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Sarah D’Alelio and Elaina Maxwell Training at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand

posted by Wombat Sports
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 10:40pm EST

Wombat sports is dedicated to women in combat sports. Former news editor of “Fightergirls” MarQ Piocos has been covering Women’s MMA for over three years, having picked up coverage of wrestling, boxing, and grappling. It is his vision to bring some of the best coverage to help bring and promote the ever expanding popularity of women’s MMA, wrestling, and martial arts with some of the best writers and athletes.

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D’Alelio and Maxwell – Courtesy Janet Martin

By Cheryl Ragsdale – Yahoo Sports

Elaina "Beef" Maxwell and Sarah "the Monster" D'Alelio are in Thailand at Tiger Muay Thai Training Camp preparing to compete at the Bangla Muay Thai Stadium in Patong. Tiger Muay Thai has been in the news lately because MMA fighter, Junie Browning has been training there. His bar fight story made national headlines in Thailand.

Elaina, who is blonde, like Junie, said, " I wish people would quit thinking I'm Junie's sister."

There's another misconception surrounding Elaina. On the poster promoting Friday night's event , each combatant is presented with their home country flag. Elaina's blonde hair must have given someone the idea that she is Scandinavian. She tweeted a photo of the poster with the wrong flag connected to her image. "GUESS I'M FINNISH! pic.twitter.com/zOgMUi1G "

Cheryl: Bold move! Competing in a kick-boxing competition in Thailand. Have you competed in kick-boxing before?

Elaina: Yes, for ten years in Sanshou and K-1 kickboxing, I trained in nothing but kickboxing and fought all over the world from China to Vietanm to Canada, including the USA. See my fan page on Facebook for a list of my titles, which include three world titles in Sanshou (Chinese kickboxing).

Elaina fights at 145 lbs.

Cheryl: Do you prefer MMA or straight kick-boxing matches?

Elaina: "There's more money and exposure in MMA, but my first love is striking. I'm here at Tiger Muay Thai to hone my striking skills for MMA. I hope to fight for a WBC (boxing) belt sometime in the future as well. I'd like to thank Janet Martin and Tiger Muay Thai for their sponsorship in Thailand. I can not wait to get back to the States to train at my Gracie Fighter gym, CSA, in California to prepare for my next MMA fight, which is currently in negotiations and will be announced soon via Addison Sports, my management company."

Strikeforce Fighter, Sarah D'Alelio

Strikeforce fighter, Sarah D'Alelio is also competing in Friday night's Muay Thai event in Thailand. Her last MMA fight—with Ronda Rousey— lasted 25 seconds and ended in an armbar submission.

Cheryl: Is this your first visit to a Thai training camp? What have you done besides train?

Sarah: "Yes, it is. We're staying very focused and on task with the training, but we were lucky enough to get to go on a tour of the Phi Phi Islands and do some snorkeling and diving, and a little bit of exploring on one of the islands. I had a run in with a palm sized spider on one of the islands. By that I mean, he was about an inch from my eye before I saw him. I screamed and made a beeline for the ocean. Oh, and Elaina swallowed a bug while riding on a motorbike back from a friends BBQ last night."

Cheryl: What's different about focusing on just one skill for a whole month?

Sarah: "How much more quickly I can learn a particular skill and improve at that one thing. I've had one amateur kickboxing match back in 2009, in Olympia, WA. I won by TKO in the second round."

Cheryl: Do you prefer MMA or straight kick-boxing matches?

Sarah: "Honestly, I just like to fight. I love it all."

Filed under: Boxing

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