Issue 126
March 2015
Gulf War refugee Randa Markos fled her homeland, overcome an abusive family life and grinded her way through TUF 20 to make it into the UFC. But she’s a championship belt away from being finished
Age: 29
Pro debut: 2012
Aliases: quiet storm
Team: Michigan top team
Weight: strawweight
Height: five-foot-five
Style: wrestling/jiu-jitsu
Randa Markos has spent a lifetime fighting. After all she was born in a country plunged into the depths of war, but now she insists she’s on her own journey to become the next UFC strawweight champion.
Markos, a native of Iraq in the Middle East, was born during hard times and suffered a tough upbringing in the midst of the Gulf War. The Markos family eventually escaped the conflict when Randa was three, but they were imprisoned and held at gunpoint as part of a dramatic ordeal before they settled in Windsor, Ontario.
“I want to prove to everybody that even though I came from a really rough childhood and background, look how far I have come,” explains the TUF 20 starlet, who lost out to Rose Namajunas in the show’s semi-finals.
Although, ‘Quiet Storm’ escaped a war zone and was living in Canada, she still experienced hardship in her new home. Her father became an alcoholic and verbally and physically abused the family.
The 29-year-old was also raised to have the mind-set and traditional beliefs of women in her homeland as part of a strict upbringing. It’s no surprise that her family expected her to take a wildly different career path. Prizefighting for a living was the last thing they expected from her.
“It was hard to follow my dreams,” she reveals, “I didn’t let anybody take me down and make me believe that I should be cooking and cleaning and married at the age of 19.”
Despite the difficulties she faced, Markos attributes her mental toughness and gritty fighting style to her upbringing and says that it only made her stronger. That attitude served her well when she found an escape in the wrestling room, where she learned a fundamental set of skills to use in the cage.
“I didn’t let anything stop me, not my family, not my dad, not anybody,” she says. “Everything was really difficult, not just mentally but physically as well. To put aside everything and go to wrestling practice as if nothing happened at home was hard but it really made me stronger.”
After wrestling she started training jiu-jitsu and then MMA at Michigan Top Team. Countless hours of training prepared her for a pro career, which started during the golden age of women’s MMA.
“I started MMA when it was just getting big for women so I think I started off at a great time. I wish I was younger but I didn’t know about it at the time.”
An explosive 4-1 start to her career earned Markos a spot in the TUF house. Unfancied at the start of the tournament as the #14 seed, she justified her selection for the show with a run through to the semi-finals. As part of the dominant Team Pettis, she upset both Tecia Torres and Felice Herrig on the way to the final four.
The UFC’s reality show gave the women’s 115lb division a platform and propelled Markos into the limelight. Though she lost her fight at the finale by split decision to Jessica Penne, she says the experience gave her a lot of confidence.
“I learnt a lot about myself in the house,” she says. “I learnt that I can handle it and I think I’m a lot stronger, mentally, than most of these girls. I thought the girls would be training harder than me and I thought they would be tougher, but I soon realized that they weren’t.”
Carla Esparza eventually won the UFC strawweight belt by beating Namajunas in the Finale, but Markos has aspirations to hold the title before the year is out.
“I really think me and Carla would be a great match-up,” she says. “Hopefully, by the end of the year I’ll get that title fight and when I get the belt I want to hold it for a long time.”
Of course, she’s got to get there first. She’s among a growing stable of fighters who are in the hunt for the gold, but first on the agenda is erasing one of her losses.
“I really want a rematch with Jessica Penne,” she says. “I really think next time I fight her it’s not going to be as close.”
Though she has a hit list, ultimately, Markos is the type of fighter that wants to do her talking in the Octagon. She believes that her hard work in the gym has given her the tools to succeed.
“Maybe I’ve been a little hard on myself but I’m going to work harder,” she says. “I know how hard I work. Being in that house has made me realize that I do have a shot at the belt and I will do whatever it takes to get there.”
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