Jessica-Rose Clark (born 28 November 1987) is an Australian mixed martial artist who competes in the women’s

Bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

division of the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC).

Background

Clark was born in Cairns, Australia, as the eldest of nine children. Her ailing single mother took care of the children while living on the road in a van and communities. Jessica-Rose attended regular school for the first time in the fifth grade when the family settled in North Queensland. She attended university after graduating from high school, but dropped out during the first semester. After dropping out, she found kickboxing and gradually started training mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Clark made her professional MMA debut in December 2012 in her native Australia. She fought six times over the next two years for various regional promotions, amassing a record of 5 wins and 1 loss.

Invicta FC

After taking nearly a year off from the sport, Clark made her debut with

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 ...

in July 2015. She faced

Pannie Kianzad Pannie Pantea Kianzad (born December 8, 1991, in Ahvaz, Iran) is an Iranian-born Swedish mixed martial artist. She is currently signed by Ultimate Fighting Championship in the Women's Bantamweight division, having previously fought in Invicta FC ...

at Invicta FC 13: Cyborg vs. Van Duin and lost the bout via unanimous decision. Clark returned to the promotion in November 2016 to face

Pam Sorenson Pam Sorenson (born March 3, 1986) is a female American mixed martial artist who competes in Featherweight division of Bellator MMA. She has previously competed in Invicta Fighting Championships, where she is the former Invicta FC Featherweight C ...

at Invicta FC 20: Evinger vs. Kunitskaya. She lost the bout via split decision. Clark was scheduled to face

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 ...

at Invicta FC 26 in December 2017; however, she was removed from the card when she was tabbed by the UFC as a replacement.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Clark made her UFC debut against Bec Rawlings in a flyweight bout, replacing

Joanne Calderwood Joanne Wood (; born 23 December 1986) is a Scottish professional mixed martial artist and former Muay Thai champion who competed in the Women's Flyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Biography Wood first started Muay Thai ...

at UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura on 19 November 2017. At the weigh-ins, Clark weighed in at 128 pounds, 2 pounds over the flyweight upper limit of 126 pounds. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Clark forfeited 20% of her purse to Rawlings. Clark won the fight via split decision. Clark faced

Paige VanZant Paige Michelle VanZant (''née'' Sletten; married name Vanderford; born March 26, 1994), is an American mixed martial artist, bare knuckle boxer, professional wrestler, author, and model. She is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling, as a wres ...

on 14 January 2018 at UFC Fight Night: Stephens vs. Choi. She won the fight via unanimous decision. Clark faced

Jessica Eye Jessica Jo-Anne Eye (born July 27, 1986) is an American retired mixed martial artist. She competed as a flyweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Early life Jessica Eye was born in Akron, Ohio to Randy Allen and Colleen Joanne Eye. ...

on 23 June 2018 at UFC Fight Night 132. She lost the fight via unanimous decision. Clark was expected to face Andrea Lee on 15 December 2018 at UFC on Fox 31. However, Clark was forced out of the bout as she was hospitalized due to weight cutting issues and deemed medically unfit to compete by UFC physicians. As a result, the bout was cancelled. Clark was scheduled to face

Talita Bernardo Talita de Oliveira Neves Bernardo (born March 4, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist (MMA) who competed in the Bantamweight division in the UFC. Background Talita started training Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at the age of 22, after she took ...

on 11 May 2019 at

UFC 237 ''UFC 237: Namajunas vs. Andrade'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that was held on May 11, 2019, at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Background The event was originally expected to be held ...

. However, it was reported on 3 April 2019 that Clark had pulled out of the bout, citing injury. Clark faced

on 9 November 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 21. She lost the fight via unanimous decision. Clark faced Sarah Alpar on 19 September 2020 at UFC Fight Night 178 She won the fight via a technical knockout in round three. In the fight she tore her

Anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

, which prevented her from fighting until mid 2021. After recovering from the surgery, Clark returned after a year to face

Joselyne Edwards Joselyne Edwards Laboriel (born September 29, 1995) is a Panamanian mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Edwards started boxing when she was 13 years old, and after four ...

at UFC Fight Night 196 on October 23, 2021. Clark won the fight via unanimous decision. Clark faced Stephanie Egger on February 19, 2022 at

UFC Fight Night 201 ''UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Hill'' (also known as ''UFC Fight Night 201'', ''UFC on ESPN+ 59'' and ''UFC Vegas 48'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on February 19, 2022, at the UFC ...

. She lost the fight via an armbar submission in the first round. Clark faced

Julija Stoliarenko Julija Stoliarenko (born 8 April 1993) is a Lithuanian mixed martial arts and Lethwei fighter. She currently competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the Bantamweight division. A professional since 2012, she is the former Invicta FC Ban ...

on July 2, 2022 at UFC 276. She lost the bout via armbar submission less than one minute into round one, dislocating her elbow.

Mixed martial arts record

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Janay Harding Janay Harding (born September 28, 1994) is a New Zealand female mixed martial artist who competes in the Featherweight division of the Bellator MMA. Since January 1, 2021 Sherdog has her ranked as the #7 Female Featherweight in the world. Backgr ...

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Emiko Raika Emiko Raika (来家恵美子, born January 24, 1975 in Kyoto, Japan) is a Japanese female professional boxer and mixed martial artist. Although more Japanese women have taken up traditionally male sports such as karate, kickboxing and wrestling ...

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Arlene Blencowe Arlene Blencowe (born 11 April 1983) is a mixed martial artist and boxer, currently competing in the Women's Featherweight division of Bellator MMA, where she is the first Australian female fighter in the promotion's history. As of June 28, ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Jessica-Rose 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Cairns Sportswomen from Queensland Sportspeople from Sydney Sportswomen from New South Wales Australian female mixed martial artists Flyweight mixed martial artists Bantamweight mixed martial artists Featherweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu Australian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Ultimate Fighting Championship female fighters