Amie Turton Interview Female BJJ / Grappler

Interview with teen grappler Amie Turton. This young female grappler is setting new records. Holds a 3rd degree blackbelt and a true Fighter girl. Fighter girls interview with female fighter Amie Turton

1. Can you list your name, age, height and weight?
Amie Turton, 15, 5’2”, 120

2. Where do you live?
I live in Toms River, NJ.

3. What Academy do you train out of? Who is your trainer?
I train out of Tong Dragon Martial Arts under Eric Colon.

4. What type of Martial Arts do you train? Do you hold any degrees/belts?
In Muay Thai kickboxing and submission grappling I hold a 3rd degree black belt, I am a level 5 in kali, and under our BJJ instructor, Fernando Cabeca, I have a green belt.

5. Before we get to your impressive record in grappling, what brought about your interest in Martial Arts and grappling?
I was only eight years old and I really don’t remember. The only thing I remember was coming home from school and telling my mom I wanted to do “karate”.

6. I understand your mother is involved in helping to organize/run some of the events in New Jersey. Does she train?
My mother doesnt organize the tournaments she helps out with them and no, she doesn’t train.

7. From talking to your mother, she is very supportive of your training. That must be a great feeling?
Yeah having both my mom and my dad behind me is a great feeling. I feel more confident in myself knowing they support me.

8. You are a full-time student. What is a typical day for you like?
I get home from school around 2 and I do whatever homework I have. Then I am down at Tong Dragon for 3:30 helping my instructor with the kids classes. After that it’s my time to train. Then around 9:00 I go home and finish up some things eat dinner and relax. My day is pretty busy but that is how I like it.

9. Do you participate in any other sports? In school and out of school?
Not this year. I used to play softball but I am taking a “break” from that.

10. What do your friends and schoolmates think of what you do?
My friends from school think I am kind of crazy because I am always training but they don’t understand how hard you have to work to reach your goals in martial arts.

11. You have had excellent success in the grappling events you have participated in. Can you tell me more about your record and what recent events you have grappled in?
The most recent were Grapplers Quest in June and NAGA in May. In grappling I win some I lose some I never kept track of my record.

12. New Jersey has produced an excellent fighter by the name of Tara LaRosa. Are you the next Tara? (That is until you face off against her in about 7 years)
Tara is a very good fighter a great person but I am not the next anyone… I am the first Amie Turton.

13. Do you typically only compete against other girls or do you also compete against boys?
Usually there are no girls my age so I grapple the boys in my division and then jump up to the womens division.

14. What was your favorite grappling event? How did you fair?
My favorite event is Battle at the Beach in Wildwood. I did pretty well I placed in each division I was in.

15. Have you had the good fortune to have met some of the females who are fighting right now? Which ones are your favorites?
I won’t pick one inparticular because I don’t know enough about them. All the women I have met were very nice and outgoing people.

16. Who do you think are the top 3 female fighters right now?
no comment

17. Do you have a favorite male fighter?
I don’t have a favorite but I like to watch Ortiz, Coleman and Couture fight.

18. Do you have a favorite submission hold?
I like the rolling shoulder lock but my signature move is and mc choke from the guard.

19. What do you think was your best win in any of your grappling events? Tell me about it.
My best win was probably at my first tournament. It was a real small turnout and we had never been to a tournament before. I was 11 and the only girl. So the ref called my name and some boys name, the boy threw a fit that he was grappling a girl. So Mr. Colon went to talk to the people who ran the event and they said I could fight. The ref said go and in 15 seconds I had him tapping out.

20. Tell me more about your training? I assume there is limited, if any, weight training. Do you do pushups? Sit-ups? Extra cardio?
Yes I do very little weight training but pushups, sit-ups, and cardio are parts of every class along with techniques and drills.

21. Do you have plans to take this to the next level, MMA, when you are of age?
Yes I would like to shootfight and see how I like that and work from there.

22. I would assume your mother would be right with you, cheering you on all the way?
Yeah my mom would be very nervous but her and my dad would be there.

23. Do you watch any of the UFC or other MMA events on television?
Yes I watch the UFC and sometimes Pride.

24. Given the chance when you are older, would you fight over in Japan?
Well if my coach thinks I am ready and I think I am ready then yeah of course.

25. What are your thoughts on female fighters? Should they be in the UFC? Should they get more exposure?
I think it would be great if women were inthe UFC but we have to take baby steps. It has to start with more women on regular cards and work its way up to the big events. Exposure is always needed, that is what makes the sport grow.

26. For the rest of the year, what tournaments do you plan on competing in?
NAGA andGrapplers Quest both have tournaments on the east coast that I will be competing in. Also the no-gi Pan Ams are in California so I will be traveling out there for that.

27. What are your goals in Martial Arts/ MMA?
As of right now, I have some little things I want to improve in grappling. In the tournaments I have a few more goals that deal with different people. Next year I would like to go to the Pan Ams.

28. What are your interests outside of Martial Arts?
I like doing things with my friends.

29. Any interest in taking your training in standup and starting a boxing career?
I have been training standup just as long as grappling. I do not do a lot of boxing but I love kickboxing. When I am old enough to fight I would like to have some Thai fights.

Ok, now the fun questions…

30. Favorite color?
baby blue

31. Favorite food?
Umm…

32. Favorite musical band?
no comment

33. Who is/are your hero(s)?
Mr. Colon is definately my hero, I look up to him a lot. He is a great guy and the best instructor. He is always there for me when I need him. Mr.Colon sets a great example for his students. I also look up to fighters at Tong Dragon. When they are training for a fight they are giving 110%. They get into the ring and try their absolute hardest, once again setting a great example.

34. Favorite actor?
no comment

35. Favorite movie?
no comment

36. Outside the MMA world, when you get older, what do you want to be? What are your goals?
I want to go to a good college but I am not sure what I want to be just yet.

37. Can grappling in the Olympics be in your future? Or a pay-per-view MMA event with you as the headline fighter?
Yeah I think grappling in the Olympics can be in my future. Um pay-per-view? You never know but lets just take one step at a time.

Myself and fightergirls.com want to thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule and answering these questions. We will post the interview as soon as possible. Thank you and good luck in your grappling/fighting career!

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Amie Turton’s Grappling Results

Adult No-Gi Advanced Lightweight (<135 lbs) – GOLD
Adult Gi Blue Belt Lightweight (<130 lbs) – SILVER
Adult Gi Blue Belt Middleweight (130+ lbs) – SILVER

Amie started the new year off with a bang, heading to Florida for the NAGA US Nationals and bringing back three medals! Amie started the day off winning her no-gi division dominantly. She would face the same opponents in the lightweight blue belt division. Unfortunately, in the finals, her previously-beaten opponent accidently kneed Amie in the face during a takedown attempt. Amie was unable to continue and her opponent was declared the winner. Amie wasn’t finished though…. The best woman grappler in the world, Juliana Borges was at the tournament and could not find any opponents. Juliana is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is the current Abu Dhabi submission wrestling champion in both her weight class and the Absolute. Amie jumped at the opportunity to compete against world-level competition and jumped into Juliana’s division. Despite being outweighed and facing a black belt, Amie took Juliana the distance, losing on points. Much respect to Amie for a gutsy performance!

Amie Turton’s Grappling Results

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