In the world of Mixed Martial Arts, Rosi Sexton is a champion. She holds a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and Tae Kwon Do, was signed to an exclusive three-fight deal with USA's Elite Xtreme Combat in 2008, and is inarguably the UK's top female contender in MMA.

Sexton is also the champion of shattering multiple stereotypes: She has a Ph.D. in Theoretical Computer Science from Manchester University and has a second career in Osteopathy brewing for when she hangs up her fighting gloves, proving that athletes can be smart, that scientists can be athletes, and that a woman can do absolutely anything and do it smashingly well.  

We recently interviewed Sexton on how her interest in math and science inspires and affects her athletic career and vice versa.

UTM: What first attracted you to doing a math degree and the following PhD in theoretical computer science?

Rosi Sexton: I've always loved solving problems. I love the challenge of trying to work something out, and the sense of achievement I get when all the pieces of the puzzle click into place. I was fortunate enough to have some great experiences of maths when I was growing up (as well as some less good ones), and that gave me a taste of how rewarding it could be.

When I was about nine or ten I was invited to take part in a project for kids with an interest in maths. It was one day every other week, and it was all about looking at interesting and fun applications of maths - all about problem solving ... It really gave me a taste for the subject. When I was in secondary school, I also took part in a maths "competition" called the British Maths Olympiad. That was another thing that captured my interest - I loved being able to use what I knew to solve challenging problems. It gave me the opportunity to take part in a summer school, and I got to meet a whole lot of other young people who had a similar interest in maths, and that inspired me.

On the negative side, I also experienced a lot of "teaching to pass exams." Some of the teachers I had at school were so focused on getting us all good results that it became almost a case of just learning to stick the right numbers in the right formula to answer the questions. At the time this style of teaching bored and frustrated me - I felt that I wasn't really learning maths, I was just learning to be a performing monkey. I needed a challenge to hold my interest! ... Fortunately, I probably had more good teachers than bad teachers overall, enough to show me what maths can and should be about.

UTM: Were there any blocks on your route to following those educational pursuits? Any blocks concerned with bring a woman?

RS: I wasn't aware of any. I think I was fortunate in that my parents and teachers had all encouraged me to pursue my interests in maths and science.

UTM: Were people more shocked that you wanted to take a Mathematics degree or take up Mixed Martial Arts?

RS: Mixed Martial Arts definitely raises more eyebrows! I think there are two issues here -- there are the stereotypes that people outside the sport have about MMA in general, and there are the stereotypes that people within the sport hold. It is still a very heavily male-dominated activity.

In some ways, I think I'm fortunate because I'm a hard person to fit into any of the stereotypes. It means that people have to treat me as an individual rather than just fitting me into a handy mental box labeled "women" or "mathematicians" or "fighters" and assuming that I behave like all the other people in that box.

UTM: Do you find that the organised thinking processes that maths often requires upon play a role in your fights?

RS: I think being able to think logically and break down a problem is crucial to success in many different areas, and MMA is no different. A lot of the thinking and analysis goes on in training. MMA is probably one of the most technical sports in the world. There is so much that you have to know and understand, and then you have to work out how your strengths and weaknesses will match up against your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

On top of that, it helps to have some understanding of sports psychology, sports nutrition, strength training and physiology. With a scientific background, it's so much easier to pick these up. When I was fighting in the US and we were working out the fastest ways to acclimatize to the time difference, I was able to look up papers from scientific journals and apply them to what we were doing. It's skills like that that I take for granted.  

UTM: Why did you decide to go back to university and take on the Osteopathy course?

RS: My interest in sports injuries stemmed from my passion for MMA. Shortly after I started training, I had a back injury in training which had me in a lot of pain for several months. Even just sitting in a chair was painful. Finally, on the advice of my judo coach at the time, I went to see an osteopath he knew. In just two treatments, he sorted out the problem. Right then I knew that was something that I wanted to be able to do. Several years later the opportunity arose to do the course, so I jumped at the chance.

Osteopathy is perfect for me. It combines my love of the physical and the kinesthetic with my interest in science. I love being able to make a difference to someone who is in pain. Combined with my experience of MMA, it's given me a whole new understanding of the human body, how it works and what it's capable of.

UTM: How hard is it to balance your fighting career with you work as a sports therapist, your University course and your family?

RS: My life is chaos. At the moment, I really only take one week at a time - if I thought too far ahead I'd realize how crazy it is. Fortunately I have very supportive family. My parents look after Luis while I'm studying, or if I have to travel for a fight. I wouldn't change my life for anyone else's though. I enjoy everything I do and every day is different.

UTM: What do you enjoy about MMA? How does it fit into your life?

RS: I enjoy the physicality of it. Perhaps you remember when you were small and used to play rough and tumble with your brothers or sisters? I just never grew out of that. It's exhilarating! I love how technical the sport is too, how you can analyze and break down something which at first seems chaotic and find new ways to understand and make sense of it. I love how it's possible to control someone who's bigger and stronger than me by using that technique. I find it satisfying when I can surprise someone who thinks I'll be easy to beat because I'm a woman. ... And I like winning! Perhaps it's to do with all those years of being regarded as a "geek" at school.

UTM: Does science and math still play a part in your life?

RS: There's a sense in which once you're a mathematician, you're always a mathematician. In my view, doing a maths degree is the best training there is in how to think clearly and logically. No matter what you do after that, the foundation stays with you. Even if you never see an equation again after you graduate, you see the world in a whole different way, and you can apply it in so many areas.

I still enjoy tinkering with a bit of maths from time to time. Every so often I'll see a puzzle that's too good to resist and pick up a pen and paper. And I'm doing a bio-mechanics based research project for my osteopathy degree which involves a fair bit of maths.

UTM: What do you have planned for the future?

I've just been asked to be a coach on a reality TV series featuring female fighters, which is due to start filming early in 2009. In the slightly longer term, I'm concentrating on finishing my course in summer 2010. After that, who knows?

I'll carry on fighting as long as I'm enjoying it. I have plenty of other projects I want to take on as well though. I'm looking forward to working as an osteopath, and I'm particularly keen to work with sportspeople - I love the pressure of working in that competitive environment. I also want to do some more coaching eventually. But I'm taking one thing at a time!

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Charlotte Cooper is a staff writer for Under The Microscope. As a British lady, she is the perfect writer to introduce us to Rosi Sexton.

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