Melbourne mixed martial artist Lisa Kyriacou is closing in on an opportunity that five years ago would’ve seemed fanciful, at best.
‘The Savage’ faces Thai superstar Nat ‘Wondergirl’ Jaroonsak in a strawweight MMA battle at ONE Friday Fights 26 this Friday, July 21.
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Wind the clock back a few years and the bright lights of Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, weren’t even on the 29-year-old’s radar.
Kyriacou was working as a dental laboratory assistant and, like most 20-somethings, was letting her hair down on the weekends – perhaps too much, by her own admission.
Unbeknown to the Greek Cypriot, the trajectory of her life would suddenly change when an MMA gym caught her eye.
“I started at 24 (years old). Basically, I used to work in the dental industry, and on my break, I walked past Absolute MMA in the CBD,” she recalls.
“I thought to myself that I need to do some form of training just to keep fit. I was going out quite a lot at that time, partying a little bit. I felt like I needed to get away from it, so one thing led to another. I started training there and just became obsessed with the training.”
This isn’t one of these sporting converts that MMA is littered with; she literally waltzed into Absolute with no athletic background whatsoever.
But like many wide-eyed newbies, Kyriacou was enamoured by mixed martial arts training, which brought an adrenaline rush that a night out simply couldn’t match.
“I have absolutely zero sporting history behind me. It was the first gym I had ever walked into,” she said.
“It was nerve-wrecking (sic) but in a good, exciting way. I love an adrenalin rush, and stepping into the ring for the first time definitely gave me that and much more.”
Kyriacou quickly found that she possessed real physical strength and was able to use it to find some success. After a year of sweating it out on the mats, she was ready to test herself in the cage.
Or so she thought.
While her determination couldn’t be questioned, her coach was less enthused and advised Kyriacou to continue to hone her skills before taking a fight.
The wait would prove to be worth it, however, as she recorded a TKO win on debut and went on to cultivate her newfound passion over the course of a nine-fight amateur career.
“After about two years, I ended up having an amateur fight and then, yeah, I just became hooked on the sport,” she said.
“After my first amateur fight, even though I was very fresh and green at that point, I said to my friend that this is what I’m meant to do with myself. Now here I am doing this full time. I believe I found my passion that I didn’t even know existed, so it’s pretty cool.”
Kyriacou turned professional in 2021, falling to defeat in her first outing. Not to be deterred, she quickly rebounded with a win just two months later. Soon, Kyriacou realised that to take her career to the top, she would have to focus 100 percent on the sport.
“I think (I went full-time) around my second or third pro fight. I just realised that this is what I was meant to do, so I stopped working in dental and committed my time to training full-time,” she said.
“At that point, I had a few clients that I held pads for and a couple of classes that I was coaching in the gym. I was like, ‘I’m either going to get really broke right now, or things will work out for me.’ Thankfully it’s all worked out for me. I’ve actually gotten myself more clients.”
The brave leap proved to be fruitful as she embarked on a six-fight win streak against some of the best female fighters on the local scene.
As her professional record reached a 6-1 mark, Kyriacou claimed a local flyweight MMA title in February. But her remarkable ascension up the rankings may not have been possible if it weren’t for the fateful decision to leave her day job and go all-in on MMA.
“That risk definitely helped me improve as a fighter, because now I’m training multiple times a day at the gym,” she said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I was still working a day job, so it’s all working out for me, which is great.”
Her impressive title-winning effort turned heads and, importantly, gained the attention of ONE Championship.
The global martial arts giant showed their faith in Kyriacou’s abilities by offering one of its rising stars for the Aussie’s debut.
The 24-year-old Jaroonsak is a 54-fight Muay Thai veteran who made her MMA debut with a shocking submission win over Zeba Bano back in May 2022.
Jaroonsak’s accolades aren’t lost on Kyriacou, who is confident of getting the job done against the two-time Thailand national Muay Thai champion.
“My coach Simon Carson called me and said, ‘You’ve been offered this fight against this opponent.’ I knew who Nat (Jaroonsak) was before this, so that’s pretty cool,” she said.
“I thought this is a great opportunity for me. Obviously, it’s a big show, big opponent name, great opportunity, good fight. So I’m really excited to be making my ONE debut on Friday.”
ONE’s Friday Fights series brings with it the opportunity for fighters to be selected for a six-figure contract with the promotion, and a win over a famous name in Jaroonsak would do Kyriacou’s chances no harm.
But she is refusing to let her mind wander toward the spoils potentially on offer, instead choosing to simply focus on the job at hand this Friday night.
“I’m going to take each fight as it comes,” she said. “I don’t like to think any further than that. I’m going to get this job done on Friday night and see what’s going to happen after that.”
Another thrilling edition of the ONE Championship unfolds with Friday Fights 26 at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Plenty of action-packed Muay Thai and mixed martial arts contests fill the Friday night card. Watch ONE Friday Fights 26 live on 7plus from 10:30pm AEST on Friday night.
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