Should that day come, Stefanac likes Hales' chances. "You could eat crickets and berries outside and have more strength [than Hales did on her pre-Fujii fight diet]," she says. "Fujii is no joke—she's one of the best people out there. But Cindy can and will beat her."
However, Josh Barnett, a Ballard High alum, pro wrestler, and MMA fighter who manages Fujii, says the chances of a rematch are slim unless Hales can raise her profile. "As it stands, there's not much in it for Megumi," he explains. Still, he says, if the fight were to be televised, Fujii's interest level would be higher.
Stephen Martinez
Hales was forced to go on an unhealthy crash diet to make weight against Fujii.
Related Content
More About
Hales is also taking aim at Sayaka Shioda, Fujii's protégé, whom Hales beat en route to the 2005 Pan Am title but who beat Hales at the Abu Dhabi grappling tournament in 2007. And then there's the American Fight League, a new MMA league whose top fighter, Tara LaRosa, says she'd like to see Hales join.
"I thought when she came up she was going to be the hottest prospect," recalls LaRosa, who says she was "shocked" by the outcome of the Fujii fight until she learned of the same-day weigh-in. "She's just been hindered by injuries—that's what's prevented her from being a dominant force."
Hales began teaching Brazilian jiujitsu in 2004 at the private Annie Wright School in Tacoma, where Emil Verbovski, the director of physical education at the time, made BJJ a required course. Verbovski grew up at the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria—one of the rigorous Eastern Bloc athletic factories designed to produce Olympians—where, along with gymnastics, wrestling was a staple of everyone's training.
Already friends with Dahlberg, who had originally taught the jiujitsu class, Verbovski took an instant liking to Hales, and began sharing with her his lifetime of training knowledge. "She's very competitive and at the same time very level," he explains in his Bulgarian brogue. "And she's extremely bright. If she can learn something, she will learn it."
Verbovski has helped Hales with everything from her diet (she's quick to note that he had nothing to do with her pre-Fujii regimen) to her teaching at Lopes' school, where she's imported into her classes Verbovski's emphasis on motor skills and spatial awareness. The kids begin with tumbling exercises like somersaults and cartwheels, do relay races with bear and army crawls, then move on to "positive self-talk," a practice in which they loudly declare the things they're good at, such as "Legos" and "rock 'n' roll." After that, the class vaults into BJJ technique lessons and games. All told, it's like a mixture of gymnastics class, an interactive Mister Rogers episode, introductory hand-to-hand combat, and recess.
Hales has thrown herself into teaching with characteristic abandon, showing up early and staying late to work with students individually. She recently quit her job at Redapt Systems to instruct full time, and hopes to raise enough money to award more scholarships, charge on a sliding scale, and eventually create an after-school program.
If the generosity of those who know her is any indication, Hales' vision may not be far off. Jeff Cornell runs Hidden Hand Tattoos, a parlor in Fremont. His daughter, Tucker, attends Hales' class, and his business plans to sponsor Lopes' school. Earlier this year, McCarthy paid for Gavronski to fly to New Zealand to coach Hales in her fight against Muxlow. And Verbovski and others continue to offer their insights free of charge.
"When you have the opportunity to see a phenomenon like this," says Verbovski, "who the heck needs to be paid?"
dagnos@seattleweekly.com
