Hannah “Queen of Sparta” Goldy is excited to punch someone in the face at Island Fights 50
Hannah Goldy has always been curious. It led her from the small town in Vermont she grew up in to, California, New Zealand and New York among many places. It was while in New York that her curiosity led her to an event called Friday Night Fights alongside her dad and the fights intrigued her.
“I lived in New York City after college, my dad lived there at the time, he brought me to this thing called Friday Night Fights, it was literally in an old church. It was not underground but kind of, it was a low key Muay Thai fight and I saw these girls getting after it and I just thought it was super fun.”
It wasn’t long after that the “Queen of Sparta” found a gym to do some cardio kickboxing. Then she moved to Florida and while there she became more serious about the sport. It didn’t take her long to take a fight, she took an amateur boxing match. Not only did she win the fight, she met her fiancée, PFL heavyweight Alex Nicholson at the fight.
“He was cornering the girl I was fighting.”
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It was at that fight that she learned she truly loved fighting.
“This girl had been boxing for a long time and I was tough and I was athletic but I didn’t have technique or anything, I just wasn’t scared to move forward. Alex always says I was like Wanderlei Silva, just like moving forward like a crazy person. I literally made her start crying in the corner. I remember I knew I broke her and I remember going back to my corner and taking my mouth piece out and being like, “I’m literally having so much fun right now, like this is so fun.” My coaches started laughing and was like “go back out there and keep doing what you’re doing” That was definitely when realized that I wanted to do this.”
After that fight, her relationship with Nicholson took off and he led her down the path to MMA. Soon she decided to go all in on the sport.
“I’m kind of the type of person that is all or nothing. So, I put all my time and energy into something, I really want to succeed at it, that’s just how I am.”
It has paid off, the now 26-year-old went 3-1 as an amateur in MMA and is currently 3-0 as a professional including a win over current UFC fighter Gillian Robertson (who was also making her professional debut).
After her second professional fight, Goldy wanted to make a quick turnaround. She found a fight quickly and went into training camp, but during the camp, she discovered she was pregnant and had to pull out of the fight. There was excitement over having a child but also fear of what would become of her career. Then Goldy turned her fear into motivation.
“Obviously I was so excited we were going to have Odin but you know I was like dang, this is going to change everything and I kinda struggled with that for a couple weeks and then I was like, I’m still going to fight, I’m not going to give up, I’m not going to just say that it’s over cause it’s not. I can work hard, I know I could get back to where I was.”
With that in mind, Goldy set a goal for herself, to fight six months after she gave birth to her son.
“Literally anytime anyone saw me they were like, “what’s your plan, what’s your plan about fighting?” I’m going to fight six months after I have him, I’m going to fight six months after I have him, I kept saying it and saying it.”
She didn’t wait long to get back to training, 11 days after giving birth, Goldy asked her fiancée to hold mitts for her.
“11 days after I had Odin, I asked Alex to hold mitts for me and he was like, “ok we’re just going to move around light.” We’re hitting mitts and I just instinctively shoot for a double leg and take him down.”
“From then on I was just like, I’m going to do this.”
And indeed she did. On February 8, 2018, Goldy defeated Vanessa Grimese by knockout, six months after she had her son.
But it wasn’t easy, Goldy said she had many challenges along the way.
“There were a lot of mental hurdles for me to get over and get through to get back to the point I was at before.”
For example, she said she was afraid to initially jump up and grab the pull up bar. But at the end, she overcame those fears and she believes she is better off and that the fight meant so much more because she overcame those hurdles.
“Honestly, after having a baby, I’m more athletic, stronger, more complete. That fight was so important to me because it was something I set my mind to, I set this goal. Most people if they weren’t my friends or my family probably would’ve told me I was f***cking crazy, like you’re never going to be able to do that. I did it and that’s why it meant so much to me. I really want people to know you can do anything you set your mind to and our bodies and minds are amazing things and we’re capable of so much. I just hope my story helps inspire someone else’s.”
It was also a special moment being able to share the moment with her six-month-old son.
“It was amazing being able to share that moment with Odin as well, bringing him into the ring afterwards and just seeing him smile and realizing the fact that he is why I’m doing this now. I loved fighting before I had Odin but he just gives me so much more of a reason to fight my heart out and to win and to keep winning and being that role model for him and other people coming up in the sport and life in general.”
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The Queen of Sparta will look to keep on winning on September 29 at Island Fights 50. She will be taking on Shannon Goughary in the main event, which will be the first time in Island Fights history that a women’s match will be the main event.
To Goldy, it doesn’t matter who she is facing, she is just excited to get back into the ring.
“I’m always excited to punch somebody in the face.”
The undefeated fighter who trains out of Orlando isn’t training specifically for her opponent but prefers to focus on herself and implement her game plan, which is to get a finish.
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“I’m gonna say knockout; like I said, I’m a complete martial artist, so wherever the fight goes, I’m ready to finish it.”
The undefeated fighter out of Orlando would improve to 4-0 with a win at Island Fights 50, putting herself among the top prospects in the world in the strawweight division. She already has major organizations attention, having been offered a fight on this past season of Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series against Antonina Shevchenko. Unfortunately, she had to turn it down because it was offered only a few days after her last fight and she still had lingering injuries. She wanted the fight but her coaches said it wasn’t a good idea and she listened to them.
With that said, she is not looking past this fight or looking to jump to a particular organization. She insists that whatever the best offer is that comes her way is what she will go with. But at the end of the day, she hopes it leads to a UFC contract because there she feels she can prove she is the best in the world.
“I feel like, at this point in time, the UFC for women is probably the best option. Like I said I’m open to seeing other things, we’re going to see what happens. Like I said I’m not going to prepare for anything until I have a contract in front of me.”
