The world will soon see an Auburn native square off with nine other women for the opportunity to win a world championship.
Photo provided
“Fight Girls” cast members live in Las Vegas while training in Muay Thai with the world renowned Master Toddy.
“Fight Girls” cast members live in Las Vegas while training in Muay Thai with the world renowned Master Toddy.
Lisa Mills, who currently resides in Columbus, Ga., already knows the outcome of the competition on the second season of Oxygen's “Fight Girls” show. But her hometown audience will have to wait and see how Mills' quest for the Muay Thai kickboxing supremacy unfolds week by week.
“I think I'm going to be represented really well,” Mills said.
The show captures Mills living in a Las Vegas house with her fellow cast members while training in Muay Thai with the world renowned Master Toddy.
The climax of each episode features a fight between two cast members. But the shadow of a bout down the road between Mills and one of her housemates didn't hamper their relationships.
“It was kind of like summer camp,” Mills described.
Because Muay Thai contests must fall within different weight classes, Mills could immediately narrow her potential adversary pool down to a few. She would actually battle her closest friend on the cast (she cannot say who due to a non-disclosure agreement with the show's producers).
The loser of each fight is then eliminated from the show and the remaining women fly to Thailand to compete for the women's world Muay Thai championship. Muay Thai kickboxing is the national sport of the country, but its enjoys worldwide popularity as a form of self-defense and exercise. Mills began practicing it while teaching high school earth science in New York City.
“It was just a very intense workout. There's nothing about fighting that was appealing to me,” Mills said. “I wasn't like, 'I can't wait to start hitting people.'”
The intensity of Muay Thai eventually motivated Mills to practice the martial art in the competitive arena. She had thrived there at Auburn High School in both field hockey and lacrosse before playing the latter sport at SUNY Cortland.
At Cortland, Mills met her future fiance, Austin Randolph, who had practiced Muay Thai and pointed out a gym in her neighborhood of Queens where she could also pursue the fighting discipline.
Mills soon discovered that Muay Thai appealed to her competitive drive, which she couldn't appease with jogging or weightlifting. After learning the fundamentals, she sought to test her skill against others.
“If I'm this motivated, why not take it to the next level and see what I can do?” Mills asked herself.
Mills even took her training to Thailand, where she fine-tuned her technique in the country's searing climate. The trip culminated in her first fight - and win - against a fighter from Italy.
The application for “Fight Girls” found its way into Lisa's hands back at her gym in Queens.
“I thought it would be the ultimate challenge and a nice addition to train with the best,” Mills said. “And the appeal of TV is exciting.”
That excitement subsided when Mills began the exhausting process of TV production. All hours of the day were filmed, which meant many awakenings in front of a camera crew for Mills. She was also asked to carry out all her phone conversations on speaker phone.
“I was talking to my mom once and she asked if I would be wearing a helmet,” Mills said.
The artifice of “reality television” was made even more apparent to Mills by the rigid schedule she was required to follow.
“We'd have to go to the mall or go out to dinner even if I'm not hungry or I don't want to shop,” she said. “A lot of things aren't natural about it.”
In the Las Vegas audience for Lisa's fight was her father, Roger. While he was impressed to see the stellar physical condition Lisa reached during her Muay Thai training, he was nonetheless nervous as she stepped in the ring.
“As parents, you don't want to see your child get beat up,” Roger said.
As Roger saw Lisa field strikes from her opponent, he was relieved to witness her take the punishment like a professional fighter.
“She was able to absorb the hit and respond - there's always a question if you can take a punch and how you can react to it,” he said.
Roger's confidence in his daughter's fondness for Muay Thai was strengthened by the sight of one of her mentors on “Fight Girls,” Gina Carano, who has 16 fights in her professional career.
“She's absolutely beautiful. You would think fighters are all scarred up, but she showed me you could participate in this sport without injuring your body or being disfigured,” Roger said.
