Rosi_Sexton

Rosi Sexton

Rosi Sexton

British politician and mixed martial arts fighter


Rosemary Ann Sexton (born 16 July 1977) is a British athlete, sports therapist, osteopath, and politician. She had a career in mixed martial arts (MMA), from which she retired in 2014.[1][2][3][4][5] In 2020, Sexton ran in the Green Party leadership election and came second.

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

Education and early life

Sexton was born in Versailles, France but moved to Britain at a young age, and grew up and received her education in the United Kingdom. She attended Kendrick School, Reading. Her father commented "what consistently runs through Rosi’s life is winning: she has a need to win. Her physics teacher said ‘Rosi has a meticulous approach to her studies and nothing short of perfection satisfies her' ".[6]

Music

Sexton was a musician and played with the Reading Youth Orchestra while at school (from 1991 to 1995). She reached grade 7 in cello and grade 8 in piano, then became an Associate of the London College of Music Examinations (piano). In November 1994, aged 17, she played in the Royal Albert Hall, with the Reading Youth Orchestra.[7] She also played the organ ("though I never got very good").

Mathematics

In 1995, Sexton was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge, where she took a first class degree in mathematics (1998). Her tutor in mathematics was Tim Gowers.[citation needed] She preferred pure maths: her particular interests were logic, combinatorics and number theory. She then moved to the University of Manchester, where she achieved a Master of Science (MSc) degree in mathematical logic in 2000.[8] She went on to complete a PhD in theoretical computer science.[9] Her supervisor was Harold Simmons who held a joint position in the School of Mathematics and the Department of Computer Science, with whom she wrote two papers Point-sensitive and point-free patch constructions.[10] and An ordinal indexed hierarchy of separation properties.[11] The first of these papers has eight citations.[12] Sexton's academic interests have been discussed in an interview by David Colquhoun.[13]

Political activity

In May 2019, Sexton was elected as a Green Party councillor in the Shirley West ward of the Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.[14] In the same election, her partner Stephen Caudwell was elected as Green Party councillor for the Castle Bromwich ward.[14] She ran in Solihull as a parliamentary candidate in the 2019 general election, losing to Julian Knight and coming in fourth with 3.7% of the vote.[15]

On 28 June 2020, it was announced that Sexton would stand as a candidate in the Green Party of England and Wales leadership election.[16] The results were announced on 9 September 2020: Sexton came second, beaten by incumbent leaders Jonathan Bartley and Siân Berry.[17]

Mixed martial arts career

Sexton had been involved in martial arts since she was at school. She already held dan grades in jujutsu and Taekwondo. In 2000, after 10 years' experience in martial arts, she decided to train in Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as a way of proving to herself that what she had learned was applicable to real life. A clue to the reason for this career change may be found in her comment "The other things I did, the music, the maths, just weren't quite hard enough"[6]

At the same time, she trained in osteopathy, receiving a degree in that subject from Oxford Brookes University in 2010.[citation needed] She currently[when?] practices as an Osteopath in the Birmingham (Solihull) area, with a particular interest in sports injuries and evidence-based practice. She has written about the problem of performance-enhancing drugs (doping) in combat sports, and is a supporter of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association, VADA.[18] She is a spokesperson for SafeMMA,[19] an organisation dedicated to ensuring safety of competitors, and she runs a combat sports injury clinic.[20] In 2018, aged 41, she was promoted to black belt in BJJ by Paul Rimmer.[21]

Early MMA career

Sexton made her mixed martial arts debut on 11 May 2002. She won her first five fights before moving up in weight to face Gina Carano on 15 September 2006. Sexton was defeated by knockout late in the second round.

BodogFight

Sexton debuted for BodogFight on 16 December 2006 and upset Brazilian submission specialist Carina Damm with an armbar late in the first round.

