TUF 26 Alum Christina Marks Eager to Make Bare Knuckle Boxing Debut

Christina Marks ahead of her fight with Milana Dudieva in March (Photo Credit: Christina Marks Instagram) 

Season 26 of The Ultimate Fighter “A New World Champion” ushered in a wave of talent into the newly created UFC women’s flyweight division. Coaches Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje had the opportunity to head teams, highlighted by fighters such as Roxanne Modafferi, Barb Honchak, Rachael Ostovich and eventual champion Nicco Montaño. The ninth pick of the series was Christina Marks, who joined Fight Night Picks’ Craig Allen and Ty O’Keefe on Friday’s Bare Knuckle Boxing Series on Dialog. Marks said, about living and competing against housemates.

“It was different,” said Marks. “It was definitely different having to cook right next to my opponent or just see them all the time because, I mean, I always see my opponent’s face regardless like when I’m getting ready for a fight and stuff like that but to actually live with them was definitely a little different.”

“A lot of us on the show were vets so we’re honestly, we’re just there just to do what we had to do. There was no drama, I’m actually real good friends with all of them all of my opponents.”

It was actually an opportunity on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate in 2013 that spurned the opportunity for Marks to get the recognition from the promotion.

“I tried out for the 135 show back with — Ronda and Miesha Tate,” said Marks. “And I was the alternate for that show. And then I moved down to 125, and when I moved down to 125 I was on a three or four (fight) win streak and I kind of just knew that I kind of had it in the bag if I tried out for it as well.”

Marks’ debut is set for Nov. 9 against professional boxer Jasmine Clarkson (Photo Credit: Christina Marks Instagram)

Having last fought at Invicta FC 28 in March in a losing bid to Milana Dudieva, the opportunity to change gears and enter the bare knuckle scere emerged.

“Honestly I just looked at one of like, I get a lot of — messages on my Facebook and (someone) just messaged me,” said Marks. “And I looked at it and I honestly thought it was kind of a joke to be honest. I didn’t think it was anything real and I was just like ‘well you know, shoot me a contract, see what’s going on.'”

“Initially I’m not gonna lie, I said no. Bare knuckle fighting, like why am I going to do that, I’m an MMA fighter I’m doing all of that.”

“Now the 125 division in MMA is very saturated, so now all of a sudden it’s waiting for fights. So why not, you know, get in some of these other fights in between while going ahead and waiting for your MMA fight?”

Concentrating her focus solely on boxing, while honing her skills at the Bomber Squad Boxing Academy in San Diego has helped Marks prepare for the fight. On Nov. 9, Marks is set to take on professional boxer Jasmine Clarkson (17-0) for the WBKFF women’s flyweight championship and Marks is confident that the experience and talent she brings will help in this transition.

“Knowing that she’s a veteran, you know, in boxing,” said Marks. “I know that no matter how much I was gonna be training right now for this camp, I’m not gonna have the boxing IQ as maybe she has. But I know that I’ve been fighting probably longer, or just as long. I’m not new to the game when it comes to fighting. She’s used to the boxing gloves, I’m used to MMA gloves which is completey different than boxing gloves. And also we can do a clinch in the bare knuckle — fighting part of the rules which I’m known for muay thai, so clinch game is my forte.”

“So just knowing that about her, I know that I’m probably going to be a little bit more faster than her, I believe I’m a little bit more athletic, so I’m gonna base everything off of that.”

With more fights on the horizon, Marks is looking forward to 2019 while balancing duties with Invicta and WBKFF.

“Right after this fight I have an MMA fight in January for Invicta,” said Marks. “So when I’m in contract I just have to do it.”

“With bare-knuckle (WBKFF) I have another two fights after this fight already in contract. So I’m definitely going to be going back and forth for the next year.”

WBKFF’s inaugural event features a main event between former UFC welterweight champ Johny Hendricks and Bellator vet “Irish” Brennan Ward, and co-main between UFC vets Chris Leben and Phil Baroni.

Check out the full conversation with Christina Marks below from Dialog!