A Few Words with Tara LaRosa

Her ten-fight career stretches back to 2002, and though she lost to Jennifer Howe three years ago, she’s gained a ton of momentum from her recent wins in Shooto, Smack Girl and the Mixed Fighting Championship. New Jeresy-born Tara LaRosa packs one hell of whollop in the form of a lead hook and a right cross, and she’s got a rock-solid grappling game to boot – all of which she utilized to take out the highly-touted Hitomi Akano at MFC 7. FCF caught up with Tara after the show.

FCF: Awesome fight the other night. This is the second time I've seen you fight and I'm really impressed. What's you fight team nowadays? Last time it was Team ROC.

TL: Well, good question. I am still affiliated with Team ROC/ Royce Gracie but I have recently moved to Washington State. After training with someone for your whole career, you don't just walk away and disolve ties. Aitor "Spencer" Canup and Greg Thompson have afforded me the knowledge that I need to venture out and train at other places, and be confident that I can be successful anywhere. I am now training in Yakima, Washington, with an incredible team that pushes me to the max physically and mentally every day. I'm now under the management of Anthony Hamlett... Oh, and the daily ass-kickings as well.

FCF: Hitomi Akano is known as a judo badass. How did you prepare for her?

TL: It wasn't too hard since I came from a Judo background. I knew what her favorite throws were so all I had to do was counter them or stay to the opposite throwing side. A few of the guys I trained with were well-versed in Greco with translates well to judo, so we worked on a few scenarios and I was able to execute them in the fight.

FCF: Did the fight go as you had planned?

TL: Yes and no. Rarely does a fight ever go exactly as planned. I was shocked that she came out striking... and actually hit me. It makes me laugh because I just stood there in the ring and looked at her in disbelief... then threw a few back at her. The throws and ground work went as expected.

FCF: What's next? You're becoming a female version of Eddie Alvarez with all your fans - is the MFC going to offer you a shot a women's belt?

TL: Eddie is the man! I would love a shot at an MFC title. And if I could win it the same way he did... that'd be cooler than snow on Christmas morning.

FCF: Thanks, Tara. Once again, great job. Akano is a top-ranked fighter and you beat her convincingly.

TL: Thank you.