Erin Young Toughill (born June 13, 1977) is an American former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

, and bare-knuckle boxer who also appeared as a Gladiator on the American Gladiators series. She began kickboxing at the age of 18 and started training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu soon after. Under the watch of her LA Boxing trainer Sean McCully, Toughill debuted in

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

on September 27, 1999, and fought to a draw with Irma Verhoeff at World Vale Tudo Championship 9 in Aruba. Less than a year later, she made her professional

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

debut on July 20, 2000. Along with her

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

career, Toughill holds a professional boxing record of 7 wins, 5 losses, 1 draw and 1 no contest. She counts IBF

Super Middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

contender

Librado Andrade Librado Andrade Ornelas (born September 2, 1978) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2013, and challenged three times for a super middleweight world title between 2007 and 2009. His brother Enrique Ornelas is also a ...

, a long-time sparring partner, among her close friends.

Boxing career

Toughill has only one loss before losing her battle against

Laila Ali Laila Amaria Ali (born December 30, 1977) is an American television personality and retired professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2007. During her career, from which she retired undefeated, she held the World Boxing Council, WBC, Women's ...

. Her final boxing match was against Laura Ramsey, whom she defeated previously. Toughill's father died three days before her rematch to Laura Ramsey. Toughill lost the fight by TKO in the first round and retired soon after with a record of 7–3–1, 1 NC. Toughill returned to boxing on January 27, 2019, against Maricela Cornejo losing a unanimous division. Toughill fought again on May 18, 2019, losing via TKO to Raquel Miller.

Mixed martial arts career

After going 1–1–1 in her first three bouts, Toughill won five straight fights before losing due to illegal hits to the spine in the finals of the 2004

Smackgirl Smackgirl was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion focused solely on Women's mixed martial arts, female fighters. The promotion also held grappling and amateur events along with its main line of professional MMA cards. After financial difficul ...

World ReMix Tournament to Megumi Yabushita. She competed once more and scored a TKO victory over Jen Case in 2006. In 2007, Toughill retired from both boxing and MMA. Toughill came out of retirement from MMA and fought Jan Finney on November 20, 2008, at Palace Fighting Championships 11. Despite cutting over to make the contracted weight limit, Toughill was victorious and later went on to defeat Karen Williams and Emily Thompson in subsequent events for PFC after a fight with Adrienna Jenkins was cancelled due to injury.

Strikeforce

Toughill was set to make her

Strikeforce Strike Force may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games *Strike Force (video game), ''Strike Force'' (video game), a 1991 arcade game *''Commandos: Strike Force'', a 2006 video game *''Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce'', a 2009 video game *' ...

debut on November 7, 2009, at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers in a rematch with

Marloes Coenen Marloes Coenen (born March 31, 1981) is a retired Dutch mixed martial artist. She competed professionally from 2000 to 2017 and is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. Early life Coenen's brothers and grandfather were both invo ...

, whom Toughill defeated in 2004. However, she later withdrew from the fight due to an undisclosed medical condition. On March 18, 2010, Toughill announced that she was planning to leave

. She had been scheduled to compete on the undercard of Strikeforce: Nashville on April 17. However, in a second posting on April 9, 2010, Toughill attributed the disagreements with Strikeforce to misunderstandings and stated that she would be staying with the promotion. Toughill was scheduled to face Shana Olsen at Strikeforce: Houston on August 21, 2010, but the fight was cancelled due to concerns over Toughill's ability to make weight. According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, Toughill's next fight will not take place in Strikeforce, but she remains a part of the promotion's roster. Toughill was offered to face

Cristiane Santos Cristiane Justino Venâncio (born July 9, 1985), known professionally as Cris Cyborg and formerly by her married name Cristiane Santos, is a Brazilian-American professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer who competes in the PFL, wh ...

for a bout in 2010, but the fight never came into fruition.

Post-Strikeforce

Toughill was scheduled to compete outside of Strikeforce against China's Bao Yu Dan at Martial Combat 9 on September 15, 2010, in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. However, on September 13, Toughill withdrew from the fight after citing a broken

clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...

. Toughill returned to active competition after nearly two years at Freestyle Cage Fighting 46 on April 9, 2011. The fight was against Ashley Sanchez at a catchweight (per Toughill's request). Toughill lost the fight via unanimous decision. Toughill agreed to face Anna Barone at BlackEye Promotions 5 on October 1, 2011, in Fletcher, North Carolina, but withdrew from the fight after suffering a rib injury in training.

''American Gladiators''

Toughill became a cast member of NBC's primetime series, '' American Gladiators'', where she became known as Steel. One of the commentators on American Gladiators, Laila Ali, knocked her out.

Bare-knuckle boxing career

BYB Extreme

Toughill made her bare knuckle boxing debut with BYB Extreme Bare Knuckle Fighting Series, losing a 5-round split decision to Jozette Cotton at BYB 6 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood on July 16, 2021. On March 12, 2022, she defeated Sonya Dreiling via unanimous decision at BYB 9, improving her bare knuckle record to 1-1.

Personal life

Erin married

Neil Melanson Neil Melanson is an American submission grappling coach. Melanson specializes in catch wrestling, while drawing elements from judo, and focuses his coaching specifically, but not exclusively, on grappling in mixed martial arts. He is especially k ...

, a grappling coach and lead Jiu-Jitsu instructor at

Xtreme Couture Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts is an American mixed martial arts training organization headed by former Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC Champion and former co-founder of Team Quest, Randy Couture. Xtreme Couture was founded with the flags ...

, in a private ceremony on November 20, 2009. Melanson also serves as the primary grappling coach for

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. The larg ...

Hall of Famer

Randy Couture Randall Duane Couture (; born June 22, 1963) is an American mixed martial arts commentator, actor, former United States Army sergeant, former professional mixed martial artist, and former Collegiate wrestling, collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestlin ...

, and has cornered Couture during several recent MMA fights. The couple is currently going through a divorce. Toughill's younger sister, Megan, was killed in a car accident on September 19, 2004, which was about three weeks before her title fight with Yvonne Reis.

Media

Toughill was featured on MSNBC's Warrior Nation as she prepared for a fight. In 2022, Toughill launched Talk Tough with Erin Toughill, an interview-style podcast focused on bare knuckle boxing.

Mixed martial arts record

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Kaoru Ito is a Japanese Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, promotions All Japan Women's Pro-Wr ...

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Professional boxing record

Bare knuckle boxing record

Accomplishments

* Brown Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under James Boran * 2001 ReMix Golden Gate Japan Champion * W-Fusion 2001 Japan Champion

References

External links

* *
Fightergirls.com profile

Official American Gladiators Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toughill, Erin 1977 births Living people Martial artists from Chicago American women boxers Boxers from Chicago American female mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu American female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners 21st-century American women