Laura Sanko comes clean on the truth behind her MMA career getting cut short
Many may not know, but Laura Sanko was once an MMA fighter, having competed as both an amateur and professional. In a recent appearance on the Verse Us with Eric Nicksick podcast, she detailed the reason behind her decision to retire from mixed martial arts prematurely.
Sanko had just one professional fight on Jan. 5, 2013. She took on then fellow debutant Cassie Robb, who is now 2-11, at Invicta FC 4. While she scored a second-round submission win via rear-naked choke, Sanko closed the door on her fighting career.
As it turns out, it was due to the difficulty in finding opponents, so when asked if that was a factor in her decision, Sanko said the following:
"It's always a problem to a degree, but by that point for, you know, once I was fighting for Invicta, like, they were gonna do all the work, and they had a handful of good atomweights. Really that was the top of the mountain. If you're an atomweight, this is it. You were there, so that was the vibe, I'm here. I'm gonna make the most of this."
However, Sanko was under no illusion that she was destined for stardom given the scarcity of atomweights and the complete absence of the division in the UFC.
"It's not like I thought I was gonna be some superstar. I knew what it was, but I loved it. It was never about making money or being known because that wasn't even a possibility back then when I was fighting."
Check out Laura Sanko revealing her reason for retiring prematurely (36:32):
Back in early 2013, the UFC had only just introduced its first-ever women's divisions thanks to the all-pervasive interest in the legendary Ronda Rousey. However, with only women's bantamweight available, Sanko would have been completely out of her depth fighting three weight classes above.
Laura Sanko has since found her true calling in MMA
While Laura Sanko's MMA career didn't pan out in the way she may have wanted it to, she has become a prominent figure in the combat sports world. She became one of the most important cogs in the UFC's media and broadcast team.
On Feb. 4, 2023 at UFC Fight Night 218, she made history by becoming the first female commentator in the UFC since Kathy Long, who commentated as far back as UFC 1 on Nov. 12, 1993. This drew praise from UFC CEO Dana White, who recognized Sanko's place in the sport.