A professional female fighter says she hopes she can be a role model for other women and inspire them to take up the combat sport.

Joanne 'Jojo' Calderwood, 28, from Kilmarnock, Scotland, is taking part in the first women-only season of BT Sport's The Ultimate Fighter - a reality TV series where she will compete against other female fighters from around the world.

Jojo has been practising mixed martial arts (MMA) from a young age and is delighted to have the opportunity to take part in the show. The winner will walk away with a six figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the world's biggest MMA organisation) and will become a world champion.

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Ready for combat: Joanne 'Jojo' Calderwood said people are often surprised when she tells them she's a professional fighter

The brunette told MailOnline that people are often surprised when she tells them about her day job.

She said: 'I don't tell people straight away. I usually say I work in the gym and then I'll see how the conversations goes. Then I might go on to tell them I'm a professional fighter. People are always surprised.

'They say I'm too sweet or too quiet and innocent to be a fighter.'

She added that she gets told 'all the time' that she shouldn't be a fighter because she's a woman.

'People say "your face is too pretty to be getting hit". I just laugh. I train hard every day so that I don't get hit in the face!' she said.

Although some may be shocked at Jojo's vocation because of her gender, she said there's no such sexism within the fighting industry.

She said: 'Luckily, I've been in an environment where I've never been treated badly. My fans like me because I'm a good fighter, not because I'm a woman.

Occupational hazard: The brunette is often told 'your face is too pretty to be getting hit'

In action: Jojo, left, had her first professional fight at the age of 18

'The men in the gym just see me as another fighter, not as a girl. As long as you keep your head down and work hard, no one is ever going to judge you or treat you differently because you're a woman.'

Jojo added that her friends and family are extremely supportive and watch all her fights.

She said: 'My mum always does my hair before my fights if I'm fighting locally. She always winds me up and says that I should be doing a beauty pageant, not a fight. But she's been there since day one. She was the one who took me to my first class.

'She knows how much I love it and how dedicated I am, and she just wants me to be happy. My brother and sister love it too. They will all watch it - even my sister who is a school teacher and doesn't have a violent bone in her body. They support me and they know I love what I'm doing.'

The athlete said she feels extremely lucky that she has been able to turn a sport she loves into a career.

She said: 'Even if I wasn’t fighting professionally, I would be doing it as a hobby because I love it so much.

Loves the sport: Jojo says mixed marital arts is a great workout for your body and mind

'I'm not doing it for the money or for anything else; I'm doing it because I love it. Everything else is just a bonus. I'm so grateful that I've managed to make a living out of the sport I love. It just shows you that, if you work hard and you put your mind to it, you can achieve what you want in life.'

She first tried the combat sport Muay Thai when she was 13 and went on to have her first professional fight she was 18 before focussing on MMA.

She'd love it if more women would follow in her footsteps.

'It would be good to see more women taking up MMA. Everyone I meet, I try to get them to try it. MMA is an outlet for things. It's like going to the gym but it's so much better because you're not just going there, running on the treadmill and leaving, but you're training your body in different ways,' she enthuses.

Winning mentality: Her goal is to become UFC strawweight champion

'You have to switch off from the world. If I've heard bad news or I've had a bad day, I'll go to the gym and two hours later I'll leave and feel so much better about things. I get lost in the moment. MMA lets you look at things in a different, more positive way.'

She added: 'My goal for now is to be the UFC strawweight champion and all the stuff that comes along with that is just a bonus. During that journey I would like to think I could touch people. I'd like to be a role model for young girls and boys.'

Aside from encouraging more people to take up the sport, she also hopes The Ultimate Fighter Show will encourage more people to watch live fights.

'For people who have never seen a UFC fight, you can't even describe the atmosphere,' she said.