Kaitlin Young

Kaitlin Rose Young grew up in Circle Pines, Minnesota. Young was not interested in sports until she began Taekwondo training at age 14 which lead to a black belt. Young competed in full-contact Olympic-style taekwondo and later gravitated to Muay Thai after finding its rules less restrictive. When she was old enough at age 19, she started training in Muay Thai at the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, and later competed as an amateur with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses. Young's interest in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) began at the suggestions of her coach, Greg Nelson, whom incorporated ground fighting in her training. Nelson had also cornered another fighter during a BodogFight (2006) MMA event. After 4 months of preparation in MMA, Young's was given an opponent with 5 weeks notice. That person was Lindsey Frandrop who she fought in October 2007 in the Minnesota-based Brutaal promotion. Young defeated Frandrop by technical knockout in round two. A month after she competed in the Hook N Shoot Bodog Women's Grand Prix Tournament. The winner, in addition to being crowned the tournament champion, would receive a contract with BodogFight (2006). Each round went a maximum of 3 minutes. Called "Last Woman Standing," the tournament's opening bout put Young against Suzy Smith, who was having her first professional MMA bout. Smith hit Young with a right punch then landed body kicks before Young retaliated with kicks and punches of her own. Young grabbed Smith's head and hurt her with knee strikes to the face, punches then a final knee, causing Smith to collapse. The referee intervened and waved off the fight which was a knockout at 22 seconds. Young advanced to the semifinals to meet Miesha Tate, who got past the first round by winning a fourth round referee's decision over Jan Finney. Tate attempted a takedown but was kneed in the face by Young, who then staggered her opponent to the ground with a punch and kick. A disoriented Tate stood up and Young landed a powerful right kick to the head which knocked her out at 30 seconds. Her final opponent in the tournament was Patti Lee, whom earlier surpassed Jordan Sprague and Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc in the 125 lbs portion of the tournament, while Young won the 135 lbs side. Like Young, Lee had a background in Muay Thai plus grappling skills. Young hit Lee with kicks then punches with knee strikes to her opponent's body. Lee held off Young for a short time with a push kick.Young connected with a leg kick then punched her way into a clinch and landed knees to the body. A final knee to the ribs sent Lee to the ground and the referee stopped the fight.Young defeated her 3 opponents in under two minutes to win the Hook N Shoot Bodog Grand Prix Tournament Championship. Young impressed 'Tara Larosa',then Bodog Fight's Bantamweight champion who attended the tournament in Evansville, Indiana, and Jeff Osborne, the commissioner of BodogFight (2006). Under her new Bodog Fight contract, Young signed to fight Sarah Schneider on a Tuff-N-Uff card in the Las Vegas Sports Center on Feburary 1, 2008. Featured in the main event was Young's Minnesota Marital Arts Academy teammate,Nick Thompson. Young was taken down by Schneider early and escaped an arm-bar by before standing back up. Young hit Schneider with a kick and a punch and was took down again but landed more strikes before the round ended. In the second round, Young knocked Schneider down with a left punch to the face. Young followed her opponent to ground and landed more strikes, but Schneider secured an arm-bar and submitted her 35 seconds in the round. The loss to Schneider did not hurt Young's career. Days before Young had signed a contract with Elite XC (2007), after the fight with Scneider, booked her in a high profile bout with Gina Carano. Young moved up in weight to the featherweight division and weighed 140 pounds before fight day while Carano went over at 144.5 pounds. Young agreed to fight Carano despite the weight issues, and the New Jersey Athletic Control Board (NJACB) put in a stipulation that Young would receive 12.5% of Carano's earnings for the fight. The two would fight on May 31, 2008 at Episode #1.1 (2008),which made history as the first time a MMA event aired on network television. Carano landed kicks on Young in the opening round. Young attempt a left kick but Carano held her foot and swept her right leg. Young had Gina in the guard position on the ground and quickly stood up. Carano landed more punches, push kicks, while Young landed some leg kicks. Young reversed a takedown attempt by Carano and ended up on on top in her opponent's guard. Carano attempted a leg choke submission on Young before the round ended. In the second round, Young was aggressive as she hit Carano with punches and leg kicks. Carano responded with kicks and combinations of punches. The two Muay Thai veterans ended up in a clinch and exchanged knee strikes. Carano struck with more combo of punches a front kick which dropped Young. Carano jumped on Young's back and attempted a rear-naked choke submission. Young resisted until the round ended. Young had a large swelling near her left eye and cuts on her face. In her corner the fight ended soon after she sat down. Her loss to Carano, officially a technical knockout due to doctor stoppage, lead Young commented on Debi Purcell's Fighter Girls message board that the attending physician had approved her to continue for round 3, however the NJACB officials stopped the fight. Young speculated that CBS might have been perturbed at the visual of a woman with an injured face on camera. Young also noted that she was not granted a post-fight interview or given an opportunity to thank her sponsors. Later that year in November, Young had been booked to fight Sarah Kaufman, however Elite XC (2007) stopped promoting fights in October 2008 due to money problems. She was absent from competition for a year, which she later attributed to her work on the side as a strength and training coach at American Performance Incorporated, and focus on getting a degree in kinesiology from the University of Minnesota. At Ironman MMA's first and only show in November 2009, she fought Shana Olsen whom she lost to by TKO in the 2nd round. Her next bout was against Jennifer Tate at Freestyle Cage Fighting 49 the following January for the "Ladies Night" 8-woman bantamweight tournament. Tate was tenacious and appeared impervious to Young's heavy kicks. Tate held her against the cage, landed strikes then forced a trip. On top, Tate landed punches and elbows to Young's bleeding face. Tate attempted a choke then mounted Young for further ground and pound. Tate tried another choke as Young survived to the second round. Tate again pushed the action as Young landed body kicks. Young was again held against the cage before being picked up and slammed. Young resisted Tate's arm-bar attempt until her right hand was fully extended for the submission. Young went on hiatus from sanctioned competition in August 2010 to compete in the TV show Ultimate Women Challenge (2010) with 15 other fighters. Young and the other participants were contractually committed and could not fight outside of the show. This led to the cancellation of a scheduled September 2010 bout between Young and Liz Carmouche at Crowbar MMA's "Fall Brawl". Ultimate Women Challenge (2010)was produced by Lyle Howry, who previously produced Ultimate Women Fighters (2008), Ultimate Kids Kombat (2006), and Ultimate Adult Kombat (2006). The show never televised on NBC stations as planned, and as reports surfaced about bad treatment on set and fighters not receiving contracted payments. Young's manager Nick Thompson, who is also a lawyer, launched a lawsuit on behalf of her and 6 other fighters from the show. Other fighters represented in the suit were Heather Jo Clark, Patricia Vidonic,Angela Magana,Barb Honchak, Angela Hayes, and Michelle Ould. The show's outcome officially remained secret until it was later revealed through the lawsuit. On September 24, 2010, at Utah's Dixie Center, Young won a split decision over Julie Kedzie. While the show was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promoters of Ultimate Women Challenge (2010) did not have a license in that state. Six professional bouts were held in Utah which included 12 fighters from the show. Young fought Kedzie again in a main event bantamweight championship fight promoted by famed coach Greg Jackson. The event was titled "Jackson's MMA Series 4" and the winner of the bout would be the Jackson's MMA Series first women's champion. The championship fight went all rounds and Kedzie won by unanimous decision, which some felt could have gone either way. Young later attributed the loss partly to being too relaxed during the fight.