Danny Lafever and 55-seconds to last a lifetime

All it takes is one perfectly placed punch and any man or woman can defeat another in a fight — no matter how wide the contrast in experience or skill. On one fateful Saturday night in October 2003, that couldn’t have been personified any better than it was by 25-year-old Danny Lafever. With 17 years in the rear-view mirror, Kalama, Washington’s Lafever currently lives his life as a union carpenter building scaffold. A profession he’s been entrenched in for 13 years and counting.

Rise of the Rose City Phoenix: Randi Field’s journey from near-death to pro fighter

Margaret Carr covered her ears and released a shriek of terror upon discovering her son with his leg twisted completely backward. Looking down the stone road, she saw an injured and disoriented Randi Field. It was unknown if the eighth-grade student would survive and when police arrived on the scene they expected a fatality on their hands. If not for eight-year-old Brandon Carr, there wouldn’t have been any speculation.

Jessica Penne: The Healing Power of Time and Patience

15 years and counting. That’s the amount of time Jessica Penne has found herself entrenched in a mixed martial arts lifestyle. However, for four of those, she had her livelihood held out in front of her within reach seemingly begging for its pursuit to end. Every athlete in sports experiences their own ups and downs, wins and losses are just a part of the game – no matter what game it is. Penne, 38, acknowledges that openly and has perhaps seen it better than most – not only in her own journey... (cont.)

Through it All, Stand Sure: Megan Anderson's magical night in Melbourne

With a population of more than 560,000 and residing comfortably on the east side of Australia is the country’s sixth-largest city, the Gold Coast. Throughout the ’90s and 2000s, this would be where the life of Megan Anderson began. Fast forward to October 2019, and the UFC featherweight returned to her home country at the biggest event in Australia and New Zealand MMA history. In doing so, it would be her first time competing on her native land since she last did four years prior.

The women of MMA: Top 20 greatest fights of all time

At UFC 248 earlier this month, Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk put on an instant classic inside the Octagon. As soon as it was over, many in the MMA community were praising it as one of the very best fights of all-time – regardless of gender. And for very good reason. With that in mind, the contest automatically went to the peak when discussing MMA fights involving female athletes. So where exactly does it fall among the very best? Is it easily No. 1?

The girl from Olsztyn that fulfilled her dreams, Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Joanna Jedrzejczyk is one of MMA’s all-time greats. As she prepares to try and get back into title contention, she looked back at how she got to where she is. For every single little thing in this world, there is a starting point. And throughout a lifespan of whatever it may be, smaller variants of conditions that have their own beginnings within the overall picture will play out as well. When those cycles end, it just opens the door for a new commencement. Tracing back along the roots of one’s origin can dust off some of the most important stories that led to where things grew to be. As a book gets its first word inked onto page one, there is always a vision the author has in mind for their portrayal and where the conclusion will be.

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