Q&A with Female MMA Fighter Sammy Jo Bingham

MMAmadhouse is happy to introduce Sammy Jo Bingham, Sammy Jo is from Wembley,AB

Sammy began her training at the Grande Prairie Boxing Club but currently training with the Ronin Warriors. Boxing 1-1 MMA 0-0

Sammy Jo Bingham is heading into her first MMA fight against River Jones 2-0 from Nelson, BC at the Caged Rage 4 in Castlegar, BC on October 2nd.

I was Granted this interview with Sammy Jo, so lets rock

Madhouse- Thank you for your time Sammy, How is your training coming along and who are you training with?

SJB- Thanks for your interest in getting to know me. My training is coming along great; I’m currently training at Ronin Warriors in Grande Prairie AB

Madhouse- Was being a fighter something you’ve always dreamed about? What got you into fighting?

SJB- Well when I was a little girl I kinda thought I was going to grow up to be a princess, so it really shocked my friends and family when they found out I started taking up boxing and mma training.
I got into fighting because I was looking for a way to get in shape and I wanted to join a sport. I didn’t know what sport I wanted to do. I thought maybe I would train for Fitness Competing, but then when I was at Uni I had a friend tell me I should come with him to check out Wind Warriors (a MMA training school in Edmonton). After the first day and learining about what martial arts is all about and the history and honour behind it I was hooked. I realized that there is no other sport out there that is as pure, raw and real as martial arts.

Madhouse- What do you know about River Jones and how do you see yourself finishing this fight?

SJB- I don’t know to much about her, what I do know is all good things. She seems like a really down to earth person who I have nothing but respect for her. She seems like a really fierce fighter which I like. I see myself finishing this fight giving it my all and whatevers going to happen is going to happen

Madhouse- What are your long term goals in regards to MMA and Life?

SJB- I really love training and want to take my mma as far as it will get me. As for my personal life I plan on getting my Fitness Leadership diploma, and finishing my psychology degree. Once all that is done I plan on working with elite athletes as a trainer, and doing more traveling around to different parts of the world being a personal trainer. And if I could I would most definitely go to all the different countries in the world in which different types of martial arts have originated and train in each place for a few months.

Madhouse- What do you think of the coming fight between Sarah Kaufman 12-0 and Dutch superstar Marloes Coenen 17-4 at the Strikeforce event October 10 in San Jose, CA

SJB- Sarah is someone who a female getting started in the sport (such as myself) can really look up to. I think its great what she has done with her mma career, and I love how shes representing for Canada in the world of female MMA. I used to live in Denmark for a bit and no one really knew about MMA, and it’s still not very big there, so it’s refreshing to see someone getting far in the sport like Marloes who is from Europe. The match between Kaufman and Coenen should be entertaining for sure. I think both ladies have mad skill and it will be a good test for both of them being in the cage together.

Madhouse- Women’s MMA is erupting with talented fighters right now, is there a fighter out there that you think your style resembles and why?

SJB- I’m really happy that women’s MMA is growing so much and that there are so many different women out there with different styles. Because there is such an abundance of different styles, its sort of like a buffet a fighter can chose from to make her own style. There can be a little bit of this with a side of that and just a sprinkle of something else, which is why it would be really hard to pick someone else and say that your styles match.

Madhouse- Please tell your fans and the MMAmadhouse readers something we don’t know about Sammy Jo Bingham.

SJB- hmmm… Well I used to be a Figure Skater, and I even taught Figure skating for a few years… also I’m a huge salsa dancing fan!

Madhouse- If your fight was tomorrow night what would you choose for walk-out music?

SJB- This is a really tough question lol… I have spent alot of time thinking about this, ever since I started training fighting I always played around with what I would chose for walk out music. Right now Im really liking Passion by Kreesha Turner

Madhouse- If you could meet any person in the world, who would it be and why?

SJB- I know this person isn’t alive any more, but I would defiantly have to say Cleopatra. I think she really embodies what it means to be a strong female. She had to take charge of her own life and risk everything for her people and her beliefs.

Madhouse- Nice, MMAmadhouse.com thanks you for your time and wishes you all the best in the future, it been a pleasure to interview you. Please feel free to thank anyone, sponsors, whomever you’d like.

SJB- First I would like to thank you for taking the time to interview me. I also really appreciate that your doing alot to promote female MMA; kudos to you.
I know with training I can be grumpy and moody and it takes a lot to put with me, so thanks to my family, friends, and boyfriend for putting up with me
Thanks to my trainers Patrick and Raphael from the GP boxing club for setting me off in the right direction with my first 2 boxing fights.
I am really proud and thankful to be training at Ronin Warriors. Thank you to my coaches Leif and Darren for putting their efforts into me and not only teaching me about fighting, but also about life. Every time I train, or spar, with a different person I learn alot from it, so I would also like to thank everyone who I have ever trained with.
And lastly i would like to thank any female who has ever gotten into a cage, or ring, and gave it their all. It takes a lot of strength and courage to do something like MMA, and without females to fight women such as myself wouldn’t have much to do with the sport.

Props to Sammy Jo Bingham for the photos