Mixed martial arts is a tough sport. Not only is it an extremely physically demanding sport, where one wrong decision, one moment of lapse in concentration can lead to a knockout and possibly years being taken off of one’s brain, but also, the pay is paltry compared to all other major sports. New fighters in the UFC, the biggest, most successful combat sports promotion in the entire world, for example, are reportedly paid only $12k in show money and $12k in win bonus.

This leads to at least some searching for supplementary sources of income. And this is exactly what MMA star Alice Ardelean‘s experience has been as she gears up to make her UFC debut. Ahead of her debut, let us look at her background and martial arts career so far.

Alice Ardelean is a two-division, two-promotion champion

Alice Ardelean is gearing up to make her UFC debut at UFC 304 on July 27. In her very first fight at the world’s largest MMA promotion, she will face UFC women’s strawweight Shauna Bannon on the early prelims of the Manchester, England card. While she was not originally scheduled to feature on the card, ‘Mama B’s original opponent, Ravena Oliveira, pulled out weeks from the bout. Ardelean was then offered a contract by the UFC to replace Oliveira in the fight.

Ardelean is an OnlyFans creator, which she started to help pay for her training expenses. In addition, she is also active on TikTok and Instagram, where she has around 600k and 3 million followers, respectively. While a section of the UFC fanbase may not have welcomed her signing, Ardelean is already an accomplished mixed martial artist.

Her record of 9-5 may not look very impressive, but most of her losses came in the early part of her career. Recently, she has been on a five-fight win streak and is a two division champion. She defeated Ana Maria Pal at the RXF 40 to become the flyweight champion in 2021. Just one fight later, she won another title- this time at the EFC in South Africa, where she won the vacant strawweight title in 2023.

The social media star, despite the buzz around her, is a champion fighter who has proven her credentials with her two titles. Now, let’s take a look at Ardelean’s early life.

Where is Alice Ardelean from?

Ardelean is originally from the Eastern European country of Romania but has relocated to Birmingham, England. While it is unknown why she made this move, or even when, some speculate this may be because of the training infrastructure in the UK compared to her native country.

Along with her two championships, the Romanian also has another significant name on her resume. She fought reigning UFC women’s strawweight champion Zhang Weili at the TFC almost eight years ago, listing the bout to Zhang via a second-round submission.

This means that Ardelean at least has the experience of facing someone as good as the Chinese champ, which will undoubtedly serve her well. In fact, since her loss to Zhang, she hasn’t lost another fight and comes into the promotion on a five-fight win streak, excluding two victories in exhibition MMA games. What are your thoughts on Alice Ardelean’s UFC signing? Let us know in the comments below.