Sara McMann, Super Heroine Of The MMA, Freestyle Wrestling World

Currently being seen by the world as a Super Heroine in the fashion industry, elite sporting world or on film can impose a heavy weight of responsibility on broad feminine shoulders.

No worries.

Female heroines have always worn that ambassadorship well.

Jessica Drew is a fairly common sweet and quiet name.

It’s when she flies through the air as Spider Woman that her legend grows and so does the weight on her shoulders.

**fciwomenswrestling.com article, marvel comics photo credit**

One of the most pressing questions we ask about a Super Heroine is how did she get her start?

We knock on the door of the mothership marvel.com who shares Jessica’s unique beginnings. “When young Jessica Drew suffered uranium poisoning in 1931, her father was forced to inject her with his untested spider serum and seal her in a genetic accelerator.

Jessica possesses superhuman strength (can lift at least up to 7 tons), endurance and speed. She can focus her bio-electric energy into “venom blasts” sufficient to stun or kill normal humans, and she can also adhere to almost any surface. Jessica rapidly forms an immunity to all poisons and drugs, and is totally immune to radiation. Her metabolism generates pheromones which attract human males while repulsing females, though she uses a chemical “perfume” that can nullify this effect.”

Well, mother certainly knows best, but sometimes when you want to know a little more about a pretty girl, you can’t just ask her parents. True?

So we begged marvel.wikia.com for more. They add, “Jessica Drew was born to Jonathan Drew and Miriam Drew. Experimented on by Hydra, she was sent to kill Nick Fury. After being shown the true nature of Hydra, she fled the scene and would later would come back as a hero, bounty hunter, private investigator, and finally as a member of the Avengers.”

And to think. Look where she is at now and look at the humble beginnings she came from.

This story makes us think of Sara McMann, a current Super Heroine MMA Fem Competitor.

In the cage wars she’s very fierce.

In terms of her wrestling skills, she too came from humble beginnings.

We first heard of the Unites States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) and their great accomplishments over the years, so once, several years ago we traveled to Vallejo, California to watch a tournament.

What was most impressive were the number of parents in the stands.

Great success in sports is so often about strong parental support.

Thus from there it was time for Sara to soar and soar she did as she emerged as a super star in the female freestyle wrestling.

Just look at her incredible freestyle wrestling achievements:

USA Senior Women’s Freestyle Olympic Team Trials Winner (2004)
USA Senior Women’s Freestyle Olympic Team Trials Runner-up (2008)
FILA Senior Women’s Freestyle World Team Trials Winner (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)
FILA Junior Women’s Freestyle World Team Trials Winner (1999, 2000)
USA Senior Women’s Freestyle National Championship (2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)
USA Senior Women’s Freestyle National Championship Runner-up (2004, 2008)
USA University Women’s Freestyle National Championship (2002)
USA University Women’s Freestyle National Championship Runner-up (1998)
Northern Plains Senior Women’s Freestyle Regional Championship (2008)
2010 ASICS U.S. Open Wrestling Championships Senior Women’s Freestyle Silver Medalist
2006 Missouri Valley Showcase Senior Women’s Freestyle Gold Medalist

Sara is a super heroine on the mats.

It’s time to expand on Sara origins which led to her heroine status.

She started wrestling at the age of 14 in Marion, North Carolina at McDowell High School.

Sara is the first American woman in history to receive a silver medal in Olympic wrestling, which she won at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

She wrestled in the Women’s Freestyle 63 kg or 138.75 lb. weight class.

She won a silver medal in the 2003 world championships and a bronze medal in the 2005 and 2007 world championships.

In addition to freestyle wrestling, she participated in theatre productions.

She went on to earn a degree in Theatre at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the school’s wrestling team under the coaching of Carl Poff from 1999 to 2003.

In August 2010, Sara was awarded a MA/EDS with a major in mental health counseling from Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina.

Bravo. Well done.

A Super Heroine is duty bound to help others. It’s in their Caped Crusader DNA.

Our super star does volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity.

She traveled to Sri Lanka with Olympic teammates to help victims of the Tsunami rebuild homes for those displaced by the tidal wave.

During her free time she also helps with youth clubs and speaks to upcoming girls and boys about wrestling.

Having accomplished incredible feats as a freestyle wrestler upon retirement Sarah faced the same question that all-star Olympic female freestyle wrestlers and WCWA champions face when they reach the end of the road.

If I want to continue to wrestle and get paid, where do I go from here?

Unfortunately there are not a lot of options out there.

A beautiful woman can become a competitive Submission Wrestler which we in the industry know doesn’t pay well, the matches are far few in between and for most of society’s tastes are too erotic.

Another pathway is to try and become a Lady Pro which typically means becoming a Diva or a Cartoon Character and work the small time circuits that some view as a form of scripted Circus acts.

So more and more former female freestyle star wrestlers like Jessica Fresh from Waldorf University are turning to fighting in the MMA cages for prize money.

Sara made the same decision.

Having said that, if that is the road you are going to travel then you should do it well.

Sara has done it exceptionally well.

On May 28, 2011, McMann made her pro MMA debut at Universal Cage Combat: Revolution. She defeated Christina Marks by submission in the first round.

McMann faced fellow Olympian Julie Malenfant at Blackeye Promotions 4 on June 17, 2011. McMann defeated Malenfant by TKO early in the first round.

In February 2013, Sarah officially joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

She became only the third female to earn a victory in the UFC by defeating Sheila Gaff at UFC 159.

Our former Olympic heroine has gone on to face UFC super stars Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes and Rhonda Rousey.

In December of 2016 the industry site mmajunkie.com reported, “Sara McMann’s UFC run has been a turbulent one, but after a big win over Alexis Davis at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, she appears to finally have some momentum.

After outworking Jessica Eye via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 88 in May, McMann (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) picked up consecutive victories for the first time in her UFC tenure when she scored a second-round submission win over Davis (17-7 MMA, 4-2 UFC) on Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.”

Very fierce.

Very impressive.

Equally impressive is the June 2015 announcement in the global news and entertainment source time.com relating, “The art for the Marvel Comics redesign shows that four popular and recently introduced female characters will feature prominently in the new world: Ms. Marvel, a teenage Muslim superhero; Spider-Gwen, Peter Parker’s girlfriend who, in this version of the universe, is bitten by a radioactive spider and receives super powers instead of him; Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, who will be the leading lady in Marvel Studios’ first female superhero film; and a female Thor, who took up the Norse god’s hammer last year.”

Very exciting.

There’s more.

At the fun industry group screenrant.com they smile, “After years of female superheroes being overlooked by directors and producers, 2016 is shaping up to be a breakout year for female heroes (and villains) of every sort.

It’s great to see female heroes finally getting more opportunities, with many of them proving popular with fans. It means more big roles for actresses, and more chances for fans to see some of their favorite heroes and villains come to life.”

That is very good news for all of us lovers of female Super Heroes like Sara McMann.

Like most Heroines, Sara has adeptly adapted to her environment.

Now that roles are opening up for women on the Super Heroine screen and with Sara’s thespian background, is it possible a transition to acting is in her future?