Elaina Maureen Maxwell (born December 16, 1978) is an American

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) fighter, and professional

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

. As a three-time San Shou Champion & BJJ purple belt, she trains under the guidance of Kirian Fitzgibbons and Cesar Gracie. After winning the first American gold medal at the World Wushu (San Shou) Games in Macau, China in 2003, Elaina began to explore Brazilian jiu-jitsu. With five titles and a San Shou record of 14-1 (2 KOs), she was booked to fight at the International Cage Fighting Organization - Warrior's Cup in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

on August 12, 2006.

Early life

Maxwell has a fraternal twin sister named Ila. She started playing soccer in grade school and played volleyball in middle school.

IKF - International Kickboxing Federation

Elaina Maxwell won the IKF Amateur San Shou Rules Super Welterweight United States Title by forfeit when her opponent Melissa Alley pulled out of the bout after the event started on July 24, 2004 in San Jose, California. First Defense: July 23, 2005, San Jose, California: Defended her title when she defeated Tiffany Chen of New York, NY with a round kick to Chen's face that split her chin open at 1:27 of round 1 stopping the bout.

Mixed martial arts career

Maxwell was part of

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

's first female

bout against

Gina Carano Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and former Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. She competed in Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce (mixed martial arts), Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, where she compiled a 7– ...

on December 8, 2006. She lost the fight via Unanimous Decision. She faced Michelle Maher in an MMA title match on July 24, 2007 at Melee on the Mountain. She won the fight via Split Decision and is currently the Golden State MMA Light Middleweight Champion. Maxwell faced Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson on June 27, 2008. She lost the fight via Unanimous Decision. She was scheduled to face Alexis Davis at Raging Wolf 7: "Mayhem In The Mist 3" on May 8, 2010, but pulled out of the fight due to an injury. Maxwell faced Lizbeth Carreiro at Freestyle Cage Fighting 44 on July 24, 2010. She won the fight via TKO in the first round. Her next fight was against Alexis Davis at Raging Wolf 9 on August 28, 2010. This fight was originally for the Raging Wolf Women's Flyweight Championship but Maxwell was unable to make the 135 lbs weight limit, so the fight was changed to a non-title, three-round contest. Maxwell won the fight by unanimous decision. On November 19, 2010, Maxwell faced

Shayna Baszler Shayna Andrea Baszler ( ; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and a former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. She is best known for her time in WWE, where she became a former List of NXT Women's Champions, two-time and lon ...

at The Cage Inc. - Battle At The Border 7. Despite controlling the striking exchanges, Maxwell lost the fight by submission due to a kneebar in the first round. Maxwell faced fellow Strikeforce veteran Shana Olsen at Crowbar MMA: Spring Brawl 2 on April 29, 2011 in

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. She won the fight by unanimous decision. On July 23, 2011, Maxwell faced Angela Samaro at King of the Cage: Shockwave in

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. She defeated Samaro by TKO in the third round. Maxwell faced Ashley Sanchez at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2 on March 30, 2012 in Kearney, Nebraska. She won the fight by unanimous decision. Maxwell was scheduled to face

Julia Budd Julia Budd (born July 4, 1983) is a Canadian mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist and Kickboxing, kickboxer competing in the Featherweight (MMA), featherweight division. She was the first List of Bellator MMA champions#Women's Featherweight ...

at Invicta Fighting Championships 3 on October 6, 2012, but she was forced to withdraw from the fight due to suffering a concussion in training.

Media

Maxwell was featured on MSNBC's Warrior Nation as she prepared to face Gina Carano.

Mixed martial arts record

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Kearney, Nebraska Kearney ( ) is the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 33,790 in the 2020 census, making it the 5th most populous city in Nebraska. It is home to the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The westward pus ...

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Hankinson, North Dakota Hankinson is a city in Richland County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 921 at the 2020 census. Hankinson was founded in 1886. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND– MN Micropolitan Statistical Area. History A post office has been ...

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Niagara Falls, New York Niagara Falls is a City (New York), city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagar ...

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Claremore, Oklahoma Claremore is a city in and the county seat of Rogers County, Oklahoma, Rogers County in northeastern Oklahoma, United States. Its population was 19,580 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, a 5.4% increase over the 18,581 recorded in ...

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San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

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References

External links

Elaina Maxwell Awakening Profile
*
Official MySpace Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxwell, Elaina Living people American female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sanshou Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners 1978 births Martial artists from San Jose, California American sanshou practitioners American female kickboxers 21st-century American women