On 17 February 2007, Sexton faced Japanese striker "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba at a BodogFight event in Costa Rica. Sexton won the fight by Technical Decision in the second round after Sunaba suffered a serious ankle injury.[22]

Sexton fought once more for BodogFight and submitted Julia Berezikova on 24 August 2007.

EliteXC

Sexton signed an exclusive three-fight contract with Elite XC in June 2008.[23] She faced Debi Purcell at the 15 August 2008 ShoXC event in Friant, California and defeated Purcell by split decision.[24]

Bellator Fighting Championships

Following the demise of Elite XC, Sexton debuted for Bellator Fighting Championships at Bellator 12 on 19 June 2009. She submitted Valerie Coolbaugh with an armbar in the first round.[25]

Sexton was scheduled to face Angela Magaña at CWFC 37: Right To Fight on 22 May 2010,[26][27] but Magana suffered an injury and Sexton was matched against Emi Fujino.[28] However, due to Sexton's re-signing with Bellator,[29] her CWFC fight was cancelled.[30]

Sexton faced Zoila Gurgel at Bellator 23 on 24 June.[31] She was defeated by knockout exactly two minutes into the first round.[32]

As a result of the knockout loss, Sexton was given a 60-day medical suspension and did not compete in the Bellator women's 115-pound tournament.[33]

Cage Warriors Fighting Championship

Sexton returned to face Sally Krumdiack at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 39 on 27 November 2010 in Cork, Ireland.[34] She won via TKO in the second round.[35]

Sexton faced Roxanne Modafferi at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 40 on 26 February 2011.[36] She defeated Modafferi by unanimous decision.[37]

Sexton was scheduled to face Sheila Gaff at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 43 on 9 July 2011 for the Cage Warriors Women's Super Flyweight Championship at 125 pounds.[38] However, she suffered a concussion during training and was forced to withdraw from the fight.[39]

On 2 June 2012, Sexton faced Aisling Daly at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 47. The bout was part of a tournament to crown a Cage Warriors 125-pound women's champion.[40][41] Sexton defeated Daly by unanimous decision to advance to the tournament final.[42]

Sexton was scheduled to face Sheila Gaff in the finals at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 49 on 27 October 2012 in Cardiff, Wales. Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA) drug testing was used in the weeks prior to the planned fight.[43] However, the bout was cancelled on 19 October when Gaff withdrew due to illness.[44]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Sexton moved up in weight to make her UFC debut in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on the UFC 161 card against Alexis Davis on 15 June 2013.[45] Sexton lost the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–27, and 29–28).[46]

On 26 October 2013, Sexton returned to the Octagon and faced Jéssica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 30.[47] She lost the fight via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, and 30–26).[48][49] Sexton was released from the promotion shortly after the fight.[50]

On 21 June 2014, Sexton announced her retirement from MMA competition.[51]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
18 matches 13 wins 5 losses
By knockout 2 3
By submission 7 0
By decision 4 2
More information Res., Record ...

Mixed martial arts achievements

  • Cage Warriors Women's 132 lbs Champion (2005)[52]
  • BodogFight Women's 125 lbs Champion
  • First British woman to fight in the UFC

Personal life

Sexton has one son.[4] In 2010, she qualified as an osteopath after completing her BSc Osteopathy degree at Oxford Brookes University.[53][54] She has a passion for climbing and in 2017 climbed the highest artificial climbing wall in the world, Luzzone Dam, in Switzerland.[55] The climb was sponsored for the benefit of the Mind charity.[56]


