ARLINGTON, Texas – While her Triller Triad Combat debut couldn’t have gone much better, Alex Culp says she’s not walking away from MMA.
“I don’t know,” Culp said about her next move. “MMA is in my heart. It’s got my heart.”
Culp (2-1 MMA) faced Angelina Hoffschneider in the lone women’s bout of Saturday’s mixed-rules event at Globe Life Field. She needed just 46 seconds to end the fight, overwhelming her opponent from the start with relentless punches en route to a first-round TKO.
“We knew it would be a possibility, but I came in with no expectations,” Culp said. “I can’t control her, so I don’t know how she’s going to show up. I just knew I can only control myself and focus on what I can do, and it worked.”
Culp’s fight was just the second of the night in the new event, which featured boxing mixed with clinch work in a triangular ring. Culp said the fighting surface, itself, was especially appealing.
“I loved it,” Culp said. “You can’t not cut a clean angle. As soon as you step to the left, they’re in a corner, so you know you can’t back up because you’re only doing yourself a disservice, so it forces you to be on top of it.”
Culp said that she often trains at her home gym of Glory MMA & Fitness in gloves similar to the ones used at Triller Triad Combat, as well, and “felt really at home” with the entire scenario.
That said, the two-time Invicta FC veteran said she’s not ready to abandon her MMA career in favor of this new pursuit, but rather hopes that she can take part in both sports moving forward.
“I work so hard for the blending of all of the martial arts that I can, and I would never throw that away, but these are fun, so I would never throw this away, either,” Culp said.
