New Zealand has already stamped its mark on the fast-growing sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) through the likes of Mark Hunt and Daniel Hooker, but Kiwi Genah Fabian has made history by becoming the first New Zealand woman to be offered a professional MMA contract with the rapidly rising Bellator MMA organisation.
Fabian could be a catwalk model. She's beautiful, smart and athletic. But instead she's chosen the path of a fighter.
"I get comments like, 'Why are you doing this?' and 'Don't hurt your face.' I get them all the time," she says.
But the down-to-earth Aucklander is not concerned about her beauty, just her goal.
"To be the world champion in Bellator and then see where it goes from there, but definitely to get that title belt."
It's a focus that began just two years ago when Fabian visited Thailand. It was there she was introduced to Muay Thai kickboxing and caught the eye of former UFC fighter Mike Swick, owner of global gym AKA Thailand. After two years of training up to eight hours a day, the former triple jumper landed a four-fight deal with Bellator, the world's second largest MMA organisation behind the UFC.
In two weeks, Fabian will take on Croatian Jelena Jurasic in a kickboxing fight as part of Bellator's hybrid MMA/kickboxing event in Hungary, so she's back in Auckland utilising the skills of kickboxing specialist Eugene Bareman.
Bareman believes the 1.8m athlete has immense talent, but it's her time in Thailand that's really shaped her.
"That's definitely the number one quality that she's got, that mental strength from going through all that hardship," he says.
Fabian though credits much of her success to family.
"My mum and my grandma are the biggest driving forces for me. They're so supportive and help me out so much."
Fabian epitomises everything that's luring young women to the sport. Rhonda Rousey made it mainstream and this young lady is making it "Kiwi".
"Being attractive and good just isn't enough; it's a lot of hard work. It's a very mentally, emotionally and physically tough this sport."
But she has some encouragement for Kiwis keen to make it in the brutal world of MMA.
"If you've got that will and that passion for it, then passion never has a day off, so you'll get there."
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