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| Ivelisse Velez |
Fight Card entertainment has announced that former WWE developmental wrestler Ivelisse Velez will make her MMA debut in March. What is interesting is she was training in MMA a couple of years ago when the WWE came calling. So now she is returning to MMA. She was born Sept. 21, 1988. Her parents are Puerto Rican and she grew up in Puerto Rico and Chicago. She made her pro wrestling debut at age 15 in the World Wrestling Council and then the IWA in Puerto Rico. She also wrestled in the Chicago area. In 2010, Ivelisse started training for MMA with the intent of becoming a pro fighter. But the WWE invited her to FCW in Tampa, FL for a tryout. She appeared on the 2011 season of WWE Tough Enough but a leg injury forced her to drop out of the show. She signed a WWE developmental contract in Nov. 2011 and appeared as Sofia Cortez for FCW and then NXT in 2012. But she was suddenly released in Aug. 2012. No reason was given but the rumour is WWE management thought she was a pretty good wrestler but lacked personality. She is certainly a lot more experienced than the average WWE Diva. But the WWE can be very weird about what they are looking for in Divas. In Oct., she had a tryout with TNA. And she worked for the SHIMMER spin off SHINE in Nov. Meanwhile, Ivelisse returned to MMA training with Team 110 in Chicago and a press release says that she will make her MMA debut for Fight Card Entertainment on Mar. 2, 2013 at Cicero Stadium in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, IL. The opponent is to be announced and the press release doesn't say anything about weight class. I would guess 125 or 135. Keep in mind that TNA has expressed interest in Ivelisse and they are also looking for wrestlers who could crossover to Bellator MMA. And Bellator plans to run a 125lb women's tournament in 2013. Ivelisse Velez could be just what both companies are looking for.
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