Miranda “Fear The” Maverick – “It’s been amazing working with Invicta”
At just 22-years-old, Miranda Maverick has racked up an astonishing 7-2 professional mixed martial arts record, which does not include her two exhibition wins in The Phoenix Series 2 tournament for Invicta over Shanna Young and Victoria Leonardo.
A Missouri native, “Fear The” Maverick grew up working on her family’s farm from a young age which is something she accredits a lot of her strength to, both mentally and physically. Her martial arts journey originally began with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when she was 16 at a local gym that wasn’t exactly ideal for someone who wanted to compete at a high level. Nevertheless, it was a stepping stone that the flyweight was grateful to have on her way to the next gym she would go to with more upper belts and a more competitive atmosphere.
After testing her skills in grappling competitions, Maverick found herself at an amateur MMA show where she saw two girls compete and from that moment on she was inspired to pursue the sport herself. After only a few months of striking training, she took her first amateur MMA bout.
About a year and eight fights later, she was contacted by Shannon Knapp herself to have her pro debut for Invicta. Since then Maverick has fought all of her pro bouts for Invicta except for one and is very grateful for the opportunity to do so, stating, “It’s been amazing working with Invicta, I really like it’s an all women promotion.They really take care of and care about their fighters. Plus the level of competition is so high, I feel like it’s prepared me for promotions like Bellator and UFC.”
Tired of being referred to as a prospect, Maverick has made it perfectly clear she feels her call up to the UFC is overdue and hopes her dominant win over veteran Pearl Gonzalez, along with her overall body of work, will persuade the promotion to sign her soon. She feels women that market themselves a certain way get an easier route, are promoted better and receive better opportunities faster. This hasn’t dissuaded the young phenom from staying true to herself, she explained “I’m just going to continue to be myself and represent my values in life. I’m a Christian and also a very modest person… While I obviously want to be a world champ, I don’t see myself doing this past 32. At the end of the day I’m fighting to help give myself and my family a better life.”
She is also currently pursuing her PHD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Old Dominion University in Virginia while also working as a TA at the University and coaching at the local UFC Gym. Maverick admits juggling everything is no easy feat but her faith and desire to do well for her family helps her through the tough times. She hopes to use her fighting career to help propel her to where she wants to be in life, after she graduates she hopes to move back to Missouri and eventually own land close to her family’s farm.
Like many, Maverick has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and says, “Mainly I’ve just been trying to work enough to stay afloat and train as much as I can in privates and small group settings.” While Maverick wants compromised people to remain safe, she says she feels the pandemic is taking too much of a toll on the economy and believes it’s time to get everything going again, including her return to the cage.
“I want to return as soon as possible,” Maverick exclaimed when asked when we might see the young phenom fight again.
