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#Post#: 1381--------------------------------------------------
From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #122 -
Wired 2015)
By: justsara Date: April 1, 2015, 7:17 pm
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It’s easy to see how this match up was a must-win for either
fighter – both winless and both hungry to prove themselves in
the UMMA. One of these two women is going to come away from
Wired with their first ever win, and that’s always an exciting
prospect for the fans.
“Real talk? I didn’t actually think I’d ever compete again after
November. I admit, it was a tough first few fights – I got my
ass beat,” Krysten professes to reporters at a pre-fight event
in San Antonio. Generally Ritter has kept to herself, not so
much from shyness but an above-it-all attitude which has kept
her largely out of the spotlight – right where she wants. Since
signing with Foxfire, she comes across as an entirely different
person, opening up to reporters more than she ever has. “When I
got the call from my agent that a stable was looking to offer me
a contract, I thought he was full of shit! You just don’t hire
the 0-3 fighters, you know?”
In her first three matches it never looked particularly
promising for the up and coming fighter who struggled to string
together any kind of offense in the octagon. It isn’t at all
unusual for celebs to try, fail, and fade away at the UMMA – and
Krysten was ready to call it quits.
“The Dania rematch… everyone was telling me to bail on that, but
I really thought I could take her! I trained my ass off and all
that I have to show for that was a whoopin’. Plain old fashioned
woopin’, no two ways about it.”
Krysten is an unusual athlete – tall, lanky, pale, skinny, not
particularly graceful. But what she does have – confidence – she
has in spades. “I learned a lot in my first few fights, I’m
better now than I was then, and I’ll continue to grow. I don’t
go into fights expecting to lose, I really believe I can stand
toe to toe with anyone the UMMA can throw at me. So come game
day against Wags, I see myself coming away with a W.”
Many questioned the early acquisition of Krysten from the start
up stable, Foxfire, but looking at their roster a few of the
unorthodox pieces start to make sense, things begin to come into
focus. What we end up seeing are a bunch of fighters with chips
on their shoulders – either abandoned, forgotten or dismissed by
the league as a whole.
“We’re really looking to develop talent at this stage,” Sara
Phillips, Foxfire’s General Manager says of their signing
strategy. The majority of Foxfire’s rosters consists of rookies,
some personally recruited by Philipps who have never fought
before, including Rose Leslie, Lights, and Juno Temple. “There
are things you just can’t account for,” Philipps says, “We don’t
really have the capital to outspend our competition and get the
biggest, best fighters, but we can cherry pick the fighters we
think can and are willing to find a way to win by any means
necessary.”
Across the board, Foxfire has been able to fill their roster
with bargain fighters with loads of upside and potential –
Krysten herself, who now has four fights under her belt, earns
the league minimum, a strategy Philipps employs to keep their
organization fiscally flexible. “Glitz and glam isn’t our
style,” says Philipps, “And these girls know it, they’ve bought
in to it. We all understand what we’ve gotta to succeed here,
and that they were chosen to be a part of this because we
believe they can succeed under this system. In their own special
ways, they represent what we’re trying to do to change the
game.”
Lauren Cohan, the interim stable leader, speaks highly of her
crew, “I was one of the first people Sara reached out to, and I
had a hand in recruiting people for Foxfire. I had seen a couple
of Krysten’s fights and while she was still green around the
edges, she had this uncanny ability to just pick herself up and
dust off brutal losses like they were nothing.” Prior to the
showdown in San Antonio, Ritter had been KO’ed emphatically by a
flurry of punches from Dania Ramirez, earning back-to-back
losses against her rookie rival. “She’ll tell you she was on the
verge of early retirement, but what she doesn’t tell you is that
even after the ref called the fight off, Krysten was back up to
her feet, bloody face and all, totally raring to go! I told Sara
that we had to go get this girl, she just doesn’t quit!”
