Lawyers, engineers, teachers. There has been no shortage of brainiacs fighting in a UFC cage. But Rosi Sexton may have raised the bar when it comes to MMA fighters education. The 35-year-old Sexton has a degree in mathematics from Cambridge, a PhD in theoretical computer science and a degree in osteopathy. She can break you, then help fix you. On Saturday, the brainy bantamweight from Manchester becomes the first English woman to fight in the UFC when she takes on Canadian Alexis Davis (13-5) at UFC 161 in Winnipeg. "I would never have imagined growing up that I would be a professional athlete," said Sexton. "In fact, if youd said that to any of my classmates, they would have laughed at you. I was the nerdy kid who didnt particularly get on with sports at school. "But I can say its been a hell of a journey." Sexton, a pioneer in the womens side of the sport, made her pro debut in May 2002. She saw a posting on a forum asking for a female fighter but, by the time she got in touch with the promoter, they had found someone. Sexton got a call a few weeks later. "The girls just pulled out, do you want to fight? Its tomorrow," she was told. She had never been in a full-contact fight and had only done limited sparring in training. "But at the same time I didnt know when there was going to be another opportunity, because there was so little of it going on," she said. So she took the fight, winning by a first-round submission. Eleven years and 14 fights later, Sexton finds herself entering the sports biggest spotlight. Having spent most of her career fighting at 125 pounds, she wasnt sure if the UFCs decision to open the door to female 135-pounders was for her. But she sat down with her team and asked whether she could fight at 135. "We decided it was too good an opportunity to turn down .. Its something that I want to be part of," she said. "Especially at this time in history, when women are just starting to get involved in the UFC, its a fantastic time to be involved in all that and to be making history." Sexton, listed at five foot three, went on a strength and conditioning program to add on some pounds. It worked. She weighed as much as 147 pounds going into camp and will have to cut weight to make 135. Sextons two career losses came at different weights. She was supposed to face Gina Carano at 135 pounds, only to have Carano show up at 139. Sexton lost the September 2006 fight by second-round knockout. "The Carano fight, I was definitely too small," Sexton said. "Im considerably bigger and stronger now than I was then ... My games changed considerably as well, Im a very different fighter now than the one I was going into that particular match." Her June 2010 loss to Zoila Gurgel in Bellator was at 120 pounds. "It was one of those (fights) where everything was going great and then I woke up," said Sexton. She dipped her head at the wrong time, catching a Gurgel knee that resulted in a first-round knockout. Sexton, who has an eight-year-old son named Luis, calls herself a full-time athlete and part-time osteopath. "One and a half jobs as well as being a mother," she explains. Luis has grown up around MMA but Sexton says hes more interested in soccer than fighting these days. "Hes at the age at the moment where I think he thinks its quite cool what his Mum does," Sexton said. "He enjoys telling his friends that his Mums a fighter, which means I get some interesting looks from the other parents and teachers at the school." Her interest in osteopathy came after she received treatment for a back injury sustained during judo training. "I was really impressed with what he did. That was when I thought, Right I need to be able to do this." A few years later, she decided to make treating sports injuries a career. Five years of part-time studying later, she had the degree to back it up. Sextons road to MMA started at 14 when she took a taekwondo class. Its started as a way of learning some self-defence, but she soon found she liked it. "It was the first time I found a physical activity that I really got a buzz off, that I really enjoyed doing." At Cambridge, she tried her hand at a few different martial arts: including judo, and traditional jiu-jitsu. Then a few years later, while she was doing post-graduate work, she saw a documentary about mixed martial arts. "As soon as I saw it, I though that looks like a fantastic thing to do, that looks like a great challenge," she recalled. "Obviously once I started training specifically for that, started doing the grappling and all of that, I realized how much I didnt know so that added a whole new element to what I had to learn," she added. Fighting has taken her around the world, from a beachside ring in Costa Rica to Las Vegas, Vancouver and St. Petersburg, Russia. "Ive had the opportunity to be involved in some great events, some I suppose really fantastic and in a way quite surreal experiences, the sort of thing that I never expected to be involved in," she said. "When I first started out in the sport, my original plan was Right, Im going to have a couple of fights, Im going to prove to myself that I can do it and then Im going to get on with my life and go work in an office or whatever. "And I had a few fights and I found that I was actually reasonably good at this. Then I started thinking Well how good could I get, if I really focused on it? Could I be one of the best in the world. "And I suppose, 10 years later, Im still here." Golden Knights Jerseys 2020 .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Vegas Golden Knights Gear .C. -- Manny Malhotra had two goals and an assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes to a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. https://www.cheapgoldenknights.com/ . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Golden Knights Jerseys China . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. Vegas Golden Knights Shirts . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Coming off their biggest win under head coach James Franklin with some extra rest, Penn State players have had plenty of time to contemplate their looming game against No. 2 Ohio State.During the open weekend, they watched as Wisconsin nearly toppled the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) on Saturday. But the Nittany Lions will need to use their own approach to stop Ohio States fourth-ranked scoring offense backed by the third-ranked scoring defense in the nation.Wisconsin played them extremely well, Franklin said. But they are traditional pro-style, pound-you offense and then their defense is playing so well that it allows them to play that and not have to drop back and throw the ball and do things like that. Obviously thats a different style than were playing right now. So that film for our offense isnt overly valuable.Penn States offense has improved and the running game was explosive with 372 yards against Maryland, but Ohio State has been consistently great nearly all season. With quarterback J.T. Barrett leading the way, the Buckeyes are averaging more than 516 yards of offense, 300 yards on the ground.Its not a favorable matchup for the Nittany Lions who are still unsure if starting linebackers Jason Cabinda and Brandon Bell will play. Theyve missed the last five and four games, respectively, and as of Tuesday had not been cleared to practice. Franklin did say veteran players who require less practice can be cleared later in the week, however.We know they are important to this team, cornerback Grant Haley said. They have a lot of experience that they bring to the table.Getting Bell and Cabinda back would be big boosts. They both helped limit Ohio States offense the last time the teams met at Beaver Stadium. That 31-24 loss in double overtiime was the closest Penn States come to beating Ohio State in the 11 years since the Nittany Lions last home win in the series.dddddddddddd. Penn State is 0-4 since they won a memorable game where fans stormed the field in 2005.Since that game, Penn State has gone 11-25 against Top 25 teams and 0-9 against top 5 teams. Four of those losses to top 5 teams have come to Ohio State.They know this is a big game, Franklin said. We dont need to tell them that. They understand how big this game is. They see it all over social media and everything else and walking around town and on campus and from their families and ticket requests and all those things. They get it.By Tuesday afternoon, students who camp outside their entrance to the stadium had tents set up nearly to the road, another indication of the games gravitas. It prompted Franklin to mention the games atmosphere and expressed his desire for fans to show up and be heard.Urban Meyer quipped earlier this week about the planned white-out, where everyone in the 106,572-seat complex wears white.We have another tough task, a team thats 4-0 at home, Meyer said. I called it -- the last two times, wish they saved the white outs for other games, but I guess they used it for our game. Its one of the top five atmospheres, again, in college football.Haley has felt the ground rumble with white-out crowds in the past. He and his teammates will try to maintain the pulse at their feet by slowing the Buckeyes rushing attack and disrupting Barretts time to extend plays with his feet.We need to make them a one-dimensional team, Haley said. We obviously need to stop the run, quarterback runs, especially. ' ' '