



Before Ronda Rousey ever stepped onto an Olympic judo mat – much less into the Octagon – Julie Kedzie was a mixed martial arts fighter.

Before Gina Carano parlayed pugilistic fame into a Hollywood career, Kedzie competed in old-school, one-night tournaments.

Before current stars Liz Carmouche and Cat Zingano ever set foot in an elite gym, Kedzie accepted fights anywhere she could find a promoter willing to give women an opportunity to participate.

Finally, 27 fights and almost a decade into her MMA journey, Kedzie's trailblazing work will pay off with her debut on the sport's biggest stage. Kedzie meets Germaine de Randamie on the FX-broadcast portion of the July 27 UFC on FOX 8 card at Seattle's Key Arena.

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"All those years, Dana [White] said he'd never have women fight in the UFC, and I didn't believe it," the 32-year-old Kedzie said. "I'd tell people: 'I'm going to fight in the UFC one day,' and people would say 'yeah, sure.' You can call it destiny or fate or whatever you want to call it, but I always believed this day would come."

The dream was set in motion when Kedzie, as an English literature major at Indiana University, watched a women's fighting DVD. As someone who had studied tae kwon do and jiu-jitsu, she was immediately intrigued. And little did she know that the promotion which produced the compilation, Hook 'n' Shoot, put on shows a couple hours down the road in Evansville.

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"Once I saw the fights, I knew that is what I wanted to do," Kedzie said. "I knew it was destiny. I got my degree and then I went out to California and started training. Hook 'n' Shoot being in Indiana was just a happy accident. I came back home and knew I had to give it a try."

Though she dropped two of her first three fights, Kedzie made her mark by winning three fights in one night to claim the 2005 Hook 'n' Shoot Women's Grand Prix.

"It was such a crazy night," Kedzie said. "I just remember wanting to go out there and finish all my opponents. Ultimately I knew my cardio was strong enough that I was going to be able to go out there and outlast everyone.

"Hook 'n' Shoot was ahead of its time," Kedzie added. "The promoters were the first to realize that there were women out there who were able to fight and there was an audience out there willing to pay, so they treated us with respect."

It would be nice to say that one-night tourney fame made Kedzie an instant star, but it wouldn't be true. Few other promoters were willing to make room for women on their fight cards. The UFC certainly wasn't. Kedzie recalls a host of indignities.

"Some [male] fighters would act like you didn't belong, or were taking a guy's spot," she said. "Sometimes fans would grab you on your way out to the ring. Some fly-by-night promoter would put your fight on at the end of the night, after everyone went home, and you'd fight in front of a bunch of empty chairs."

The mere notion of women's MMA was still such a touchy subject by 2007 that the fight which put the sport on the map almost didn't air. Kedzie was slated to meet Carano on the inaugural Elite XC card in Southaven, Miss., Showtime's first venture into mixed martial arts.

Showtime officials were skittish about placing a women's fight on live television. Promoter Gary Shaw insisted on it, and ultimately the fight aired – but not before the bout was arbitrarily changed from standard five-minute rounds to three.

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