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Karli Jo Thomas | UFC Fight Pass Fighter To Watch
Strawweight Prospect Karli Jo Thomas Turned Heads With A Standout Performance In Her Professional debut. Now She Returns To Face Another Undefeated Opponent At CFFC 145.
Saturday, August 30 will see the second pro fight of Cage Fury Fighting Championships strawweight Karli Jo Thomas, who has emerged as one to watch in the women’s 115-pound division of the promotion.
After a nine-fight amateur career that saw her compile a record of six wins, three losses, Thomas turned pro earlier this year when she made her CFFC debut at CFFC 142 in Atlantic City back in May.
Competing on the prelims against 2-0 opponent Lateesha Mohl, Thomas impressed with a high-energy performance to secure a stoppage win on her pro debut.
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Thomas opened up with some educated kicks to the legs and body, before stepping into the pocket and letting fly with vicious combinations. Then, the debutant showed her well-roundedness as she changed levels and took her opponent to the mat.
Thomas’s activity didn’t slow on the mat as she moved into dominant position on top, landing punishing ground strikes while looking to find an opening for a submission.
Eventually, the action returned to the feet, but Thomas didn’t allow any separation as she locked up a guillotine choke, dragged Mohl to the mat and forced the tap.
“I work my butt off, every single day,” an emotional Thomas told Din Thomas after her victory.
“Since I was 12 years old I’ve been dreaming about this day. This dream has been made a reality.”
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“I just want to keep fighting the best people I can fight, so they bring out the best in me. I’ll take whoever. I don’t care.”
As professional debuts go, it doesn’t get much better. Thomas got to show her striking, her takedown abilities, her dominance from top position and, finally, produced a submission finish. And she did it all in the space of two minutes, 31 seconds against an opponent with more professional experience than her.
One person who was particularly impressed was CFFC General Manager John Morgan, who was on play-by-play commentary duty for Thomas’s pro debut.
“Karli Jo made her professional debut in May, and she was one of the most talked about performances after the night was over,” Morgan told us.
“You just can't show much more than she did in half of a round. Aggression, striking, submission skills – all of it was there, and then you look at her willingness to face anyone, and you have to be impressed.”
Thomas wants to inspire, both inside and outside the cage. In addition to her exploits as a professional mixed martial artist, Thomas also coaches women’s wrestling at Waynesburg University.
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Thomas was hired as head coach as the university launched women’s wrestling as a varsity sport at Waynesburg, and the budding strawweight prospect is every bit as enthusiastic about her coaching as she is her fighting career.
"This a dream come true, the opportunity to engulf myself into something I've been passionate about since I was 10 years old," said Thomas.
"I've always envisioned something like this but about 15 years from now. It's an incredible time in the history of women's wrestling. I'm ready to start growing the women's team at Waynesburg and build the program into something life changing for these young ladies."
On August 30, her wrestling team will turn from students to supporters as Thomas swaps the wrestling mats for the CFFC cage when she returns to action on the main card of CFFC 145.
Thomas will face a tough test when she takes on undefeated Syndicate MMA prospect Annabel “Hell’s Bells” Kelly, who arrives in CFFC with a perfect 3-0 record that includes two TKO finishes.
It’s a battle between two rising talents at 115 pounds, and if Thomas emerges with the victory, it will send a message to the rest of the prospects in the division, and send an early alert to the UFC’s matchmakers that she’s making the right steps early in her pro career.
“She's taking on her second undefeated opponent in three months, knowing that UFC matchmakers want to see an impressive strength of schedule along with entertaining offensive output,” Morgan explained.
“She's got another tough opponent in front of her, so we'll see how she follows up that debut.”
CFFC 145 streams live from 6pm PT / 9pm ET on UFC Fight Pass