Tessa Simpson (born October 27, 1986) is an American former

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 ...

who competed in

Atomweight Atomweight (also referred to as light minimumweight, junior strawweight, junior mini-flyweight and pinweight) is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In women's boxing and junior amateur boxing pinweight is, or has been, a weight class for boxe ...

division of the

Invicta Fighting Championships Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

(Invicta).

Background

Simpson was born in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

. Growing up as a teenager, she was actively competing in various sports. She started training in

jiu-jitsu Jujutsu ( , or ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu (both ), is a Japanese martial art and a system of close combat that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponent ...

after watching

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

and

Pancrase is a Japanese mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Tokyo. It was founded in 1993 by professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki. The name was based on pankration, a fighting sport in the An ...

events. She took up

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

later and transitioned to

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 ...

as few

kickboxing Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid Martial arts, martial art and Boxing (disambiguation), boxing type based on punch (combat), punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, norma ...

competition events could be found in Texas.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Simpson started her amateur career in 2009. After amassing 2–1 record in 2009, she had a long hiatus from 2010 to 2016 where she had only one fight in 2013. She was signed by

(Invicta) after coming nearly a three-year layoff when she won over Satomi Takano at Pacific Xtreme Combat 52 with amassing a record of 4–1.

Invicta Fighting Championships

Simpson made her promotional debut on July 29, 2016, at Invicta FC 18: Grasso vs. Esquibel against

Simona Soukupova Simona Soukupova is a Czech mixed martial artist who competes at Invicta FC in the Atomweight division and has fought 3 times for the organization. Mixed martial arts record , - , Loss , align=center, 6–6–1 , Svetlana Gotsyk , Decision (sp ...

. She won the fight unanimous decision. Her next fight came ten months later on May 20, 2017, at Invicta FC 23: Porto vs. Niedzwiedz against Herica Tiburcio. She lost the fight via split decision. On December 8, 2017, Simpson faced

Amber Brown ''Amber Brown'' is a series of realistic fiction books for children created and originally written by Paula Danziger; later written by Elizabeth Levy and Bruce Coville. Early editions are illustrated by Tony Ross and later by Anthony Lewis. The ...

at Invicta FC 26: Maia vs. Niedzwiedz. She won the fight via a submission armbar on round one.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 5–3 ,

, Submission (armbar) , Invicta FC 26: Maia vs. Niedzwiedz , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:50 ,

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 5–2 , Herica Tiburcio , Decision (split) , Invicta FC 23: Porto vs. Niedzwiedz , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Invicta FC 18: Grasso vs. Esquibel , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

, United States , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Satomi Takano , Submission (mounted triangle keylock) , Pacific Xtreme Combat 52 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 2:01 ,

Mangilao, Guam Mangilao is a Villages of Guam, village on the eastern shore of the United States territory of Guam. The village's population has decreased slightly since the island's 2010 census. Cliffs lie along much of the village's shoreline provide dramatic ...

, Guam , - , Win , align=center, 3–1 , Paulina Granados , Decision (unanimous) , Legacy Fighting Championship 23 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, United States , - , Loss , align=center, 2–1 , Anita Rodriguez , Submission (scarf hold armlock) , Bully Bash and Brawl 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:56 ,

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, United States , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Hayley Cypert , TKO (punches) , Adrenaline: Feel The Rush , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:56 ,

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin (North America), Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert ...

, United States , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Angelita Davis , Submission (triangle choke) , Shark Fights 3 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:48 ,

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

, United States , -

References

External links

*
Tessa Simpson
at

Invicta FC Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion dedicated to women's mixed martial arts that was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin and Shannon Knapp. The promotion is current ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Tessa 1986 births Living people American female mixed martial artists American female Muay Thai practitioners American female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners Atomweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu 21st-century American women