Earlier this year, there was plenty of chatter among both the MMA and kickboxing communities when Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez announced her intent to pursue an MMA career. The female Muay Thai fighter has a 4-1 amateur record followed by a 2-1 professional record in kickboxing, which is probably enough experience to transition to mixed martial arts. Not only that, but Taylor-Melendez has much support on her side with husband, UFC fighter Gilbert Melendez.
All of the aforementioned details pertaining to Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez is enough for Scott Coker to want her in Bellator MMA, news which has been confirmed earlier this year. The question is when will Taylor-Melendez actually make the transition?
The reason why people are wondering when Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez will make her debut in MMA has a lot to do with her appearance at Bellator MMA & Glory: Dynamite 1 . According to SB Nation , Taylor-Melendez took on Hadley Griffith in the hybrid event. Given the fact Griffith was debuting, it is understandable why Taylor-Melendez dominated resulting in an unanimous decision. However, the match Taylor-Melendez and Griffith had was not an MMA event despite the fact she is signed on with Bellator MMA as an MMA fighter now.
Fortunately for fans in the MMA community anticipating her debut, Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez made it known when she will make her MMA debut , as reported by MMA Junkie .
“I’m going to leave that up to my coaches and my husband, Gilbert. But we’re hoping by the middle of next year.”
Now that a time table has been made, we can at least predict when Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez will debut in accordance to updates on her training. And to be fair, it is understandable why Bellator MMA didn’t feature any women’s MMA fights as of yet. They’ve recently brought back the women’s division (or divisions if there is more than one weight class, but little is known on who else would fill its ranks. Taylor-Melendez seems to be the only contender reported as of now.
[Image via Brilliant Javier]
