MMA fighting Clarksville mom seeks championship

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — For Jennifer “Savage” Clausius, life has been a fight, physically and figuratively.

When Clausius takes a deep breath and steps into the cage to compete in mixed martial arts, there’s no turning back. Each time, she scans hundreds of unfamiliar faces in the crowd of spectators looking for one. Always looking for one.

Her son. Through blood, sweat and tears, Clausius fights for 12-year-old Cayden Beukeman. The boy’s father died in 2020, leaving her a single mom.

THE ONE AND ONLY

Clausius, of Clarksville, is the only female bare-knuckle boxer in Tennessee. She trains three times a day, juggling workouts and her responsibilities as a mom while trying to bring home a MMA championship belt.

Her last fight in the cage was held earlier this month, and it wasn’t in Tennessee. Clausius has traveled all over the south competing, including stints in Florida and Mississippi.

Cayden considers Clausius his superhero, she said, noting that she’ll do whatever it takes to uphold that title.

Clausius, 28, has been fighting for eight years and decided to go professional in 2018. She told The Leaf-Chronicle that the sport is all about integrity, something that she works to embed in her son.

“You have to have integrity in order to succeed the right way,” Clausius said. “We try to instill that so I have to be the example for him as the first and second parent now.”

FIGHTING MOTHER, SON DUO

Clausius said her son battled depression after the sudden death his father. He died by suicide in April 2020. Over time, Cayden recognized the signs of depression and began to lift himself up.

Now he, too, boxes just like his mother.

“God takes all things and uses it for good,” Clausius said.

Cayden started training at Clarksville’s American Pride a few months ago and describes the sport as a reliever for him. What he enjoys the most is being able to share the passion of fighting with his mother, he said.

Although Cayden said he enjoys seeing his mother do what she loves, Clausius worries about him. It’s difficult for her to allow him to see a fight, whether it’s a championship victory or a bloody and bruised loss.

“He needs to see failures, just like he does victories, so he can see that you can always continue,” Clausius tells herself.

“There’s going to be some days that look like I didn’t even train … but sometimes you can’t turn things down you put yourself in a position for,” she said.

Every loss comes with a lesson, even the ones that are the hardest to come back from.

“Life is a fight,” Clausius said. “Just because you have a bad chapter doesn’t mean your story is over. You have to dig deep and find a reason to fight hard.”