I've been a fan of the Tiny Tornado since her transition from amatuer a few years ago. She's a lifelong martial artist and a great role model. It's hard to not be a fan. A few years ago I did a charity portrait of her to help raise funds for International Justice Mission (a group that fights the global child sex-trafficking trade - IJM.org) and in our correspondence, she was always so gracious and willing to help a great cause...
So I was pleasently surprised to see that she was in my city this weekend (Charlotte) and was going to be at Fight Lab 45 (which is run by a friend of mine who I'd also recently done some artwork for). I messaged Tecia and asked if she'd be willing to have me do another portrait with her signing it and using it again for another fundraiser. She said of course and I got to work yesterday afternoon on a ballpoint pen sketch...
After messaging back and forth to figure out where to meet up, we finally connected just before the main card started (and she had to go corner her guy). I gave her some prints of both pieces and she signed the original of the one above...
We chatted briefly about her upcoming fight with Angela (who was also there!) and I have to say Tecia was even nicer in person than I imagined. Super friendly, down to earth, and so personable. I was already a big fan of hers before, but now I'm even more of a Tiny Tornado supporter.
I'm planning on doing a raffle for this piece and maybe a few others with at least 70% of the proceeds going to Justin Wren's org Fight for the Forgotten (www.fightfortheforgotten.org), I just need to talk to him first. But I wanted to share this with you guys and encourage you to tune in for Tecia and Angela's upcoming fight if you hadn't already planned to!
Great work dude. Tecia is one of the few broads who I felt made a good impression on that season of TUF. Awesome fighter but as you said, she seems to be a great role model as well.
Great work dude. Tecia is one of the few broads who I felt made a good impression on that season of TUF. Awesome fighter but as you said, she seems to be a great role model as well.
Yeah, she and Alex Chambers ended up being the most winsome members of that cast, IMO. I like a number of the other gals who were in the house a lot, but Tecia and Alex just came across so likeable.
BJTT_mikerobmma - Didn't know you were a local guy. I've fought main event at fight lab before.
Good work on the drawing. Must've been a fun experience.
Yeah man, I train at Leadership Martial Arts (Renzo affiliate in Charlotte) and run the open mat on Sundays, where I'm actually headed right now. Come say hello and roll with us anytime!
What made the day even better was that earlier that afternoon Andre Galvao (another guy I've drawn to raise $ for IJM) was at my friend Fernando's school doing a seminar. So getting to connect again with him and then meeting up with Tecia that evening, both in my own backyard, was pretty amazing.
BJTT_mikerobmma - Didn't know you were a local guy. I've fought main event at fight lab before.
Good work on the drawing. Must've been a fun experience.
Yeah man, I train at Leadership Martial Arts (Renzo affiliate in Charlotte) and run the open mat on Sundays, where I'm actually headed right now. Come say hello and roll with us anytime!
Thanks man. I'll take you up on that offer if I swing through and can train. I help run Arena BJJ in Columbia, SC. Obviously, you're welcome to stop by if you're in town.
