Lana Stefanac and Women’s MMA–Writer’s Cut

At 5’10” and 210 pounds Lana Stefanac is a Goliath in stature, but her story is pure David. Just three years ago, at age thirty-one, she left behind her life in Ohio for California, drawn West in pursuit of a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Today the Danville resident owns an undefeated record in mixed martial arts, or MMA, the hybrid fighting sport where combatants punch, kick and grapple for victory. She stands at the center of the women’s MMA scene in the Bay Area, setting up fights, managing fighters, and now, with her newly opened school, helping other women realize their own hopes of getting in the cage, no easy endeavor. MMA’s largest and most popular organization refuses to hold women’s bouts. Men dominate most martial arts schools, where women command little attention. And even the sport’s fans are unfamiliar with most female fighters. But Stefanac is undeterred. “Girls love to fight.  When they realize that there’s a community, there’s a group, there’s a resource for that, they will come in flocks.” And like Stefanac did so many years ago, they have.