Barbara Marie Honchak (born August 30, 1979) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional female

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. She is the first

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

Flyweight Champion. She has four wins in the Invicta FC promotion and holds notable victories over

Vanessa Porto Vanessa Alessandra Teixeira Porto (born March 16, 1984) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and amateur boxer who competes in the Bellator MMA flyweight division. Background Porto grew up in Jaú, São Paulo in a family of soccer players. S ...

Roxanne Modafferi Roxanne Vincenta Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American retired mixed martial artist, who most recently fought for the UFC. Though she last fought in the flyweight division, she has fought in multiple weight classes in her career. A p ...

, Leslie Smith and

Felice Herrig Felice Nicole Herrig (born September 18, 1984) is an American retired kickboxer, Muay Thai fighter, and mixed martial artist who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the strawweight division. Background Herrig was born in Buf ...

Background

Honchak grew up in

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,808. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois Territory. ...

and has one sister, Tammy. In her youth, Barb loved outdoor activities like horseback riding, scuba diving and camping. She went to

Edwardsville High School Edwardsville Senior High School is a public high school located in Edwardsville, Illinois. History Edwardsville High School was first located on North Kansas Street in downtown Edwardsville. Due to the expansion of the town, a new high school w ...

, where she graduated in 1997. Then she earned an associate degree from

Lewis & Clark Community College Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 15,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campu ...

. She has a bachelor's degree in molecular biology from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

and her Master's in Ecological Genetics from Northern Arizona University. She is married to her husband, Timm. After receiving her degrees, she moved back to Midwest because of her fiancée's career, and started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu for self-defense under Steve Berger at the age of 26. From there on, she quickly took an amateur mixed martial arts bout and was hooked to the sport.

Mixed martial arts career

Honchak went 8–1 as an amateur mixed martial artist and made her professional debut on November 28, 2009. In her fourth professional fight, Honchak defeated

at Hoosier FC 6 on January 14, 2011. Honchak won three more fights in 2011, defeating Amber McAvoy and

Nina Ansaroff Nina Ann Nunes (; born December 3, 1985) is an American former mixed martial artist who most competed in the women's flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Nunes was born and raised in Weston, Florida. Her materna ...

by decision and

by submission due to a rear-naked choke.

Invicta Fighting Championships

As the first bout of her three-fight contract, Honchak made her

Invicta Fighting Championships Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to Women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is currentl ...

debut on July 28, 2012 at Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann. She defeated Bethany Marshall by TKO in the second round. On October 28, 2012, Honchak faced

Aisling Daly Aisling Daly ( ; born 24 December 1987) is a retired Irish female professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the UFC women's strawweight division. Daly had been a professional MMA competitor since 2007. Daly is well known for her ...

at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama. She defeated Daly by unanimous decision. The victory over Daly earned Honchak a shot at the inaugural Invicta FC Flyweight title on April 5, 2013 at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson. She defeated

by unanimous decision to become the first Invicta FC Flyweight Champion. Honchak faced Leslie Smith at Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith on December 7, 2013. She successfully defended her Invicta FC title, winning via unanimous decision. The bout earned both fighters the ''Fight of the Night'' honors. Honchak faced

Takayo Hashi Takayo (written: , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *Takayo Fischer Takayo Fischer (née Tsubouchi; born November 25, 1932) is an American stage, film and television actress, as well as voice-over a ...

at Invicta FC 9 on November 1, 2014 and successfully defended her title with another unanimous decision victory. As a result of relocating, she had problems finding a team to train in, which in turn led to the stripping of her title due to inactivity.

The Ultimate Fighter

In August 2017, it was announced that after a few years away from the sport Honchak would be one of the fighters featured on ''

The Ultimate Fighter 26 ''The Ultimate Fighter 26'' (also known as '' The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion'') is an installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-produced reality television series ''The Ultimate Fighter''. Tryouts were announced on May ...

'', where the process to crown the UFC's inaugural 125-pound Women's Champion will take place. In the first round, Honchak defeated Gillian Robertson via TKO in the second round, allowing her to move on to the next stage of the competition. In the quarterfinals, Honchak faced Rachael Ostovich-Berdon and won the fight by unanimous decision after two rounds. In the semifinals, Honchak faced

Nicco Montaño Nicco Montaño (born December 16, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who last competed in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She was the inaugural UFC Women's Flyweight Champion. Background Of Navajo, Chickas ...

. She lost the fight via unanimous decision after three rounds.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Honchak was scheduled to face

on December 1, 2017 at The Ultimate Fighter 26 Finale. However, on the day of the weigh in,

Sijara Eubanks Sijara Jihan Eubanks (born April 27, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist who currently fights in the women's bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Eubanks was born and raised in Springf ...

was pulled from the fight for kidney failure while trying to make weight and she was replaced by Modafferi to face

. Honchak instead faced

Lauren Murphy Lauren Marie Murphy (born July 27, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the Women's Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Murphy formerly competed for Invicta FC where she is ...

. She lost the back-and-forth fight by split decision. The rematch between Honchak and

was rescheduled to take place July 6, 2018 at UFC TUF 27 Finale. Honchak lost the fight via technical knockout in round two. Honchak was released by the UFC in August 2018. She has retired since.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

** Flyweight Championship (One time; first; former) *** Two Successful Title Defenses ** Fight of the Night (One Time) vs. Leslie Smith * Women's MMA Awards ** 2013 Fighter of the Year ** 2013 Flyweight of the Year * AwakeningFighters.com WMMA Awards ** 2013 Flyweight of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

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, TKO (elbows) , The Ultimate Fighter: Undefeated Finale , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:32 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

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Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

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Fletcher, North Carolina Fletcher is a town in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,187 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 8,333 in 2018. Fletcher is adjacent to Asheville Regional Airport, which serves western North Carolina. ...

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St. Charles, Missouri Saint Charles (commonly abbreviated St. Charles) is a city in, and the county seat of, St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65,794 at the 2010 census, making St. Charles the ninth-largest city in Missouri. Situated on t ...

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Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. History The site of present-day Valparaiso was included in the purchase of land from the ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center , 1–2 ,

Angela Magaña Angela Magaña (born August 2, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who formerly competed in the Strawweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is also known for competing on The Ultimate Fighter 20 for Team Melende ...

, Decision (split) , Ultimate Women Challenge , , align=center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 ,

St George, Utah St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...

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Cat Zingano Cathilee Deborah "Cat" Zingano (née Albert; born July 1, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championshi ...

, Decision (unanimous) , Fight to Win: Phenoms , , align=center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 ,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

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Mescalero, New Mexico Mescalero ( apm, Mashgal) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Otero County, New Mexico, United States, located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation. The population was 1,338 at the 2010 census. History The settlement was originally call ...

, United States ,

Mixed martial arts exhibition record

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, Decision (unanimous) , rowspan=3, The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion , (air date) , align=Center , 3 , align=center , 5:00 , rowspan=3,

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Gillian Robertson Gillian Elizabeth Robertson (born May 17, 1995) is a Canadian mixed martial artist (MMA). She currently competes in the Flyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Robertson was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Can ...

, TKO (punches and elbows) , (air date) , align=center , 2 , align=center , 2:27 ,

References

External links

*
Barb Honchak
at

*
Barb Honchak
at AwakeningFighters.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Honchak, Barb 1979 births Living people People from Edwardsville, Illinois American female mixed martial artists Flyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Mixed martial artists from Illinois People from High Ridge, Missouri American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners 21st-century American women