SI: Modafferi puts years of training to the test
Pursuing passions is a way of life for Roxanne Modafferi. At the moment, she’s happily chasing two, though that number…
Pursuing passions is a way of life for Roxanne Modafferi. At the moment, she’s happily chasing two, though that number seems to vary by the day.
“I’m pretty busy, not too much of a social life,” said Modafferi, who is scheduled to face Marloes Coenen at Strikeforce card Saturday. “That’s one of the drawbacks.”
Conjoined at the top of her to-do list: become the best female fighter in MMA, and speak flawless Japanese. In a sense, the latter helped her find the former.
Following high school, Modafferi enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she jumped into the linguistics program. Downtime was rare. From 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. she worked at a bagel shop. Classes filled her days, and gym time occupied evenings. Some would say earning a degree from UMass in four years is as impressive as anything Modafferi accomplished in the fight game, and there is plenty to boast of when it comes to that.