(The Road to UFC Fight Pass with Sarah Wilson)
(20 Questions):
1) Brief Bio
a. Where is home?
"I moved to Cape Breton from the Okanagan in British Columbia 3 years ago."
b. When not doing BJJ/grappling, what do you like to do?
"Training takes up a significant amount of my time. I also work full-time and am a student finishing up with a degree. I am an avid hiker and try to get outside to hike in nature with my dogs most days of the week. Other hobbies and interests include gardening (indoor plants or outdoor vegetables), foraging, skateboarding, rock climbing, paddleboarding, snorkeling, snowboarding, camping, and pretty much anything that gets me outside. I love to travel and have been doing so on my own since I was a teenager!"
c. What makes Atlantic Canada a unique place to live and train?
"Atlantic Canada, specifically Cape Breton, offers me a slower pace of life with more affordable living costs. I love how accessible the outdoors is here and how easy it is to get outside and explore. Living with the ocean at my front door is such a wonderful thing that makes every day better. The training looks a little different here because of the remote location. There are fewer gyms out here, but I am lucky to have found a great gym at Sprawl or Brawl MMA and together we work very hard to bring high-level training to our little island."
(2) How long have you been training BJJ?
"I have been training Jiu-jitsu for about 8.5 years."
(3) What was your draw to BJJ or your reason to join the art?
"I started training Muay Thai as a way to learn self-defense as a single woman who traveled alone quite often. I tried a jiu-jitsu class at a gym that had both and became quickly addicted to it."
(4) Belt Lineage:
Brown Belt:
Carlson Gracie > André Pederneiras > John Lewis > Marc Laimon -> Sterling Redlack -> Sarah Wilson
(5) Where do you train regularly/home base gym?
"I train at Sprawl or Brawl MMA in Glace Bay, Cape Breton. Sprawl or Brawl is affiliated under Pictou County Jiu-jitsu, so I travel there often to train as well.
I am still under my coach, Sterling Redlack, at RDC Jiu Jitsu back in BC and train there often when I am in town. He helps me virtually as well with match analysis and making technique videos to help me troubleshoot technical issues."
(6) How long have you been competing in the art/sport of grappling/BJJ?
"I started competing pretty soon after starting Jiu-jitsu so have been competing for about 8 years."
7) Do you or did you compete (or train) in any other sports?
"I played sports as a teenager including cross country running, soccer, and basketball."
(8) Do you participate in regular tournaments? Examples in and outside of Atlantic Canada? Do you have a favourite? Some tournament highlights?
"I like to stay active. Not only do I like to search out opportunities to test myself, but staying consistent with competing makes it easier to stay ready and deal with competition nerves. I compete at all the local tournaments that I can even when I don't feel in shape or ready to try and boost numbers in the women's divisions. I like to travel and compete in different areas as well.
My favourite events are always the Fight League Atlantic Events. They do such a great job from beginning to end. The format and organization of each event is always flawless. They treat each athlete as if they are top tier professional athletes. We receive fight kits, promo videos, media interviews, walk out songs, announcers, it goes on and on. I feel like I am on a UFC event every time! They give athletes a great platform to be able to build careers off of and provide tons of free media content for athletes to use.
My most validating win to date is when I won the Subs on the Shore 145lb $1000 cash bracket. I had three matches to win and two of them were black belt no gi world medalists. It was the first time I competed against black belts and getting that win on one of the "feeder" organizations was a big deal to me.
This was my tournament schedule for 2023:
January 28 – NAGA in Destin, Florida – (Spectators)
February 3 - Grappling Industries in Tampa, Florida - (Spectators)
February 13 - Sapateiro Invitational in Palmetto, Florida - (Streamed on YouTube)
February 18 – Combat Sports Coverage in Miami, Florida – (Live on FloGrappling)
March 4 – NAGA in Dallas, Texas – (Spectators)
March 11 – Combat Sports Coverage in Austin, Texas – (Live on FloGrappling)
March 25 – PNW Invitational in Grants Pass, Oregon – (Streamed on YouTube)
June 8 – Dark Horse Grappling Series in Banff, Alberta – (Spectators)
July 22 – Breakthrough Grappling in Springhill, NS – (Streamed on YouTube)
September 29 – Fight League Kumite in Pictou, NS – (PPV + Live Audience
October 21 – Breakthrough Grappling in Springhill, NS. (Streamed on YouTube).
