One of the brightest stars under the XFC banner going into April’s event is female competitor Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink. Eggink came to the attention of John Prisco through Royce Gracie black belt- Rob Kahn long before she ever took a professional MMA fight, and when Prisco decided to increase the number of women’s bouts being featured in the XFC events, he knew Eggink would make a great fit as part of the East Coasts fastest growing promotion.
Eggink established herself in combat sports from a young age, competing in boxing. She took that skill set all the way to being part of the US Women’s boxing team where she competed in the 2007 Pan Am games in Brazil. It wasn’t until moving to Tampa that Eggink started to broaden her skill sets and geared her training towards competing in mixed martial arts. As is the story for so many competitors, Eggink joined a jiu-jitsu gym to stay in shape and quickly fell in love with the sport. It wasn’t too long before the aspiring athlete was lined up for her first pro bout.
After going (1-1) in her first two bouts, Eggink signed a multi-fight deal with the XFC and immediately jumped into action against XFC veteran Heather Clark. Eggink may have been considered an underdog going against a more experienced Clark, but she didn’t hesitate to accept the challenge and ended up bringing the fight to Clark for three rounds. Eggink controlled the pace of the fight and was never in danger while going the distance in her premier bout, winning a unanimous decision.
Eggink took the opportunity against Clark to show both the XFC brass and the fans watching on AXStv how exciting her fights will be. She now trains alongside one of MMA’s top female competitors, Shayna Baszler, who is helping her prep her climb through the strawweight ranks. Her next opponent was set as Angela Magana for the Strawweight Title, but that fight is now post-poned as Magana was involved in a car accident last week. Eggink now gets Brianna Van Burren, a young rising strawweight with an undefeated 1-0 record. Van Buren will present yet another challenge for “Snowflake” as she is 8 inches shorter but quite powerful for her size. Eggink still has lots to show and plenty of room to improve, XFC 23 will be her next opportunity to shine.
Eggink and Van Buren face off in the feature bout at XFC 23. Fans can keep up with Stephanie while she prepares for her upcoming bout and stirs the controversial pot of WMMA via her Twitter ‘@00Snowflake’, and on Facebook by searching Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink. XFC 23: Louisville Slugfest is presented by ICRealTime Security Solutions and ThroatPunch Ind. Apparel and will air live on AXStv on April 19 from the Kentucky National Convention Center.
