"It just wasn’t something girls did" - Laura Sanko revisits her decade-old journey in MMA world to celebrate International Women's Day

MMA analyst and commentator Laura Sanko recently reflected on the beginning of her career in combat sports in celebration of International Women's Day.

Prior to stepping into the analyst booth for the UFC, Sanko took up a brief career in MMA. She went 4-1 as an amateur between 2010-2012 before winning her first and only professional bout in 2013.

Sanko would later make the switch to UFC broadcasting, where she worked as an analyst, before becoming the first woman ever to provide color commentary on a UFC pay-per-view.

Reflecting on her career on Instagram, Sanko revealed that she originally only took up MMA as a way to improve her mental health. She also noted that she wished more organizations, such as Trainalta, had existed back when she started, believing more woman would have taken up MMA if they were.

Sanko wrote:

"When I made the decision to start training mma back in 2006, I had no idea it would change the course of my life forever. At the time I did it for mental health reasons and because it made me feel more capable. Looking back I wish @trainalta had been around then so the journey into mma would have been more approachable."

She continued:

"I had no desire to be a fighter back then and waited longer than I should have to explore my curiosity about mma because it just wasn’t something girls did. Now I can look back and say it was the biggest inflection point in my life and the reason I have the career, the friendships, the life I do today. Happy International Women’s Day! #iwd2024"

Check out the post here:

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Laura Sanko responds to fan who spoke against women grappling with men

Laura Sanko recently shared a video on her Instagram which showed clips of her training and grappling against two male sparring partners.

Watch the video here:

Whilst most of the comments under the video were positive, one fan took it upon themselves to criticise Sanko, claiming that women shouldn't be training against men, as they run the risk of injury.

Sanko soon responded and stated she has been training with male sparring partners for over 16 years, and it's just the case of finding the right people to train with, regardless of gender. She wrote:

"I spent 16 years grappling men you just need the right training partners and they need to work with you correctly depending on weight disparity"

Laura Sanko's response