References

  1. "Dr Rosi Sexton: 'Fighting is a normal part of human nature'". Independent.co.uk. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  2. "BBC Inside Out - Caged fighter". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  3. "The fight of her life". Guardian.co.uk, by Andy Darling. 5 September 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  4. "Rosi Sexton : Team PhD : PhD Nutrition". Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  5. "Schools Proms, November 1994". Issuu.com. 25 October 2010.
  6. Sexton, R. A.; Simmons, H. (2006). "Point-sensitive and point-free patch constructions" (PDF). Journal of Pure and Applied Probability. 207 (2): 433–468. doi:10.1016/j.jpaa.2005.10.013.
  7. Sexton, R.A.; Simmons, H. "An ordinal indexed hierarchy of separation properties" (PDF). Topology Proceedings. 30: 585–625. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  8. "Point-sensitive and point-free patch constructions". Google scholar citations. Retrieved 8 November 2018.
  9. "Rosi Sexton: polymath. An interview by David Colquhoun". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  10. "Local Election results 2019". Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  11. Irwin, David (25 November 2019). "General Election guide for Solihull voters". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  12. "Solihull councillor to stand for Green Party leadership". Bright Green. 28 June 2020. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  13. Walker, Peter (9 September 2020). "Green party re-elects co-leaders Siân Berry and Jonathan Bartley". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  14. "Voluntary anti-doping association". Vada-testing.org. May 2019.
  15. "Safe MMA". Safemmauk.wordpress.com.
  16. "Rosie Sexton on Instagram". Archived from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  17. "Koubousen Companion: Japan News". Sherdog.com. 24 May 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  18. "BRITISH FIGHTER ROSI SEXTON SIGNS WITH ELITE XC". MMAWeekly.com. 15 June 2008. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 18 August 2008.
  19. "Hamman Exacts ShoXC Revenge". Sherdog.com. 16 August 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  20. "Bellator Crowns Alvarez, Lombard". Sherdog.com. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  21. "Rosi Sexton Plans Return At CWFC 37 In May". MMARising.com. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  22. "Magana Confirms Fight With Sexton At CWFC 37". MMARising.com. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  23. "Magana Out, Fujino To Face Sexton At CWFC 37". MMARising.com. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  24. "Bellator signs Rosi Sexton, adds her to season-three 115-pound women's tourney". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 23 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  25. "Sexton Returns To Bellator, Off CWFC 37 Card". MMARising.com. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  26. "Sexton vs Frausto A Possibility For Bellator 23". MMARising.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  27. "Zoila Frausto Knocks Out Rosi Sexton". MMARising.com. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  28. "Rosi Sexton out, Zoila Frausto possibly in for Bellator season-three women's tourney". MMAjunkie.com. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  29. "Sexton vs Krumdiack, Daly vs Helsel At CWFC 39". MMARising.com. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  30. "Rosi Sexton, Aisling Daly Win At Cage Warriors 39". MMARising.com. 27 November 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  31. "Rosi Sexton vs Roxanne Modafferi Set For Cage Warriors 40". MMARising.com. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  32. "Rosi Sexton Edges Roxanne Modafferi At Cage Warriors 40". MMARising.com. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  33. "Rosi Sexton Injured, Out Of Cage Warriors 43 Title Fight". MMARising.com. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  34. "Cage Warriors 125-Pound Women's Tournament Set For April". MMARising.com. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
  35. "Rosi Sexton vs Aisling Daly Official For CWFC 47 On June 2". MMARising.com. 16 April 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  36. "Rosi Sexton Defeats Aisling Daly At Cage Warriors 47". MMARising.com. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  37. "Rosi Sexton vs Sheila Gaff Official For Cage Warriors 49". MMARising.com. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012.
  38. "Sheila Gaff Withdraws From CWFC Title Bout With Rosi Sexton". MMARising.com. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
  39. "Alexis Davis Returns to Winnipeg; This Time to Fight in the UFC Octagon". TopMMANews.com. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  40. "Rosi Sexton To Face Jéssica Andrade At UFC Fight Night 30". MMARising.com. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
  41. "Jéssica Andrade Defeats Rosi Sexton At UFC Fight Night 30". MMARising.com. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  42. "UFC Fight Night 30 results: Jessica Andrade brutalizes Rosi Sexton". MMAjunkie.com. 26 October 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
  43. "Rosi Sexton". 1 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
  44. "Meet The Team". Olton Osteopathy. Retrieved 10 January 2021.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Rosi_Sexton, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.