“I want to test my power to manifest my desire into reality.  I’m addicted to that,” – HELEN PERALTA

By:  Thomas Vickers (MMA – Journalist)

QUEEN MMA MEDIA

(QUEEN MMA MEDIA) – Helen “Iansa” Peralta is set to make her women’s mixed martial arts pro debut On January 13, 2018 at Invicta Fighting Championships 27 at the historic Scottish Rite Temple, in Kansas City, Missouri.   The match is a scheduled strawweight (115 lbs) contest against Missouri native Jade “The Asian Sensation” Ripley.

“I don’t have much of a fight background,” explained Peralta.  “I trained some capoeira for a few years just for fun and I went to a few cardio boxing classes.”

Capoeira is a martial art rooted in afro-Brazilian culture that combines dance, acrobatics, and music.  It dates back to circa 16th century and is noted for its quick elaborate moves focusing on power, speed, and leverage, alongside a wide range of kicks and spins.

In September of 2016 Helen decided to enter a boxing tournament without any formal training and won.  “After the tournament someone told me that I should compete in boxing so I started training at SEDM Boxing Club.  The club was two hours from my house so I only made it two or three times a week,” she explained. Peralta went on to quickly collect an impressive 5 – 1 amateur boxing record. “Boxing is easy,” exclaimed Helen, who added she may consider pursuing it on a professional level in the future.

Peralta is twenty-nine years of age and fights out of Fairfield, Iowa.  Despite having a background with little organized martial arts instruction, Peralta’s natural fighting ability has produced an outstanding amateur record of 9 – 1, three amateur MMA titles, and a kickboxing title.  Her most recent amateur title conquest being the Tuff N Uff Flyweight (125 lbs) belt in November of 2017.  Peralta began her amateur MMA career in April of 2016 and in just twenty months has accumulated ten fights and is currently on a seven fight winning streak.  A lightning pace.  In 2017 Helen had four bouts in just a five month period.   She is a natural born fighter who always comes to fight.

“I have been training for two years and competing for a year and a half.  My record is due to the fact that I compete often.  Most fighters have some sort of martial arts background before they compete.  I do not.  I just wanted to give myself some time to learn some techniques and I used my amateur career as live sparing,” stated Peralta.

“Like the cold.  Merciless but righteous,” described Helen about herself as a fighter. “I’m one hundred percent sure I will be world champion,” she continued.  “I want to test my power to manifest my desire into reality.  I’m addicted to that,” answered Helen when asked by Queen MMA Media what feeds her desire to compete in the cage. “It is show time feeling.  I love being in the cage, I belong there,” she continued.

Peralta is eager and excited to make her MMA professional debut with the prestigious Invicta Fighting Championships.  “I have watched all of Invicta’s shows on UFC Fight Pass library.  I admire most of those girls and now I’m one of them,” she elaborated.

Peralta wields effective stand up in the cage.  She looks comfortable and confident during stand up exchanges and knows how to control space, find range, and land punches.  Helen is a patient puncher with decent movement who can land hard heavy shots.  She has a natural instinctive style, often displaying wide and looping punches that connect with considerable power and accuracy.  She is aware she must continue to grow as a fighter and has been focusing on ground work under the guidance of world class trainer Sergio Cunha.

The thirty year old Jade “The Asian Sensation” Ripley fights out of St. Joseph, Missouri and is a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Ripley will also be making her pro debut and brings the experience of an undefeated 6 – 0 amateur record with her into the cage on January 13, 2018.  Throughout her amateur career, despite having a said blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Jade seems to be content to slug it out with her opponents.  Ripley has a seemingly awkward punching style consisting of shifting, jerking, and swaying motions.  She can be aggressive and generally pushes forward with pawing jabs and quick straight punches.  Her darting tactics can be wild at times.  In past bouts she has shown she is willing to take one to give one and has displayed a respectably durable chin.  Ripley is a tough fighter and no doubt will show up ready to go.  However Peralta’s punching power very well may prove to be too great of a challenge for “The Asian Sensation” to overcome.

“I love stand up.  It is fun!  But I also feel confident on the ground,” explained Helen when asked by Queen MMA Media if she was prepared for Jade Ripley’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu background and seemingly logical possibility of her focusing on trying to take the action to the mat.  “I am not sure what to expect from my opponent and I don’t intend to guess.  I see my hand raised at the end of the fight and I don’t expect it to go pass the first round,” finished Peralta.

The fight looks to be an exciting strawweight contest between two scrappy competitors.  Ripley may be in for a hard and sudden surprise if she elects to engage Peralta in a stand up showdown.

Bantamweight: Pannie Kianzad (8-2) vs. Sarah Kaufman (18-4, 1 NC)
Flyweight: Vanessa Porto (19-8) vs. Mariana Morais (12-5)
Strawweight: Sharon Jacobson (4-2) vs. Ashley Nichols (3-1)
Atomweight: Ashley Cummins (5-4) vs. Stephanie Alba (3-1, 1 NC)
Flyweight: Brogan Walker-Sanchez (4-0) vs. TBA
Featherweight: Felicia Spencer (3-0) vs. Akeela Al-Hameed (0-0)
Strawweight: Mallory Martin (1-2) vs. Tiffany Masters (2-1)
Atomweight: Melissa Wang (1-0) vs. Loma Lookboonmee (0-0)
Strawweight: Jade Ripley (0-0) vs. Helen Peralta (0-0)

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(QUEEN MMA MEDIA)

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