Amber “The Bully” Brown (4-1) is ready to scrap with the Catherine Costigan (5-0) on Invicta FC 13 on July 9th in Las Vegas. This atomweight match will go down in the Cosmopolitan Casino on Thursday, kicking off Fight Week and the UFC Expo set for that weekend.
Amber Brown: I will be a World Champion Soon
“I feel Catherine will be tough,” Amber said about her Irish opponent. “She is 5-0. I am stronger in every aspect and I plan to destroy her.” She trains out of FIT-NHB in Albuquerque with coaches Arlene Sanchez for striking, Tom Vaughn for jiu-jitsu, and Jon Judy for wrestling. She’s very confident in her skills and is looking to prove it in a few weeks.
“I will dominate wherever the fight may go. I work hard every single day on every aspect of my game. Catherine is in for a rude awakening.”
Amber Brown first started training boxing as a way to get back into shape after having her daughter. She had always loved sports growing up and immediately took to combat sports. She had her first fight a year after beginning training, in September 2009.
“At that time there were not a lot of girls training so it was difficult to find opponents, but I wanted to fight!” Amber explained. “So my coaches and I decided to go pro after just four fights. That was in February 2012. I lost my pro debut. About a month later, my coaches asked if I would like to try MMA. At first I liked boxing, but decided to give it a try. I fell in love instantly! I decided then, I just wanted to strictly go MMA.”
If you fight pro in boxing or another combat sport, you can’t fight amateur MMA, so she jumped right into her first pro MMA match November 2012 in King of the Cage, which she won. Atomweight fighters are less common than other weight classes in America, so her journey to find opponents took her to Japan. She fought twice in Pancrase, each fight within two months of each other. In Tokyo, she experienced her first and only loss to 11 year veteran Emi Fujino via neck crank, and then defeated Kikuyo Ishikawa with barrage of brutal knees finished by arm-bar.
“Japan was awesome!” Amber commented about the experiences. “Very quiet fans. It was the neatest experience to be able to fight amongst the best so early in my career, and in such an awesome place. I liked it a lot! Twice in two months was pretty crazy!”
How did “The Bully” get her nick name? “When I was boxing and went 4-0, a couple of opponents were younger than me, and also I’m just an “in your face” kind of fighter. So people around the gym started calling me The Bully. It stuck with me. I feel it suits me well.”
Aside from fighting, Amber works with home health care part time, 2-3 days a week. “Managing my family and training can be a little overwhelming at times,” Amber admitted, “but I have a very supportive husband who helps me out tremendously. We are always is the gym together with our daughter.”
Her daughter Maliyah is now seven years old, and has been training for about four years. She participates in the kid’s program at FIT NHB gym and has done two grappling tournaments. “She is very supportive of me and my career,” Amber said. “At a fight she is probably my loudest cheerleader. She inspires me and is the main reason for doing what I do. I fight for her, and my supporters. Also being an inspiration for other women and kids. The future, that’s what really inspires me. “
“I love everything about training and fighting. I love how you can push yourself harder and harder every day. I have found out about true strength, not only physically but mentally. I also love how my team works hard together every day to help build each other, but once you get locked in the cage, it’s all you. The only thing I hate is dieting!!” Brown admitted. “I love to eat!”
Amber is always on the go, but occasionally when she gets down-time, she enjoys spending quality time with her family. “We are usually doing something outdoors, like hiking, running, walking, taking my daughter to the park. I love spending time with my pitbulls.” Her goals are straight forward.
“I want to show the world who I am and what I am capable of. I will be a world champion soon! I would eventually like to train people and maybe have my own facility, so I can pass down my knowledge to others.”
“I just want to thank everyone who has supported me throughout my fighting career. I love every single one of my Wildbunch teammates, but I have to thank Tim Sosa “Timbo Slice” for all of his help with the past couple camps, and also my brother Austin Lewis for everything, and my husband Joe Blake.
I fight for the fans! So I plan on giving everyone an amazing performance!
To Catherine, you better believe I belong in the spot I’m in. Get ready to eat your words! Like I said before, talk is cheap. Be prepared to see what American hospitals are like. I’m coming to destroy you. You have never fought anyone like me.”
Follow Amber Brown on social media:
Twitter: @TheBully505 Instagram: TheBully505
Read Interview with her opponent Catherine Costigan HERE.
Watch Invicta 13 on UFC FightPass or live in the Cosmopolitan on July 9. The entire Fight Card is below.
Featherweight Title: Cristiane Justino (13-1, 1 NC) vs. Faith Van Duin (5-1)
Bantamweight Title: Tonya Evinger (15-5) vs. Irene Aldana (5-1)
Atomweight Title: Herica Tiburcio (9-2) vs. Ayaka Hamasaki (11-1)
Bantamweight: Pannie Kianzad (7-0) vs. Jessica-Rose Clark (5-1)
Atomweight: Amber Brown (4-1) vs. Catherine Costigan (5-0)
Strawweight: Amy Montenegro (6-1) vs. Jamie Moyle (2-0)
Featherweight: Marina Shafir (1-1) vs. Amber Leibrock (0-0)