Lisa, however, has no immediate plans to pursue Muay Thai professionally. She is currently planning her wedding to Randolph and resuming her teaching career while fighting takes a back seat
“It was just something fun to do. Now it's time to settle back into a normal life,” Mills said. “It really turned my life upside down for a little bit.”
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you watch
What: Fight Girls
When: 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays
Channel: Oxygen (channel 69)
“I think I'm going to be represented really well,” Mills said.
The show captures Mills living in a Las Vegas house with her fellow cast members while training in Muay Thai with the world renowned Master Toddy.
The climax of each episode features a fight between two cast members. But the shadow of a bout down the road between Mills and one of her housemates didn't hamper their relationships.
“It was kind of like summer camp,” Mills described.
Because Muay Thai contests must fall within different weight classes, Mills could immediately narrow her potential adversary pool down to a few. She would actually battle her closest friend on the cast (she cannot say who due to a non-disclosure agreement with the show's producers).
The loser of each fight is then eliminated from the show and the remaining women fly to Thailand to compete for the women's world Muay Thai championship. Muay Thai kickboxing is the national sport of the country, but its enjoys worldwide popularity as a form of self-defense and exercise. Mills began practicing it while teaching high school earth science in New York City.
“It was just a very intense workout. There's nothing about fighting that was appealing to me,” Mills said. “I wasn't like, 'I can't wait to start hitting people.'”
The intensity of Muay Thai eventually motivated Mills to practice the martial art in the competitive arena. She had thrived there at Auburn High School in both field hockey and lacrosse before playing the latter sport at SUNY Cortland.
At Cortland, Mills met her future fiance, Austin Randolph, who had practiced Muay Thai and pointed out a gym in her neighborhood of Queens where she could also pursue the fighting discipline.
Mills soon discovered that Muay Thai appealed to her competitive drive, which she couldn't appease with jogging or weightlifting. After learning the fundamentals, she sought to test her skill against others.
“If I'm this motivated, why not take it to the next level and see what I can do?” Mills asked herself.
Mills even took her training to Thailand, where she fine-tuned her technique in the country's searing climate. The trip culminated in her first fight - and win - against a fighter from Italy.
The application for “Fight Girls” found its way into Lisa's hands back at her gym in Queens.
“I thought it would be the ultimate challenge and a nice addition to train with the best,” Mills said. “And the appeal of TV is exciting.”
That excitement subsided when Mills began the exhausting process of TV production. All hours of the day were filmed, which meant many awakenings in front of a camera crew for Mills. She was also asked to carry out all her phone conversations on speaker phone.
“I was talking to my mom once and she asked if I would be wearing a helmet,” Mills said.
The artifice of “reality television” was made even more apparent to Mills by the rigid schedule she was required to follow.
“We'd have to go to the mall or go out to dinner even if I'm not hungry or I don't want to shop,” she said. “A lot of things aren't natural about it.”
In the Las Vegas audience for Lisa's fight was her father, Roger. While he was impressed to see the stellar physical condition Lisa reached during her Muay Thai training, he was nonetheless nervous as she stepped in the ring.
“As parents, you don't want to see your child get beat up,” Roger said.
As Roger saw Lisa field strikes from her opponent, he was relieved to witness her take the punishment like a professional fighter.
“She was able to absorb the hit and respond - there's always a question if you can take a punch and how you can react to it,” he said.
Roger's confidence in his daughter's fondness for Muay Thai was strengthened by the sight of one of her mentors on “Fight Girls,” Gina Carano, who has 16 fights in her professional career.
“She's absolutely beautiful. You would think fighters are all scarred up, but she showed me you could participate in this sport without injuring your body or being disfigured,” Roger said.
Lisa, however, has no immediate plans to pursue Muay Thai professionally. She is currently planning her wedding to Randolph and resuming her teaching career while fighting takes a back seat
“It was just something fun to do. Now it's time to settle back into a normal life,” Mills said. “It really turned my life upside down for a little bit.”
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net
If you watch
What: Fight Girls
When: 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays
Channel: Oxygen (channel 69)
