Felice Herrig is an American kickboxer, Muay Thai fighter, and mixed martial artist. Born in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, she began her career practicing kickboxing and Muay Thai before transitioning to MMA in 2009.

She currently fights in the UFC strawweight division, where she is currently the #9-ranked female strawweight fighter in the world according to the Unified Women’s MMA Rankings.

Last weekend in the uFC, Herrig defeated prospect Alexa Grasso in an upset. Before her fight, she was promoted to purple belt in BJJ under Jeff Curran.

She shared her thoughts about how much the promotion meant to her and how she plans on becming a BJJ black belt one day:

“One of my most proud accomplishments to date.

2 weeks ago I received my purple belt under Jeff Curran.

This might seem like an insignificant accomplishment to most. It’s not like it’s a Brown belt or black belt and a lot of people have purple belts in jiujitsu. But not a lot have one under Jeff Curran as he does not take his belt system lightly.

I think I’m so proud because when I started my MMA career it was not because I loved mma or had any desire what so ever to be a ground fighter or learn that discipline.

At the time I pretty much did everything I could do in kickboxing and Muay Thai and there was really no future in a prosperous kickboxing career. Mma was the future .

I started my mma career as a professional mma fighter because I was already a professional kickboxer and could not start as an Amateur. I had zero experience on the ground. I had never taken a wrestling or jiujitsu class. When I started mma it was like I was starting all over again.

Anything I do I do with passion. And I was on a mission to become great on the ground * I still have a long way to go * I wanted to be a complete mma fighter.

I never cared about my belt ranking and I never thought I would love jiujitsu as much as I loved kickboxing.
After years of working with Jeff I developed a deep love and appreciation for the sport and am now on a mission to get my black belt under him one day.”

One of my most proud accomplishments to date. 2 weeks ago I received my purple belt under @bigfrogbjj This might seem like an insignificant accomplishment to most. It's not like it's a Brown belt or black belt and a lot of people have purple belts in jiujitsu. But not a lot have one under Jeff Curran as he does not take his belt system lightly. I think I'm so proud because when I started my MMA career it was not because I loved mma or had any desire what so ever to be a ground fighter or learn that discipline. At the time I pretty much did everything I could do in kickboxing and Muay Thai and there was really no future in a prosperous kickboxing career. Mma was the future . I started my mma career as a professional mma fighter because I was already a professional kickboxer and could not start as an Amateur. I had zero experience on the ground. I had never taken a wrestling or jiujitsu class. When I started mma it was like I was starting all over again. Anything I do I do with passion. And I was on a mission to become great on the ground * I still have a long way to go * I wanted to be a complete mma fighter. I never cared about my belt ranking and I never thought I would love jiujitsu as much as I loved kickboxing. After years of working with Jeff I developed a deep love and appreciation for the sport and am now on a mission to get my black belt under him one day. ?- @michellethemachine

A photo posted by Felice Herrig (@feliceherrig) on Feb 7, 2017 at 7:02am PST