Sunday Mail (UK)

Raised in Oz. But my cage rage is made in Scotland

Champ I owe it all to my dad

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Aussie cage-fighting queen Megan Anderson has told how she isi convinced her knock-out moves are down to her Scottish roots.

TheTh tattooed 27-year- old has taken the sport by stormst after quitting her job as an admin worker years ago. Megan’sMe punching power saw her crowned Invicta interim featherwei­ghtfeather champ earlier this year and she hopes to be called up to the Ultimate Fighting Championsh­ip.Championsh­ip The mixed martial arts fighter has revealed she believes her personalit­y has more in common with being Scottish than Australian. The Rangers fan’s dad James left his home in Blantyre, Lanarkshir­e, and moved to the Gold Coast when he was 25, after meeting her Liverpudli­an mum Gillian on holiday there.

Megan said: “I’m so proud of my heritage. I think a lot of my toughness with my fighting comes from having a Scottish dad and Scottish family.

“I have a lot of traits that aren’t typically Australian, they’re Scottish. I’m very determined. I only wish I had the cool accent though.

“My dad has a half-Australian and half-Scottish accent and a lot of people struggle to understand him.

“I’m a big Rangers fan – I get that from my dad. I’d love to come to Scotland to see where my family are from and to see the Gers play. I have so many extended family members there.”

At 6ft tall and with a muscled physique, Megan admits people can f ind her intimidati­ng. But she insists appearance­s can be deceptive and that, away from the cage, she’s a pussycat.

She added: “I’m a giant and it doesn’t help that I’m covered in tattoos. So people can find me intimidati­ng but I’m not like that at all – I’m very easygoing. I’m not arrogant and have no problem making fun of myself.”

Megan quit Australia and moved to the US for a crack at the UFC. She was crowned Invicta champion following a second-round win against Canadian Charmaine Tweet in January.

Sport commentato­rs described the win as a career-defining moment.

Her victory was made all the sweeter by the fact that her parents and brother Ross travelled from Australia to see it.

She added: “I’m the first Australian to have won an internatio­nal world title.

“I tried lots of sports but none of them really stuck and I kept getting injured.”

Megan, who’s based in Kansas City, Missouri, has three gruelling training sessions a day and only spars with men.

She said: “All my training partners are men because the girls at my gym are little and aren’t going to push me.

“When I spar with men bigger than me, it means it can give me the edge when I fight other women.”

The UFC are heading to Glasgow in July for their second show at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro and Megan would love to be part of it.

She added: “I want to make it into the UFC now that they have a featherwei­ght division. They’ll need fighters and that’s where I want to be.

“I’d love the opportunit­y to fight for them and doing it in Scotland would be even more amazing.”

 ??  ?? SUPPORT Megan with her parents and brother after win BIG HIT Megan,an, left, in MMA MA action,n, right ht A lot of my toughness comes from having a Scots dad
SUPPORT Megan with her parents and brother after win BIG HIT Megan,an, left, in MMA MA action,n, right ht A lot of my toughness comes from having a Scots dad

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