Interview with Female MMA fighter Hana "The Last Ronin" Zeciri

I had the pleasure of getting to interview Hannah “The Last Ronin” Zeciri a 30 year old mother of two, wife, business owner, Martial Artist, and Amateur Fighter who is about to turn pro this year. She is undefeated on the amature level and is looking to test her martial skill against the upper levels of the fight game. Heres what she had to say.

First things, first How did How did you get the nickname “The Last Ronin”?

The Last Ronin wasn’t really a nickname that was given to me or anything. It came about a few years ago actually. I really like to write/ blog so I started an MMA/ BJJ website which I called The Last Ronin’s Blog. I did interviews with up and coming fighters and jiu jitsu players. Some of the people I interviewed were Keith Owen, Ken Primola, Jessica Eye, Sara McMann, Stephanie Frausto, as well as a few area fighters. I also had lots of gi and product reviews up on the site as well. The blog really picked up in 2009/ 2010 when I wasn’t training that much because I was pregnant with my first child. It was my way to still be involved with martial arts despite not being able to physically do anything. Eventually people got to know me from the website and the Facebook page. So when I started fighting I just kept the name because it was already a brand, so to say, that people were recognizing. How the name actually came about was because I really like samurai and the whole bushido way.

What first got you into martial arts? What was your main purpose from training when first starting out? How long did you train before you realized you might want to get into MMA?

I first started martial arts back in 2002 when I was 19. I was something I’d wanted to do since about the 6th grade, but there were no schools in the town I lived in. When the school opened up on Sept. 4rh, 2002 (yeah I remember the exact date) I was there and ended up training with them until 2010. The style is called Youn Wha Ryu. I’d say it’s somewhat similar to karate and definitely not like the stuff you see in the Olympics (or ATA either). In that time I earned a 3rd degree black belt.

In the beginning there was no main purpose for training martial arts. I wasn’t doing it because I wanted to fight. I just liked going to class each day, training hard, and pushing myself to be the best. It wasn’t until I saw Royce Gracie fight Matt Hughes that I wanted to give BJJ/ MMA a try. I actually told my tkd instructor that I wanted to fight in an MMA match and he said no lol. In 2007 my husband and I started “training” bjj. It was actually more of a trial and error, because we had no one to guide us in the right direction. In 2009, we started training BJJ/ MMA with ATT 3 stripe black belt Wade Rome. In 2011 we got our blue belts from him, but unfortunately he moved back to Florida and we are still blue belts. Despite that we haven’t stopped training though. We’ve gone to area gyms and seminars to continue learning. After moving around a bit we’ve settled down and have been training at Glory MMA & Fitness.

I had my first MMA fight in 2013, so I trained for roughly 9 years before stepping into the cage. I didn’t train in 2010 & 2012 because I was pregnant.

You are undefeated in both kickboxing and amature MMA which opponent provided the biggest challenge to you and why?

Honestly at this point I don’t feel like I have faced anyone who has challenged me. I don’t want to come off like I have a big ego or think super highly of myself, or anything like that. In my kickboxing fight I knocked the girl out in 50 seconds and didn’t get hit once. And she was a Kansas City golden gloves runner up. In my first MMA fight my opponent was 5-1, while it did go the distance I came out of the fight without a bruise on me and I closed my opponent’s eye. In my second fight I ended up breaking one of her ribs and severely bruised one of her thighs (think Urijah Faber vs Jose Aldo). In my 3rd fight I submitted my opponent in the first round. My 4th fight on Titan FC I dominated my opponent on the feet and the ground for 3 rounds. I ended up breaking her nose which kept her from training for 5 months. My last fight was a jiu jitsu clinic where I ended up catching her in a kimura in the second round. I don’t want to take anything away from my opponents because they are great fighters and train really hard. At the time of me fighting them they had a combined record of 12-4. This is really why I’m looking to go pro so I can really test myself and get in there with the best opponents I possibly can. I feel like if everything goes well I can become the best 125 pound female fighter in the world within the next 2 years.

