The UFC logo on a fighter's glove at UFC 315 in Montreal, Saturday, May 10, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

In 2015, Melissa Croden took a leave of absence from her job as a paramedic to spend three months in Thailand. She wanted to know whether mixed martial arts was really for her.

"I wanted to test myself and see if I could handle the demands of this sport … I went there and trained my butt off and just fell in love with the sport," she recalled. "I was like 'This is what I want to do' and ever since that moment, I've been pursuing it pretty hard and have put my (whole) being into it."

A decade later, that leap of faith has led Croden to Vancouver's Rogers Arena.

On Saturday, the 34-year-old bantamweight from Calgary will make her UFC debut, facing Brazil's Tainara (Thai Panther) Lisboa in the opening bout of the UFC Fight Night card.

Croden had yet to have an amateur bout when she arrived in Thailand, where she trained at Tiger Muay Thai under former UFC fighter Roger Huerta and the coaching duo of brothers Frank and George Hickman.

Her full-time job was waiting for her when she got back to Alberta, but she decided to cut back on her hours to focus on training and fighting.

Nothing has changed. She trains full time.

"And then I hop on the ambulance, to be able to pay my rent," Croden explained.

She made her amateur debut in September 2016, stopping Liz Jackson in the third round.

"It was an exhilarating experience," she recalled. "I remember after that fight was done — it was stopped by the ref because I think I broke her nose pretty bad — I remember thinking all at the same time 'I never want to do this again' and also 'Let's do this again."

Croden (6-2-0) had her first pro fight three years later and today has won two straight and four of her last five. The lone blemish during that run was a five-round decision loss to Portugal's Jacqueline (The Nightmare) Cavalcanti for the Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA) bantamweight title in April 2023

Cavalcanti has since moved to the UFC and is now ranked 11th among 135-pound contenders after four straight wins in the promotion.

Croden, meanwhile, waited her turn.

"I knew, in the meantime, I needed to get back in the win column," she said.

Croden did just that, dispatching Katharina (The German Gypsy) Lehnerat LFA 169 in October 2023 and Ashley Deen at LFA 195 in October 2024.

Croden kept training after the Deen win, in case the UFC called with a short-notice fight. She got the call a little over two months ago, with a spot on the Vancouver card on offer.

"It was a pretty surreal experience. I haven't cried like that in a very long time," she said with a laugh. "So it was very very emotional, in a positive sense. I'm still kind of at a loss for words. I've just always believed that I belong here and now I've just being reinforced in my belief in myself."

Croden has finished all her wins (five by KO and one by submission) and has yet to be stopped as a pro, with both losses via decision.

At 5-10, Croden will have a three-inch height advantage as well as an edge in reach over the 34-year-old Lisboa

"I know she is a two-time Muay Thai world champion, so I wager it's going to stay mostly on the feet. There's potential for it to be a bit of a sprawl-and-brawl-type fight … And if that happens, I'm prepared."

She expects the Brazilian to thrown bombs. "I think that my footwork is what's going to make me stand out in this fight."

Croden can look forward to plenty of support in the crowd.

"There's tons of people coming out," said Croden. "She's going to be walking out into the lion's den."

Croden wasn't interested in team sports growing up but got involved in martial arts after a childhood friend started taking taekwondo. Croden tried it at 11 or 12, liked it and two or three years later added kickboxing.

After stepping away from the sport as a teenager, she found martial arts again as an adult. A friend was getting ready for a kickboxing fight and Croden ended up taking a class at her gym in 2012 or 2013.

These days she trains in Calgary at Alavanca, Rocky Mountain Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Dunamis. But for this fight camp, she spent time in Las Vegas with stints at Xtreme Couture and the UFC Performance Institute.

In the past, she has also trained at Jackson-Wink in Albuquerque, N.M., and Pound 4 Pound Muay Thai in Littleton Colo., where she helped fellow fighter Hailey (All Hail) Cowan train for a fight.

Cowan, her main training partner, will be in her corner Saturday. Croden cornered Cowan at UFC 314 in April in Miami.

Her nickname is Scare, which goes well with Croden. But it came for another reason.

"I think I'm pretty naturally athletic but my movement when I first started learning how to strike was very stiff and not very fluid," she said. "So my old coach would say I'm moving like a scarecrow."

"I've fixed that since," she added.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025