Issue 048

April 2009

“In one single night a woman will become a star” read the line on the poster for the G-Fight Grand Prix, a one night, eight-woman tournament that took place in January in Indiana.

We caught up with tournament winner Lisa Higo mere days after she returned from bulldozing her way through some of the world’s rising female stars to be crowned the first ever G-Fight champion. 

With an enviable background in kickboxing, Lisa’s raw and powerful brawling style is pushing her rapidly up the rankings, and with a BBC documentary team hot on her heels and following her every move, she is sure to make waves in the world of female MMA.  

What were your initial feelings before going out to the G-Fight tournament? Are you a naturally positive person or is that mental side of your game something you have to work on?  

I’m reasonably positive, there is no point going over there thinking you can’t hack it. I was just going out there to enjoy myself and get some experience really.  

The sprawl and brawl tactics you implemented throughout your matches obviously worked well, at what point did you think you may have this one in the bag?

I was taking each fight one at a time, because I didn’t want to be thinking of the final when I was still dealing with the first lady, you know? When I walked out for the final, that’s when I thought ‘okay, maybe we can do this’. As much as I am confident, I don’t want to be overconfident. 

Were you surprised at how big a deal the tournament was?  

I didn’t expect it to be the major competition that it was at all. I didn’t realise that the standard would be so high either. It’s like a dream really, I can’t believe it. It wasn’t until we went for the weigh-ins and saw all the famous faces that we realised what a big deal it was.  

How do you think the learning curve in MMA compares to that in kickboxing?  

I think the amount of time that people have spent with me in the gym has made my learning curve a lot quicker. It’s all about the way you’re instructed. I mean you can go to a lot of places where that may not happen, but the instruction I got from Karl Tanswell at Straight Blast Gym created a very quick learning curve. I was pretty quick at picking up kickboxing too, really; I think I’ve always had my violent streak! (Laughs) 

What spurred your interest in MMA?  

I always wanted a challenge. I’d got two world titles in the kickboxing, two European titles and British titles, so to a certain extent I’d ‘done’ kickboxing. It’s not that I’m leaving it behind or never going to go back to it, but I just wanted to do something else and push myself a little bit more.  

You’ve got a husband and twin sons and a lot of responsibility here in the UK. How far down the line do you plan on following this career, and do your family commitments help or hinder this process?  

The family have always been behind me, and yes, there have always been periods of time where I’ve had to be away – this wasn’t the first time! We are tight and so it’s not a problem.  

The BBC are currently working on a documentary about you, how did that project come about?

They just got in touch with us, liked how I came across and began to follow my path. They followed me to France while I was kickboxing and then followed me to America for my fights over there. They filmed all my training, running, weights, and then filmed me getting on the plane - just everything! It was quite nice really because I had two extra people there cheering for me, which sometimes you need. They even put microphones on the corner men – the opposing corner men, too – which will be quite interesting to hear (laughs).  

Lisa Higo spoke with Percy Dean.