Local MMA female athlete celebrating her successes in the cage and confidence in life

A local mixed martial arts amateur fighter from Desert Hot Springs is celebrating a big victory following a recent cage match. 

Irann Orozco has been profiled by KESQ News Channel 3 before and is now setting her sights on her future.

It was an MMA cage fight at King Of The Cage in Reno, Nevada, and Irann Orozco came out of the minute and 32-second bout with a TKO doctor's stoppage. Her strategy of patience, she says, paid off.

"In amateurs," Orozco said, "sometimes they touch gloves and they just start going crazy on each other. And I didn't want to be in that type of brawl because it's dangerous."

Orozco says learning to fight has changed her life. When she was a teenager, she experienced a traumatic experience of getting jumped and not knowing how to respond.

"And it was very traumatizing for me to even speak about it back then," Orozco said, adding "I wouldn't be able to speak about it. I would start crying." 

Now, she's found a new confidence.

"Oh yes, it has truly changed my confidence and my self-esteem," Orozco said adding, "It's taught me discipline, dedication, consistency. It's taught me that if I work hard at anything that I want to I could achieve anything that I want to do."

Orozco is now in school for massage therapy and trains at the Diaz Brothers Training Camp in Indio. She hopes to meet with local Representative Raul Ruiz to win federal funding for California's team, part of the Amateur MMA USA National Team with plans to compete in Uzbekistan later this year.

She calls her mother and manager, Gabriella Francointerprete, "Momager" and says she is proud and supportive.

"After I win my fights. I just give her a hug and let her know that it's all for her," Orozco said.

Her success comes from the knowledge she can protect herself and feel secure. 

See her story on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. on KESQ News Channel 3.