George Lucas may have dreamed up Jedi and Sith warriors battling each other with a combination of lightsabers and mixed martial arts, but his daughter is actually doing it!
Well, okay, there’s no lightsabers. Ha!
Amanda Lucas, a.k.a. “The Powerhouse”, is a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a professional cage fighter!
It wasn’t any Jedi mind tricks that influenced her to take up professional fighting either, but rather a desire to lose weight and stay fit, explaining:
”I used to hate violence, even boxing, I couldn’t watch any of it for a minute. I thought it was horrible. The only thing I liked to do was dance, but Jason was a big Ultimate Fighting Challenge fan and he took me to a fight and I realized martial arts was a good way to lose weight. The more I trained the more weight I lost. I stuck at it and realized if I focused I could turn pro. The thing is I’m not a violent person at all.”
She must take after her dad, who she says can’t stand to watch her fight, continuing:
“Dad has been very supportive, but he’s not been to see me fight as yet. I think he would be okay watching me wrestle and grapple but he might start to freak out if I got punched in the head.”
In his defense, what dad WOULDN’T?
The 30-year-old lives in San Francisco and is about to enter her third fight with a 1-1 record. We’d like to warn her competitor not to make a bad Star Wars joke unless she’s prepared to deal with the consequences, as Amanda shared:
“I might get the odd competitor make a Star Wars comment but I’l channel it into some aggression and hopefully use it against them.”
Since you’re not around to kick our butt for saying this, we’ll just say it. Good luck and may the Force be with you! LOL!
[Image via Pacific Coast News.]