How has your taekwondo background influenced your fighting style? What do you feel was the biggest benefit from it?

I started training taekwondo in 2002. It was my first and only experience with martial arts up until 2009 when I started training BJJ & MMA. I’d say that the biggest influence on my fighting style it has had is that it makes me very unorthodox. Someone trying to prepare to fight me is going to have a very hard time getting someone to mimic my style. My biggest benefit is that I got to see and train certain things that the average female fighter isn’t going to come across at an MMA gym.

You suffered a pretty bad knee injury and had you pretty much sidelined right before turning pro up until the last week of june where you finally got back to doing some bjj drills. The threat of serious and nagging injuries are a spectre that looms over most martial artist professional and hobbyists alike what do you do to mitigate your risks as best you can? And what advice can you give to your fellow practitioners that are on the mend?

The week before I was supposed to make my pro debut I tore cartilage in my left knee. It really sucked because I was 100% ready for that fight and was confident I was going to take the win. Injuries are a part of martial arts and it’s something you just have to deal with. For me the knee surgery was nothing new, because it was actually my 4th since 2000. I’d say to mitigate the risks you need to be stretching and working your body out a little extra to make sure you have that optimal range of motion. Do a few weights, do a little cardio, & get your body in the best shape possible so you’ll be less likely to get hurt. And if you are hurt then do what you can. Don’t just sit on the sidelines and wait until you are back to 100%. If you hurt your legs then work your arms, and vice versa. If you can’t train at all then read, watch videos, and train your mind.

In november you were 157 pound and stated your goal was 125. YOu managed to get down to that weight, fight, and win by february! Thats a pretty incredible feat! What was your mindset going into it and what sorts of plans or methods did you use to reach your goal?

Yeah this past November I was 157 which was actually a lot less than I was earlier in the year lol. Since having my 2nd child I’m actually down over 50 pounds to date.

On Jan 10th I had my first fight of the year at 140 so I only had to cut like 5 pounds. Two weeks later I was fighting at 135 so I had to cut 10 for that one. At the end of February I fought for Titan at 125 pounds. Since I was still walking around at 140 it was a 15 pound cut.

For me it was all about diet and exercise. It was hard having to cut pretty much from Jan to the end of Feb. For my first fight at 125 I felt strong, but not near as strong as I knew I could be. I was running like 3-5 miles every day which was really draining. I’ve been doing a lot of bodyweight training and lifting now so I can be the strongest & biggest 125er in the division. For my future fights I will be cutting down to 125 from 150.

Do you have a favorite fighter? I don’t have a favorite, but several fighters that I enjoy watching— Roussimar Palhares, Megumi Fujii, Dean Lister, Cris Cyborg, Marloes Coenen, Shinya Aoki, Kron Gracie. I’m sure there are several more, but they just aren’t coming to mind.

Last part is the lighting round for the non Martial Arts questions!

Favorite Tv Show? I don’t really have a favorite show, most of the time my tv is on the Disney Channel for my kids lol.

Favorite Color? Black

If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be? Hawaii, Brazil, Denmark, pretty much any place where I can train some jiu-jitsu.

If you could pick any mma fighter to have your debut against who would it be and why?

If I could pick someone for my debut it would be Amanda Bobby Cooper. She’s 1-0 as a pro and is already signed with Invicta FC. My reason for wanting to fight her is pretty simple. I want to fight her, because her training buddy Andrea KGB Lee wouldn’t fight me. I’m a little tired of listening to girls talk about how they are the best female fighters out there, but won’t step up and take fights they know will test them. So many just want to take the easy fights they know they will win.

I Hope y’all enjoyed the interview! If you want to learn more about this badass fighter and mother of two you can find her all over social media shes a pretty avid blogger. 

Her blog:http://www.the-last-ronin.blogspot.com/
Her facebook fan page:https://www.facebook.com/LastRoninHannah/info
Twitter:https://twitter.com/lastroninhannah