MMA fighter Ceileigh Niedermayr talks passion, purpose and pushing limits

JOHANNESBURG – Professional female MMA fighter Ceileigh “Smiley Savage” Niedermayr chose the sport because of a lifelong desire to test her limits
Niedermayr, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and EFC (Extreme Fighting Championship) Flyweight with a professional MMA record of 3-2-0 (Win-Loss-Draw) said she fell in love with martial arts at the age of 5.

“On my first lesson, I told the coach that I'm going to be a world champion, and I was locked in from day one. I didn't care to try any other sports that my friends were trying.  And I let it consume me from day one, that's all I thought about and cared about and it kind of naturally progressed.”

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The pro-athlete said her desire to test her abilities to really fight pushed her towards MMA (Mixed Martial Arts). She understood that karate and kickboxing rules don’t apply in a street fight so she chose a career that would really test her.

“To test your spirit, your heart, your technique and your skills as a fighter, and that's why I think it kind of naturally progressed for me to end up in the cage. Starting with passion, and then this deep desire to test if I am a real fighter,” she said.

“I love fighting so I just want to keep fighting, I love the training as well so I want to keep learning keep getting better as a fighter and we will see what opportunities come my way and my main focus is to keep busy keep building the record and keep improving and working on myself and I think we all aim to get that belt around our waist one day.”

In her recent fight at EFC 122, Niedermayr defeated Uganda’s Rebecca “Warrior” Amongi by unanimous decision after 3 rounds.

“I often have mixed feelings about my fight performances. The are not many, if any, fights that I'm completely satisfied. When it's like a good win with a finish, there are always things that I feel like I could have done better. But I think as athletes we can often be critical of ourselves, but that's not a bad thing as long as you give yourself credit for good as well. But we take those things we feel we could have done better and work on them and improve upon them.”

On the changes and development she would like to see in the sport when it comes to women, she tells Eyewitness News she hopes to see more participation in that way, more opportunities open up for female athletes.

“I would like to see greater participation numbers because that would mean greater opportunity, and also it would advance our levels because more competition means we all have to get better and improve, and will up the standard of women's MMA.”

Due to the comparatively small number of female fighters in most regions, all women are grouped into a single Pound for Pound ranking in each region, instead of separate rankings for each weight class.

“Additionally, I feel like women over time being in a male-dominated sport have often tried to not be the girl in the gym and not have different needs from the guys because we just try and fit in and not be seen as different. But I think more understanding needs to come from coaches and the people involved in our careers that there are differences physiologically and in other ways. I mean, even athlete to athlete, there are differences.”