Melissa Croden

When and why did you start training for fighting? Martial arts has always been something that I have taken an interest in. TKD and kickboxing were the only sports I did consistently as a kid. I always sort of felt awkward growing up and didn’t understand or have much exposure to team sports so I felt like I had a place in Martial arts. In my early 20s, a friend of mine was preparing for a kickboxing fight, I was curious as to what that was like so I asked if I could come to her gym. I hadn’t stopped training since then.

What professional titles have you held? In Canada, we have an all female MMA promotion called Pallas Athena. I fought for the bantamweight title and won via TKO. 

Any accomplishments in amateur combat sports? I won two titles as an amateur, one of which was randomly is Stockton California and one for the Rumble in the Cage featherweight title, a promotion local to Alberta.

Any belts/ ranks in grappling disciplines? Brown Belt in BJJ

What has been your toughest fight to date and why? My LFA title fight against Jacqueline Cavalcanti. This fight ended up going all five rounds with having been dropped pretty hard nearing the end of the first round; after that, all I remember is trying to bridge her range with boxing head movement and ended up winning two rounds after that. Although I did lose that fight, I gained an immense amount of experience from it. I made the appropriate adaptations in my gym life as well as my personal life because of that fight. That fight brought me towards the classic fork in the road every fighter experiences after a big loss; either quit or keep going. The fight itself wasn’t hard in the way one might think but the courage to look at my shortcomings and then doing something about them was difficult.

Who is your favorite fighter and why? Jiri Prochhazka; I really appreciate his authentic approach to martial arts. He has the courage to be different and live the path of a modern day warrior from fasting to isolation; I admire the challenge he poses upon himself. He takes the journey of MMA to a deeper place and that really resonates with me as a person.

Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I graduated in 2012 from a private college to become a Primary Care Paramedic (EMT) and have been working in emergency medicine ever since. 

What was your job before you started fighting? I currently work for the city of Calgary for Alberta Health Services and plan to become a firefighter for Calgary as well.

Origin of nickname: My old coach used to tell me that my movement was really stiff when I first started training and called me a scarecrow.

Personal Life / Background (family stuff, kids, etc): I was born in Ontario and raised in Alberta. My family moved to Calgary Alberta when I was 1. I have one older sister who is my best friend, she is married to an amazing man and they have two young boys. My nephews have become the glue to my immediate family and we are all very close. As I have gotten older, my family has become the most important thing to me. I have a boyfriend who is an extreme sports athlete as well, he races motorcycles and is very supportive of my MMA career. We do plan on have a family of our own one day. I still work in EMS and I love my job and will continue to work while fighting in the UFC.

Who are 3 people you'd love to meet or work with (celebrities, content creators, other fighters, sports stars)? A goal of mine is to eventually go to Tanzania to volunteer at an orphanage/dog rescue run by a man named John St. Julien. He has always inspired my desire to serve others and follow the path of Christ. I believe my Martial Arts career will push me in the direction as I get older. 

What are your hobbies, activities or other interests when not training for a fight? When I have the time, I enjoy hunting and shooting my bow. In Alberta, we have the Rocky Mountains so I spend some time in the summer exploring the beautiful hikes available to us Albertaners.