Hoping for a TKO: Local Mom Competes in 'School of Hard Knocks' Scrap

How often do you meet a 40-year-old wife, mother and police officer who picked up a second career in professional Mixed Martial Arts?

Meet Adrienne Seiber, one of Chicago’s finest who’s professionally trained under at the in Evergreen Park. Later this evening, she’ll be in Canada competing in the Hard Knocks Fighting Championship’s “School of Hard Knocks 25 – Medicine Hat.”

Held at the western Canada-based Cypress Centre Auditorium, Seiber’s fight will live stream on the GFL Combat Sports website at 8 p.m. CST.

What makes this “chick boxer” so tough? She goes by the nickname "Aggravated Battery," has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and has trained in Mixed Martial Arts since 2008 when she officially became part of the Academy’s fight team – Team ASD. But Seiber's own protection was at stake just before she began studying Martial Arts. The dangerous nature of her job as a Chicago Police Officer motivated her to learn the craft.

“Once I got onto the street, I got into a small altercation when a guy just threw me across the parking lot,” she said. Seiber thought to herself, “I need a little more training so I can be able to protect myself.” So after receiving her black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a three-year feat, she switched to Mixed Martial Arts, because “UFC was starting to take hold and I loved watching it." When her husband and fellow police officer (and Tae Kwon Do black belt) Dave Seiber started taking Jiu Jitsu, one day he came home and told her "You're going to love it." And she did.

Seiber has competed in a combination of local and national fights. In 2008, she fought in a Sept. 11 benefit boxing match where the Chicago Police Department went up against the Chicago Fire Department. “I think I can do that,” Seiber said when hearing about the event. The organizers were excited to have a female fighter compete. Seiber went on to win several of her amateur boxing matches the following year.

Seiber currently holds two amateur belts for Total Fight Challenge and Fire Extreme Fighting. Her Mixed Martial Arts Amateur record is 6 - 1 and late last year, her professional record was 1 - 1. Seiber also won two amateur boxing matches and holds a couple of medals for grappling. She has also competed in the 115 Bourbon Street Cutthroat competition.

“I am competitive by nature,” Seiber says. “I like to push myself with anything (I do)."

"Adrienne is one of the most self-motivated people I've ever trained,” said her trainer, Waldrom, adding that “She pushes herself harder than anyone I've worked with before. She always has the 'winner' mentality."

This evening’s brawl will be Seiber’s fourth professional fight. For her, this competition takes her another step closer to achieving her dream of having the opportunity to fight the best female Mixed Martial Artists in the world. "I prayed to receive (this opportunity) when I was skilled enough and mentally prepared for it. It's time for me to seize the moment and prove I belong,” Seiber said.

According to the GFL Combat Sports website, Seiber (1-2) will take on Charmaine Tweet (1-2) from Canada-based Chi-Ki Training in a featherweight scrap. Seiber “has proven to be a tough match-up with anyone as she has never been stopped in a fight and has heavy hands herself winning by TKO (technical knock-out),” the website said. “This bout has all of the makings for fight of the night as the winner will improve her record to .500 so look for both women to be throwing punches with bad intentions.”

Seiber’s rigorous fighting schedule keeps her in shape, but when she’s not in the ring, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their two daughters.

Catch the live stream tonight at 8 p.m. on the GFL Combat Sports website.

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