s my weakness in the standup.”

As one of the top female fighters in the world, Young could certainly compete with some of the best of the best on the big stage, but told BleacherReport.com that she would not necessarily jump at the opportunity to fight for Strikeforce.

“Strikeforce has so many awesome people to compete against, but I think I would be hesitant because they have a tendency to sit on a lot of their fighters for a long time. Six months at a time even,” she explained. “I’m having a lot of opportunities in getting fights lined up right now and really with Strikeforce and ProElite, when you see how much they pay some of the female fighters, it’s at best what you can get at a local show. You can probably make more at a local show if you have decent ticket sales and sponsors.”

“It’s great exposure, but in a lot of ways, I don’t think they’re doing enough for entry-level women. Women that are just coming in there. You see them fighting for [$1500 to fight] and [$1500 to win] and I just think it’s kind of fascinating. And then you only get to fight like twice per year.”

But whether she is going to be competing in the promotion anytime soon or not, Young certainly does not shy away from expressing her opinions about the current Strikeforce bantamweight division and the upcoming title fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

“I think it’s total crap that Sarah Kaufman is getting stepped over for a title shot,” Young bluntly stated. “I certainly do think [Rousey] has a chance to beat Miesha and if she was just a pretty face, she would not be in line for a title shot. She’s an amazing athlete. I think that fight would have been awesome down the line, but Sarah never should have been stepped over for a title shot.”

Young herself is the owner of one of only two losses [Sarah Kaufman] that Miesha Tate has ever suffered. Her frustration with the way that other, more experienced contenders for Tate’s title have been passed by for Rousey is evident.

“I think it’s just an effort to sell tickets, and it will. So many people are going to tune in for that fight, but I also feel like it’s a very unfair situation.”

Young admitted that the Rousey-Tate fight will help to promote the women’s divisions in MMA, but also noted that there is still quite a bit of room to grow.

“Women’s MMA is essentially like 10 years back from men’s. Men’s MMA has had great athletes from other sports infiltrating for years and only really in the last year or two has that it has started to happen in women’s MMA with Ronda Rousey, Sara McMann and all these women coming from other sports,” she said. “In order for women’s MMA to hit a level it needs to, there has to be a fair number of female fighters who are able to just fight. Meaning it being they’re making enough money fighting that it can be their full-time job. That’s where you see fighters take it things the next level when they’re not having to go work eight hours at night to support their training habit.”

Young herself is not going to sit back and wait for the sport to grow, however. She continues to climb the ladder and plans to further cement her name in 2012.

“Fans can expect me to be very busy,” Young said on her plans for this year. “I plan on taking a lot of fights and hopefully continuing to work with promoters that are a little more reliable than some that I had worked with last year.”

With her growing skill-set and an elite team around her at The Academy, Young could find herself with some real opportunities over next 12 months. It will be very interesting to see where this exciting young fighter goes from here.

Young would like to thank her teammates at The Academy, as well as her sponsors GameBred Fightwear, Ethic Fight Co, One-N-Done and Intimidation Clothing. Fans can find her on Facebook as well as Twitter (@kaitlin_young).