A few decades ago, among ordinary people interested in sports, the idea that women can play football caused only laughter. Today, you will not surprise anyone, not only with women's football, but also with tougher and more unusual sports for women. Girls not only fight in the ring and cage, but also become full-fledged stars of this sport, not inferior in terms of media level to male colleagues. In women fighters, viewers, as a rule, want to see not only sports talent, but also attractive appearance. The combination of these two factors guarantees success, which we can observe with the example of a cute and tough Polish girl - Karolina Kovalkevich.
Biography
Karolina Kovalkevich (pictured below) was born in the large Polish city of Lodz, 120 km from Warsaw.
In adolescence, the girl showed interest in martial arts. First, there were classes on the Israeli self-defense system of Krav Maga, then Carolina began to study Muay Thai and MMA in the Gracie Barra Hall in Lodz, a branch of the famous network of gyms founded by the Gracie family - the founders of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA (Royce Gracie was the first champion UFC tournaments).
Before the start of her professional career, Carolina managed to hold two amateur fights, losing in one of them to her main rival - Joanna Jendzheychik. At first, the girl did not want to speak in MMA, as she considered herself too old to start a career in this sport (25-26 years old), but one of the coaches managed to convince her. The first steps in the sport fascinated her and she decided to try herself in professionals.
Professional career
The professional debut of the Polish princess (nickname Kovalkevich) took place on May 18, 2012 at the EFS 2 tournament, where she knocked out a compatriot in the first round. After a successful debut, Carolina signed up for one of the leading leagues in the world - the Polish KSW, which opened a women's division. In KSW, she spent 5 successful fights and won the champion belt.
In parallel with the belt defenses in Poland, Carolina tried herself in the American promotion Invicta FC, specializing in organizing exclusively female fights. The victory over the young Japanese Mitsuke Other opened the way for Carolina to the most prestigious organization in the world - the UFC. It should be noted that Invicta FC is affiliated with the UFC and serves as a kind of springboard for talented girls in front of the big leagues.
In the UFC, Carolina Kovalkevich immediately gained popularity. Bright style, love to fight in a rack in combination with a pretty appearance made a Polish girl one of the main stars of straw weight (up to 52 kg). Her career went uphill and in less than a year Kovalkevich won the right to fight for the title, defeating three dangerous rivals - Ronda Marcos, Heather Clark and Rose Namayunas (who will later become the champion).
First defeats and rehabilitation
November 12, 2016 fighter Karolina Kovalkevich went to fight for the UFC title. Her rival was a compatriot and longtime rival Joanna Jendzhichik. Enjeychik was already one of the organization’s most dominant champions by then. Muay Thai master Joanna easily walked through the division, in a one-sided duel she took the belt from Karla Esparza and defended him 4 times. The battle of the two drummers took place in the rack, where the champion was somewhat more accurate and defended the belt with a score of 49-46 (4-1 in rounds).
The defeat, however, did not greatly shake the position of Kovalkevich, and in the next battle she came in with the second rating number - Brazilian Claudia Gadelya. At the very beginning of the battle, Gadella entered the clinch, knocked down an opponent and strangled her from behind. For Kovalkevich, this was the second defeat in a row in a career that until then did not know dark spots.
Coraline returned to the winning streak in October 2017 in a fight against Jody Esquibel. The Polish girl completely dominated and interrupted the opponent in each round. Result - all judges unanimously gave each round to Carolina. The athlete plans to conduct the next fight against the powerful Brazilian Jessica Andrade, who was called up for the battle after the victory over Escibel.
Hobbies and personal life
The adrenaline received in the UFC octagon by the Polish Princess is apparently not enough, and it makes up for the shortage by skydiving and skydiving. Having many fans around the world, Kovalkevich eagerly communicates with them on social networks, conducts regular video broadcasts.
However, the personal life of Karolina Kovalkevich is prohibited for disclosure. None of the most stubborn fans could find out if she had a husband or boyfriend.