Rosi Sexton made her professional mixed martial arts debut in 2002, more than a decade before the UFC added women to its roster and a year after Dana White and the Fertitta brothers purchased the promotion.
This was still a dark era in the growth of MMA, long before The Ultimate Fighter and national television. The long-term viability of the sport — if it was even referred to as such — was very much in question.
At that point, MMA was barely being regulated. There wasn’t much money in it and those who competed in it, did it out of love and passion for the art.