November 24 – Seminar with Grapplers Syndicate in Alberta (Tickets sold to event).
December 2 – Breakthrough Grappling in Springhill. (Streamed on YouTube).
December 9 – IBJJF Nogi Worlds in Las Vegas, NV. (Streamed on Flograppling).
December 28 – Medusa Combat Jiu Jitsu in Hollywood California (UFC Fightpass)"
(9) How did the Medusa Combat Jiu Jitsu on UFC Fight pass opportunity arise? For example, did you have to qualify? Was it an invitation? Did your competition resume and accomplishments play a role?
"I have been trying to get on a Medusa Card since December 2021. As soon as I received my brown belt, I felt it gave me some credibility to apply for more professional opportunities. I have continually applied since then. As athletes, our social media pages are our resume. I have had an active competition year, so I feel my recent wins including my Title win on Fight League Atlantic helped play a role. Athletes who compete with FLA are lucky because we receive a ton of great video and picture content to use for our page that athletes can build their brand with. Breakthrough Grappling is a newer promotion I have been competing with and I also receive tons of great pictures from them that look very professional. I believe having so many big and recent wins on my Instagram page including all the footage from FLA and BGS for these events combined with my growing exposure in the sport helped me gain this opportunity. I was invited by Eddie Bravo personally over Instagram to take part in Medusa 5."
(10) Can you provide some details on the training camp for the upcoming UFC fight pass event?
"I train as much as physically possible when I am in fight camp. Not all events require a fight camp but for MMA fights and high-level events like no gi Worlds and Medusa, I am very dialed into my training. My baseline schedule is x6 training days a week for about 2-3 hours a day plus adding in an additional workout a day of either weights/cardio, or an extra training session. When focusing on a specific event or ruleset, training becomes very narrow-minded working towards certain factors or skillsets for the event I am prepping for. For Medusa, my extra training sessions usually revolved around wrestling, EBI OT rounds, and ground-and-pound striking. On days when I have extra time, I will be fit in a third session. It's just about making the most out of what you have. If I don't have any training partners or I am feeling like my body is feeling the effects of wear and tear, my sessions may shift to riding my exercise bike while watching jiu jitsu instructional or taking long hikes in nature to still find ways to grow and push myself every day. "
(11) When prepping for tournament/comp, what other supportive/supplemental training do you do to compliment BJJ?
"When I am training hard for an event my extra training will favour cardio and circuit training as well as recovery sessions like ice baths to help support the extra toll on my body from all the extra training. When I am not in a fight camp my extra training will favour lifting heavy weights, exploring new techniques, and troubleshooting problems in my game that have came up from past events or rolling in the gym.
I try to cross-train often, but rely on it more during fight camps to give me access to more types of training partners, jiu jitsu games, and draw from the experiences of other coaches."
(12) Have you to face any challenges/hurdles over your career to compete? If so, how were they overcome?
"I have had the usual mix of life challenges and tragedies along my journey. Accepting that priorities change and being in tune with what my current needs are is my regulating system for handling challenges. Refining what I want and prioritizing my self-development and self-care helps centre me when I am struggling.
I have struggled a lot with competition nerves caused by self-afflicted pressure and self-limiting expectations. That is a more nuanced solution to unpack as individual factors play in, but repeated exposure to competing has helped a lot. Working on and maintaining my mental health has translated well into a healthier competition mindset.
My mental health has been a reoccurring challenge that has felt insurmountable at times, but I am constantly making progress and reducing those symptoms dramatically over the last 2 years. When I am in the "low" periods, it is important for me not to accept a victim mentality and trust that I am just feeling a temporary low and it will rebound back up soon.
Everyone deserves to be happy, and some people have to work a little harder to learn how, but continual effort is an undeniable path to progress."
(13) How do you balance work/home life and training?
"The best I can! I think accomplishing big goals in any realm takes big sacrifices, so I wouldn't say I have a create continual balance in all areas as my focus changes as priorities do. Being aware of those sacrifices and cycling through the areas of my lives like season changes helps. It is impossible to train as much as I want and still be a good partner, homeowner, sister, employee, student, daughter, etc. It is also impossible to chase multiple dreams without diffusing the passion behind them. I am known to always take the absolute maximum of what I can handle, so that means I need to be in tune with my body to listen to what it needs. It's not a perfect system and I burn out and break down sometimes, but I am more intuitive now to feel when it is coming so I can shift the balances and give myself grace on what areas I am lacking in.
