Discover the ins and outs of the forver journey of Taylor Rose

Read about my path to greatness

The very beginning

How did it all start?

My journey started in a very unique way. It started from the UFC 3 video game. From the moment I launched the game I was immediately captivated. I spent most of my time on the game playing career mode with my own created character which I named ‘Rosey’ which then every day I would spend my free time knocking out ai characters on easy mode and acting like I already was the best fighter of all time. I played the video game for a good 2 years (also moving onto UFC 4) before I decided to plan how I was going to start MMA. I did not even know that is was called MMA! From playing the video game I then started to see the sport all over my social media which only reeled me in even more. I would mention the sport to my mum but she would always brush it off and just say that I only want to start because of a ‘stupid’ video game, it sounded harsh but it was true! I did want to start from a stupid video game lol. At the time I was 15 years old with no experience in fighting whatsoever – Well I did a few classes of boxing but that fell apart quickly. So At the very age of 15 I created a plan but not just by myself. With someone who I could call a brother – Tyler Richardson. Tyler and I have had our fair share of good and bad moments but overall has done more for me than most friends have. Anyway, the plan was we get a gym membership (weights) and bulk up and get strong enough so when we are old enough to get a proper job we can afford a membership at a MMA gym that around the corner (MMAX GYM) . So from the start of 2023 Tyler and I worked our asses off in the gym EVERY DAY. There are alot of funny moments that happend in mine and Tylers gym era but I can discuss that another time lol, thinking back on it we didnt really know what we were doing. All we know that doing legs was weird a biceps was the only muscle group nessaracy. In the end it was all learning. Dispite our lack of gym knowledge we still made progress. We gained a decent amount of muscle and weight in a good amount of time. So back on track -. Like I said we planned to join the MMa gym when we where both 16 BUT we discovered that they do UNLIMTED memberships for u17s for £50!!. We thought that we would have had to pay adults prices. After fidning this out we both jumped on this straight away. Well he did anyway. Tyler went everyday without fail and he would relay back to me how good the sessions where and It only made me want to start even more. I mentioned it to my mum and she said its still very expensive for her and she would see what she could do. The very next week my mums current partner mentioned to me that he is familiar with one of the coaches there and that he could sort a deal out which would then make me entitled to a free membership!! (lets just mention I no longer live with them). After hearing this I was buzzing! As soon as I could I turned up to my first session and AMAZING it was. But not easy lol. I met Bradley Price which was one of the coaches at the time and my first impression of him was definatly not the most intimidating person but for sure he could mess you up if he wanted. In my first grappling class he made me tap out 4 times in a minute. I had never felt so weak and venerable in my life and it only lit a fire under my belly to keep turning up. Also in that same day I sparred in my very first class and the most memorable memory was slamming Tyler on his back maybe a bit too hard lol. The gym wasn’t the best looking gym or even the best smelling but one thing it has is that homely feeling and that’s also because of the people involved. It may sound a bit cheesy but most people would understand just from an hour spent in the place. Yeah so that’s how it all started in a longish shortish summary. – After all this I never looked back since.

My first competition(s)

MMAX ground up

MMAX ground up (previously known as GUFS) is a platform my Head coach – Denniston Sutherland created for people that train martial arts and want to get a feel of what real competition is in a safe environment. For people who want to fight this gives Denniston a good idea of what level they are at and if they are ready for the next step (amateur fighting)

I competed on this show 3 times before I had an amateur fight and I had some great moments and some not so ‘boastable’ moments lol but overall it gave me the best experience I could have possibly had before my first amateur fight. I racked up a record of 6 wins and only one loss which I like to say I never lost but hay ho. I won fights in every way possible – submission, TKO and dominant decisions.
https://smoothcomp.com/en/profile/1109026 – Link to view my novice record + more
My most exiting novice fight Myself vs Thomas Gin
My first ever ‘fight’ – Myself vs Albert Vasari

My first BJJ competition

In October 2023 I dove straight into a BJJ grappling competition with less than a years experience. Considering the people who i was against and the amount I’ve trained myself I did exceptionably well! I won 2 out of 3 matches – one 2-0 points and another by kimura which then earned me 3rd place in the bracket. The match I lost was very very close and it was a draw on points (0-0) but he scraped an advantage point which then earned him the victory :(. Ill be honest. I had no clue how any of the scoring worked and how long the fight was and even some of the rules. I went in there and winged it! I got told off at one point for ‘throttling my opponent’ – lol. It was only illegal as i got caught lol because the whole time of the feet I was constantly grabbing my opponents throat and scratching him but we can move on from that. Out of the 4 competitors I was defiantly the least experienced but it didn’t matter. Neither to me or the result.

Discover Our Journey So Far

My first experience in the cage

My first experience in the cage was a very interesting one. It was not a MMA , k1 or boxing fight – t it was a grappling match – but a very good one!. The leadup to this gave me a rollercoaster of emotions. I had many different opponents offered to me and a few accepted but they all ended up backing out. About 4 days out I had a confirmed opponent and buzzing i was until the night before he completely bottled it. Hesham Sattar I think his name was. My coach Denniston Sutherland had booked him a hotel to stay at and given him travel money and he still ran off lol. I think his excuse was he had work? But he sent a picture of the train ticket he had bought at the station? Yeh its very confusing. Whenever this doughnut is brought up coach max never fails to mention the licks he would give him if they ever crossed paths. But anyway, I got an opponent in the end. I was matched against Ultimate Athlete coach and blue belt Ahsan Malik to have a grappling match (5 min round + 1 min extra) Baring in mind I’m 16 with less than a years experience but I didn’t care and my coaches knew it was a good test.
Right so lets now talk about the fight. Or even my walkout lol. The song I had chosen was Smooth Criminal but the late great MJ and the reasoning for choosing this was because I wanted to give everyone watching something extra as a grappling match may not have been as exiting as the other fights that were happening that day. Little did i know the way i came out and showed off my dancing, confidence and overall showmanship would set the standard of how I present myself as a fighter and how other people see me to this day. Ill be honest. It was very very cringy. Like i cannot bring myself to rewatch it lol. But. It was defo worth it and it only made everyone more exited to watch my MMA debut. Right I got a bit side-tracked but back onto the fight. I was very entertaining! It did end as a draw but it was a competitive match. He probably did get the better of me but I held my own well considering the age and experience gap.

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