Gameday. San Antonio. A raucous AT&T center. Within seconds,
Jill Wagner slips Ritter into a legspread submission and things
are looking grim for the Foxfire hopeful. Ritter’s face is
wrought with frustration as she fights to keep her head above
water. Wagner keeps complete control over Ritter for close to a
full minute which seems like an eternity. Ritter knows she needs
to do something – anything – so that Foxfire can walk away with
something to show for their debut effort.
Krysten isn’t the most athletic or the most skilled fighter at
the UMMA, but she has something that’s arguably more important:
she knows how to win. Ritter outwits Wagner with an
out-of-nowhere reversal which stuns the rookie fighter long
enough for Ritter to claw her top off. It’s not the most elegant
victory, but what can you do when you’re exposed to a full
stadium of nearly 19,000?
Cohan and fellow teammate Felicia Day were both in tears when
Ritter’s arm was hoisted into the air victoriously. “It was a
beautiful moment,” Day says of that night. “Lauren and I had a
tough go at it, and we were feeling just sick about letting down
our Foxfire sisters. Then Krysten comes in and pulls off an
incredible reversal and submission in the blink of an eye! We
were… we were just speechless! We couldn't do anything but cry,
we were just overwhelmed and proud of her!”
Foxfire left Wired officially with a record of 1-2, and while it
wasn’t the revelatory opening that GM Sara Philipps had in mind,
the one win they did pull out does seem to bode well for their
future. In its own way, it perfectly encapsulates what Foxfire
is: a little strange, a bit of an underdog, but filled with
fighting spirit.
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#Post#: 1382--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: BadAssBunnies Date: April 1, 2015, 8:38 pm
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That's a really good write up. I really enjoyed it and look
forward to more ;D
#Post#: 1383--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: umma-manager Date: April 1, 2015, 8:41 pm
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Yeah...great stuff!
Do you want me to publish this in the magazine on the website?
I only ask because usually the content in the forum stays in the
forum...and I am emailed directly the content to go into the
magazine.
I'm happy to change that up a bit, just let me know.
#Post#: 1384--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: RampageSports Date: April 1, 2015, 8:45 pm
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Wow... this story has it all! A stable owner trying to build
something on a shoe string budget. An untested stable leader
who puts it all on the line by freely stating that she had a
firm guiding hand in putting the roster together. And a scrappy
underdog the crowd can't help but get behind.
I like this FoxFire group! :D
I really came away with a good feel for who Krysten and Lauren
are, as well as a nice taste of what Sara's all about. And
Felicia's inclusion at the end gave the whole group a nice "all
for one and one for all" feeling.
Very well written. :)
#Post#: 1385--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: justsara Date: April 1, 2015, 10:29 pm
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[quote author=umma-manager link=topic=209.msg1383#msg1383
date=1427938871]
Yeah...great stuff!
Do you want me to publish this in the magazine on the website?
I only ask because usually the content in the forum stays in the
forum...and I am emailed directly the content to go into the
magazine.
I'm happy to change that up a bit, just let me know.
[/quote]
If you wanted to add this to TKO 122 I'm all for it. :) I missed
the deadline to get it in on the last update so I just wanted to
post it on the forums for those who care to keep up with
Foxfire! I definitely know to email you any other articles for
inclusion in future TKO editions.
Thank you all for your kind words, as well! It's quite
encouraging! I have plenty more planned to write for the
magazine and as behind the scenes stuff. Stay tuned!
#Post#: 1386--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: umma-manager Date: April 1, 2015, 10:42 pm
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Brilliant! Thanks :)
The magazine and site update will be sometime next week (I
hope). It's Easter break and I'll be away from my computer...so
things will have to wait.
#Post#: 1387--------------------------------------------------
Re: From Ashes: Foxfire's Krysten Ritter vs Jill Wagner (TKO #12
2 - Wired 2015)
By: Raccoon Date: April 2, 2015, 3:55 am
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HTML http://www.greensmilies.com/smile/smiley_emoticons_unknownauthor_clap.gif
This should definitely be in the magazine.
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