Kenda Perez: UFC's 'Best of PRIDE FC' Host Talks MMA, Roller Blades and 2012

Don’t be fooled by her gorgeous physical appearance; Kenda Perez is a ninja assassin.

In 1999, at the young age of 15, Perez was ambushed by the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Sensing that Perez’ ninja powers were growing stronger by the day, the Power Rangers viewed her as a threat and felt that she had to be taken out of commission.

Unfortunately for the Power Rangers, Perez was just too much for them to handle, and she swiftly defeated all of them within three minutes and 32 seconds.

Fast forward 12 years to today, and Perez is using her ninja abilities to take the television industry by storm.

In 2009 she was hired by the Ultimate Fighting Championship to host their new hit series on Spike TV, The Best of PRIDE FC.

But before she even thought about getting involved in the television or modeling industries, Perez’ initial dream was to be a preschool teacher.

“I had a lot of fun growing up in high school. I got to go to a really small, private school and that was something that I would always do after school is hang out at the preschool,” Perez told Mitch Ciccarelli and Tuff N’ Uff ring girl Stephanie Ann Cook on a recent episode of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun Radio.

“It was just something that I always thought would be the coolest job. It wouldn’t feel like a job, you’d get to play all day and be around all of these funny innocent personalities. It just sounds like fun and I would definitely consider doing that in the future.”

Her eventual modeling career sparked when a friend suggested she enter the Maxim Hometown Hotties contest. From there, several windows of opportunity were opened, which eventually led to her current job with the UFC.

“I was so fortunate when I was with Maxim because the UFC found me from there. I was doing a lot of promotional stuff and they saw me on camera,” Perez said.

“They were looking for some new talent, so when I got contacted by them, I was ecstatic. I mean I was already a big fan, so it’s really cool to work and be so close to a sport that I am so excited about.”

Perez’ love for MMA didn’t formulate until an ex-boyfriend brought her to a live event. Prior to that, she had been exposed and involved with traditional martial arts.

Her father, Ken Perez, has been studying Shito-Ryu for several years and is a black belt in the art. She remembers being around him a lot and watching him train vigorously. But she was admittedly nervous the first time she was introduced to the sport of mixed martial arts.

“I’ve been a fan of the UFC long before I ever worked for them. Usually it was more of a guy thing [at first] and a guy dragged me to a fight, and I had already kind of been around that scene because of my dad, but not [been around] mixed martial arts,” Perez said.

“So anyway, I got dragged to a fight and I was thinking ‘this is going to be scary’ and I had the best time. It was so awesome. I was sitting in the nosebleed seats but it was so awesome. I mean, who doesn’t love a fight whether it’s professional or not? When there’s a fight, it doesn’t matter, everyone watches.”

Perez’ passion for the sport is very evident when watching her on the Best of PRIDE series. You can see it in her eyes and tell by the excitement in her voice that she truly loves this sport.

So it isn’t surprising that she has a tremendous fan base, and many of those fans have expressed an interest in seeing Perez as a guest Octagon girl for the UFC.

But when ring girl Stephanie Ann Cook brought up the question, Perez expressed some shyness.

“I haven’t been asked to yet but I don’t know if I will. I’m kind of nervous. You guys take on a lot of pressure walking around and everybody is staring at you. I’m not sure if I could handle it. I would be kind of shy believe it or not,” Perez said.

Midway through the interview, it was apparent that something was slightly distracting Perez. Of course, I assumed it was my ridiculously sexy voice, but that would be too obvious.

According to the lovely Perez, there was a strange group of characters in her view at Newport Beach, California.

“I’m literally sitting at the beach right now watching the sun set and watching all of these crazy people skate by and everything. I’m sorry, I’m not distracted at all, I swear. I’m just people-watching,” Perez said.

“There are some punk kids out here walking around. I’m actually on my roller blades as dorky as that sounds. I’m sitting right now because I don’t want to fall. My roller blades don’t have any brakes, so I guess I can’t do both at the same time,” Perez said.

When asked if Perez had the option to fight anyone in the universe, dead or alive, she couldn’t decide. I suggested that potential bouts with either Sarah Jessica Parker or Anna Nicole Smith would be most intriguing, and predicted Perez to win with an Anthony Pettis “Showtime Kick.”

“I’m definitely taking his move, for sure, because that was an awesome end to a fight. I don’t know who I would fight. I don’t think I would pick Anna Nicole Smith. I don’t know how that came up in your mind, but we are definitely not in the same weight class,” Perez said.

Perez might not want to throw down with an Anna Nicole Smith zombie, but her ninja skills may be needed in the year 2012.

After all, that is the year that the Mayans predicted the end of the world, and I believe if that’s the case, it will be caused by a fusion between Facebook and Twitter.

“What are you asking me? I’m so scared right now. So the world might spontaneously combust [if Facebook and Twitter fused together]? That would be crazy, but I don’t know how I feel about that whole 2012 thing,” Perez said.

“I don’t know if it’s real or not, but it kind of makes me nervous and now that you brought it up, I’m all paranoid. But yes if Facebook and Twitter combined, the world would spontaneously combust, or at least my phone would. My phone goes crazy all day, so it would explode if that were to happen.”

To listen to the entire episode, click the link below and follow Kenda on twitter @KendaPerez.

Listen to internet radio with CTHL MMA Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson.

Follow Ciccarelli on twitter, unless you have herpes. @MitchCiccarelli