Roxanne V. Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American
mixed martial artist.
Modafferi's training began in
taekwondo as a teenager in Pennsylvania, moving on to Mark Lawler's
kempo karate two years later. Full of confidence, she then began attending the Dalton
Judo Club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her description of the experience is; "I thought I was all cool, like the movie stars, but then I learned what it was like to fly". She went on to gain a brown belt in the style, but her training was cut short when she left to study at the University of Massachusetts. Three months before her studies began, a fellow brown belt brought her to a Royce Gracie
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu association in Adams, Massachusetts, where she trained intensively for three months.
Modafferi majored in Japanese Language and Literature with a minor in Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts. While at college, she found the Amherst Athletic club, where New England
Submission Fighting is based. In addition, she trained at another Royce Gracie association in Hartford, Connecticut for about a year (necessitating a weekly two hour round trip), also investigating Jeremy Libiszewski's School of Self-Defence in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Next came Joao Amaral's New England BJJ club, now associated with Brazilian Top Team; Modafferi says "Those guys are tough as concrete is hard, and beat my weaknesses out of me when they found them". To work on her striking, she also attended the Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy's North American branch in Somerville, Massachusetts, run by Kru Mark DellaGrotte.
Modafferi spent September 2003 to June 2004, her junior year, in Tokyo, Japan. This enabled her to compete in a number of NHB and BJJ competitions, where she eventually achieved a 3-0 record in the Smack Girl promotion and defeated Jennifer Howe (who at that time was considered the best in the US, if not the world) in Hook n Shoot. In Japan she trained at the Cross Point club in Kichijouji, which taught both
muay thai and BJJ. She hopes one day to write a book about her experiences during that time, having already contributed several articles on the topic. After graduating in May 2005, she secured a position with Berlitz teaching English in Japan, arriving for the second time in July 2005.
Her last fight was a win by split decision against Cassandra Blaso at Fatal Femmes Fighting, on 2 February 2007.
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