Let’s take a look beyond our familiar area sports scene and get to know a local athlete who is making her mark in the world of mixed martial arts.
Anna Somers, a Crestwood native and a member of the 2012 graduating class at Shepard, is set to make her debut Friday night in the Invicta Fighting Championships, which bills itself as “the world’s premier professional combat sports organization for women.”
Somers has taken a bit of an atypical path on her way to becoming a professional fighter.
While she has seen many of her competitors over the years quit the sport once they start a family, Somers went the opposite way.
Her first amateur fight in 2017 came about a year and a half after she gave birth to her daughter, Reagan.
“I think after I had my daughter, I was more driven than ever to compete,” Somers said. “When you do mental work, you have to come up with your, ‘Why?’ It’s like, ‘Why do you do what you do?’
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I do this because I really want to overcome challenges. I think that’s just an innate thing in me.”
So, Somers jumped right in.
“I like to do things that are hard,” she said. “I think that’s why I was more determined than ever. It’s not normal for new, young moms to fight. It’s not easy. Your time is very divided. But I had a lot of help and support.”
It’s all led up to Friday night at the Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, where Somers will fight Amber Medina, who will be making her pro debut, in the strawweight division at Invicta FC 60.
Several of the event’s eight fights will air live on CBS Sports Network, but Somers will have to wait for that kind of spotlight.
Her fight will be part of a YouTube broadcast that begins at 4:30 p.m. and can be watched at https://www.youtube.com/user/HDNetFights.
Somers fights out of Intercept MMA in Forest Park, which is owned by her husband, Danny.
She made her professional debut in 2021 and is 2-2 as a pro, but her first Invicta fight will mark a major milestone.
“In 2016, everyone at our gym wrote up our goals and my end goal was to professionally fight Invicta one day, so this is pretty cool,” Somers said. “Not that it’s the end, but it’s a cool step into those finals steps.”
Somers participated in softball, soccer, track and cross country at Shepard. She did some kickboxing after high school and got more into mixed martial arts after meeting her husband.
“I realized this was something that might be the most challenging thing I’ve ever done before,” Somers said. “I really liked that it wasn’t just the same repetitive things over and over again. I think that’s why I teetered so much between sports when I was younger because I would get bored.
“With this, 10 years later, I have not gotten bored yet. I think it’s for me.”
Somers lost her first professional fight in 2021 in the Ohio Combat League.
“I was dealing with a lack of confidence,” she said. “I took two anxiety medications because I put way too much pressure on myself with the label of pro and I totally freaked out.”
Somers knew there were parts of her fighting she needed to work on, but the biggest room for improvement came in areas that were not physical.
“I had to work on my confidence,” she said. “I was letting it get to me these other girls weren’t mothers, they didn’t have the big responsibilities I had and they had more time to focus on training.
“I had to make sure I was mentally ready for fights, so I started working with a mental-health coach, and my next fight, I ended up knocking out the girl in the first round.”
With her biggest fight yet looming, Somers said the nerves were there — but so is a belief in herself.
“Everyone deals with nerves,” Somers said. “If you don’t have nerves, you’re crazy. It’s just harnessing and embracing them. My confidence level is much higher now.”
That’s one butt-kicking mom.
