NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with wrestler, grappler, and MMA fighter Lia Mata'afa.

At the recent 2012 FILA World Championships in Grappling, Pankration, and Amateur MMA, she won a world championship in women's amateur MMA at 71 kg and finished fifth in women's no-gi grappling, also at 71 kg, Representing American Samoa, she also finished second at the 2012 Oceania Championship in women's wrestling and fifth at an Olympic Qualification Tournament in March, both at 72 kg. Currently she is tied for second in the FILA world rankings in women's amateur MMA for athletes of all weights, only behind another world champion, Anna Bezhenar of Ukraine.

Lia first came to prominence in the combat sports while in high school, winning a girl's state high school wrestling championship in 1998 at 140 pounds, representing Lahainaluna High School. While she did not wrestle while attending college in Boston University, she has in recent years returned to the combat sports. Again based in Hawaii, she believes that she is ready to make her mark.

"Only in the past maybe three or four years I got back into it. When I was back in Hawaii I started training MMA with Chris Leben. He has a gym out here," she said in this interview, which was recorded by phone Monday. "It started off just to stay in shape and have fun, but I'm so competitive I wanted to start competing."

Her goals for 2013 include winning another FILA world championship in amateur MMA, and then going into professional MMA. She also will be competing at the MMA World Expo in New York, February 16-17.

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ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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