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15th Jan 2014

A knockout in more ways than one: Former Miss USA training for black belt in Jiu Jitsu

She's trading in the gowns and heels for a gi and spinning heel kicks

JOE

She’s trading in the gowns and heels for a gi and spinning heel kicks

The winner of the 2012 Miss USA beauty pageant, Whitney Miller, has more strings to her bow than one might think. She’s decided to trade in the gowns and bikinis for a few punches to the face and a solid guard technique as she is currently training to get her black belt in Jiu Jitsu. Above, you can see her in pageant mode, as she poses outside the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas, while below, she shows off some of her skills on the mat.

She’s decided that she would prefer to be getting choked out by someone instead of traveling around to tropical climes posing for photos, and has been training hard to reach her goal. Cub Swanson, a featherweight fighter in the UFC is one of her trainers (along with local MMA and Jiu Jitsu gyms in Texas), and seeing as he’s the real deal, he has given her plenty of tips on how to succeed. She’s also documenting her journey from the start through to the end, as a way of showing not only how difficult the journey is, but also that it can be done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysTrSg9kA4g

Miller’s main goal in making such a drastic change does seem to be motivated by showing that you can do whatever you want, and if a former beauty queen, who people see as a typical girly girl, can get a black belt in Jiu Jitsu then “you have no excuses”. She’s clearly been working hard both on her fitness and nutrition, and the results are definitely noticeable.

She plans on training for both MMA and Jiu Jitsu, and may in the future move into the world of competitive fighting, she’s certainly in the right shape for it. If you were going to skip that trip to the gym today, there’s your inspiration for you.

Hat-tip to Bleacher Report and Yahoo Sports, pics via Whitney’s Twitter and Instagram

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Topics:

Miss USA,MMA,UFC