MMA Fanhouse’s Ariel Helwani has an interview with TNA Knockout and aspiring fighter Lisa Marie Varon. Among other things, she talks about how leaving WWE led to her interest in following in the footsteps of Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley:
“When I retired from WWE in January — I’m not a stay at home person. I can’t stay home and eat bon bons, and be lazy, and enjoy the fruit of my retirement — I was looking into classes to still keep in shape and still be an athlete. I came across a school, Core Combat in Louisville, KY, and I looked at their MMA classes, and it was taught by
Alex “The Brazilian Killa” Stiebling.”
She cites her strength as a big asset, and uses an example of not knowing it in WWE:
“I know that I’m going in here kind of blind, but I’m not a lazy, stereotypical pro wrestler that people think I am. If you could ask anybody in the pro wrestling industry who the top five female wrestlers are, I think I fall into that category. The strongest girl in WWE, Beth Phoenix, one slap and I broke her jaw, and I put her out for a year, which I felt guilty about. Didn’t plan on that,” she said.
Her goal in MMA is to work for Strikeforce (which promoted the biggest women’s MMA fight ever, Carano vs. Cyborg). She’s interested in fighting UFC legend Randy Couture’s wife, Kim.
