I don't want to bore anyone with details of the struggles that come with being a single parent, let alone a female Mma fighter, let alone the combination of the two with little to no child support for my growing boys who are also aspiring athletes. Needless to say the journey is interesting and amazing, but can be difficult with fluctuating income and costs of training and keeping our heads above water. Any and all sponsorship and consideration is extremely appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
My name is Michelle Ould -one of my earliest memories is my mom telling me if I was a boy I would've been Michael-and I thought that would've been bad ass. Don't get it twisted-I didn't go crazy extreme tomboy – I just didn't know my real dad & my step-dad was something of a dbag-but when you're young dbags can be scary. And i felt if i were a boy I could take care of Mom better. After the way she grew up, I felt she deserved to be treated like a queen. We grew up cleaning everything, chopping wood and shooting guns and laborious boring crap, and if we weren't in the country we were somewhere in the ghetto. The minority and that's when I learned how to fight. At first it wasn't a choice.
Ya, I know it's great that there are a lot of crossover athletes coming over with amazing pedigrees that I can only sit back in awe and envy of. But I know if I would have been given half a chance, I would have done something huge at a much younger age. But when you're always moving houses & schools, living in hotels or with friends or a shelter even in elementary school-it was impractical to hold onto those kind of dreams. I still whooped booty in every physical competition in school though-physical, academic, and anything else that was free. It was all I had. And from the word go, being the new, poor, girl wasn't easy. And some schools weren't the best. And I was picked on. And my mom said-go after the biggest one and see what happens.
It worked. And for a while it worked too well. It was what I was known for-and to this day I regret going that route as a teenager. I went from just fending myself to running with the wrong crowd to running the crowd. And even though mom finally married that man that finally treated her as a queen-it was too late. I liked fighting. Guys, girls, strangers-I was an idiot. I started training to box after being kicked out of 2 schools, and married my high school infatuation, a Professional boxer. It was the only thing that made sense to me. It was what I could do that no one else I knew could and I liked that. Because they all always had everything I could never have-stability, family, security. I was reckless and as a teenager had my freedom taken away. For a long time.
My sons and MMA changed my life. I know I would be dead if it weren't for them. I was such an anti-authority, rebellious, lost kid going on 50 but felt I had nothing Ro lose for a long time. After a while of coming home with straight A's, every award, just everything I thought would get a smile from the people I needed most-and not getting a glance-I got mad. I hated all those spoiled brats in the suburbs that were dumb and shallow & ungrateful for how much they had & how much their parents cared. I wanted to fight the world.
Obviously I dusted that chip off my shoulder-well to an extent. I focused my energy in the right direction because I saw where the other direction went and I like my freedom-in every sense of the word. That's why I always say-this sport, is the easiest part of my life. I am not joking. Yes it's a job-and sometimes I still feel like people insult my intelligence because I am by no means naive-I see BS from a mile away. I had a book and street education with many mistakes. I was the craziest girl out of all my friends and had nothing to lose; I fought all their fights and still ended up alone because c'mon-girls aren't loyal at that age. But I was. And I paid for it. Picking up trash on the side of the road isn't fun. But all those mistakes made me who I am today. I choose my battles now-and the company I keep-with experience & wisdom. I don't wish my path on my worst enemy, but I'm damn proud who I became-the things I've endured would break the average individual. And eventually I would love to be in the position to veer kids heading down that same path in a 180• direction. I never had anyone do that for me.
Now I would rather keep it in the gym and revere the beauty of the art forms which make up MMA. Sure, I got a late start but I'm still that teenager at heart trying to realize a dream now that I get to call the shots. Everything came natural to me-I am an athlete-always have been. And now I have an outlet. And I still manage to be a supportive, stable autonomous parental figure, was the most important role of my life. Kids are way scarier than getting in a cage where you know what the possibilities are going to be. But having kids-on your own? (Expensive on my own I might add) , but I'm overprotective as hell with them. I use to beat people up for my friends-imagine what I do when someone crazy is cutting off the vehicle my precious cargo is in? It's not pretty. But I am getting better at using my words-they just aren't always nice.
Ya I could have rattled off my wins and all the notorious people I have trained with, the grappling tournaments I've won etc. but how generic is that, boring. I am a collective of my experience not just my accomplishments. My sons are my biggest accomplishments. And now that they're getting older, I can focus on tearing the MMA and grappling world up. Then finish my degree when this body can't keep up with the young bucks that may come up, but I am also venturing on investing in multiple businesses to ensure my family is taken care of. Fans and respect is great-but for me its family first. So for those of you that think you know me-not even close. I'm home while y'all are out partying and trying to get a picture with someone famous who won't remember your name.
And as for my current MMA philosophy-which is subject to change, because I do what I want-yes when I go in there I laugh & smile and sometimes am not as vicious as I should be a lot of that anger left me when my brother was killed. But I'm finding my balance between my inner martial artist & the bitchy fighter I have never been able to shelve for very long. It's the perfect combination that I am currently perfecting.
On a lighter note-I'm not that serious in person-I'm a total smart ass joker, life is hard enough, don't take yourself so serious. Before I die I plan on inventing something for convenience at home(I'm a nerd), I hate sad movies & music, I like funny people that can laugh at themselves, practical jokes, and am a firm believer that we should all stay in shape in case of zombie apocalypse so they go after the fat people. If that's not motivation to get in the gym I don't know what is lol.
I've just started my up rise and I'm only getting better. And I don't care what happens in my fight I will always smile and laugh at least once after I get in that cage.
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