When I am in fight camp, a lot of other things fall to the wayside. So when I am not actively preparing for things, that is the time to divert more attention into work/home/family to maintain balance."
(14) When not prepping for a comp, what does your training schedule like?
"My training schedule looks roughly the same, with less intensity and more flexibility. I still train x6 days a week, try to add a second workout in most days, and get out with my dog every day. My training will incorporate a variety of striking and jiu jtitsu. When not preparing for something specifically, I can let my life happen alongside of training instead of around training. I can miss a session if there is an important event or I need rest, my second workout of the day can be more relaxed, and I am overall less focused on rigorous training.
It is important for me to come into every session with goals and intentions to maximize the results. When I am not in fight camp, I can be more open to "fun" sessions, where I am not coming in with such an intense focus. My extra training sessions can help my teammates work for their events, or just trying out some new things to build my game and develop new skills. There may be a slight reduction in overall hours but a large reduction in the intensity of each session. "
(15) Preference for GI or NO GI?
"I have a strong preference for no gi. I trained mostly gi at white/blue belt so I have a great foundational base in both. No gi translates more to real world situations and MMA, which are two huge factors. I also just love having less clothing to wash and wear for training."
(16) Future Goals/ultimate tournament goal?
"My current goals are to become a Worldwide-ranked grappler at 135lbs and to win an ADCC title one day. I plan to compete for as long as I physically can to encourage others to keep chasing their dreams or even just starting a jiu jitsu class no matter what age you are."
(17) UFC Fight Pass date/How can we watch? Plans for additional events with the organization?
"Medusa Combat Jiu Jitsu is on UFC Fight Pass December 28, 2023. There have been no further discussions yet about additional events but I am wide open to the possibility of working with them further. Mixing striking in with jiu jitsu has been so much fun and would love to explore this ruleset
further."
MEDUSA "5"
Combat Jiu Jitsu
WATCH LIVE:
(18) Advice to anybody that wants to chase their dreams or just take a chance and compete internationally/abroad/outside of our region?
"Be brave! That is a phrase that gets overused but things will always feel scary. I am still constantly fighting my inner dialogue and fears. Doing things despite the fear is the definition of courage. Anyone can be courageous regardless of skill or experience. Being able to act in the face of fear is brave, it doesn't matter if you are scared of going to a new gym, or competing on a world stage. Doing it anyways is brave and badass as hell. Bravery is also like a muscle that you can exercise and strengthen. Doing hard things makes you a better person and more equipped to handle life's stressors.
Taking time to mentally explore what pathways or goals lights the passion in you helps to know what direction to pour yourself into. "You can be anything, but you can't be everything." Don't burn yourself out trying to accomplish everything. Figure out what you want and what you can't live without and give it 150%.
Competing internationally allows for great networking and training experiences. It allows you to test yourself in different ways. Don't fear losing, because it is an unavoidable risk. Those who aren't brave enough to lose are limiting themselves from so much growth and opportunities."
(19) As a BJJ community in Atlantic Canada, what can we do to help motivate or assist athletes to go to large tournaments outside of our region?
"I am lucky to receive a ton of community support. The one thing I wish I had locally was more access to competitive opponents of my rank and weight class but that is not a factor that can be controlled. I have tried to compete in the men's division to gain extra matches but that is not usually allowed. I think the BJJ community is pretty incredible in Atlantic Canada, and is very supportive. We have such great community leaders for example Fight League Atlantic or Breakthrough Grapplers who are always striving to give local athletes a platform and enhance community connections.
Getting to compete with these professional organization like in the FLA cage under the lights and cameras allows athletes a taste of the big show, gives exposure to athletes, and helps them to be better prepared. FLA also offers a ton of online footage that not only helps the athlete build their brand and acquire content but also helps broadcast them to a wider audience."
(20) Is there anything you would like to see with the tournament scene within Atlantic Canada?
"I would love to see it grow! I would love to see more women compete, especially higher belts. It would be so great to get more competitive matches with girls closer to my belt and rank to give more experience fighting at that level. Usually, if I want to compete against someone my belt level I need to travel out of the country to do so. The only brown belt I have fought in Atlantic Canada is Charlene when we competed in the FLA cage."
