Meet the Tennessee basketball superwoman who keeps the Vols running in March Madness

Sevierville's Taylor Turner is a wife, mother of three, MMA fighter in Bellator 222

Ariana Taylor
Knoxville

Catching glances from other shoppers, Taylor Turner made her way to the checkout line. The cashier took one look at Turner’s black eye, then grabbed her hand and told her, “this is a safe place, just let me know if you want to call for help."

No assistance was necessary.

Taylor Turner during  Bellator 222 media day in New York on Wednesday.

The black eye, along with occasional stitches and bruises, are the usual outcomes of being a professional MMA fighter.

“It’s not the violent sport that everyone says it is," Turner said. "There’s a lot of love and respect that everyone has for a common goal.I’m blessed to have a job to work with fighters.”

Life of mom, wife, fighter

Fighting professionally since 2014, the 36-year-old  will make her debut with promotion company Bellator on Friday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

After back-to-back first-round stoppages this year, Turner (3-5 MMA) will be up against former world champion boxer Heather Hardy (2-1 BMMA), in the Bellator 222 preliminary card bout.

Heather Hardy, right, in action against Alice Yauger in a mixed martial arts bout at Bellator 180 on Saturday, June 24, 2017, in New York. Hardy won via 3rd round TKO. (AP Photo/Gregory Payan)

Fighting in a cage is only a few minutes of Turner's hectic life.

Turner’s husband, Eric, is also her trainer and the owner of Knoxville Martial Arts Academy, the gym that introduced Turner to MMA.

Between training and fighting, the rest of her time goes to her family.

“I’d call it controlled chaos … it’s the life that we love,” Turner said. “It’s good to show my kids the strength of our family and that we don’t have to be like everyone else.”

The Turners have three children, daughter Elys, 17, and sons, Foren, 9, and Beckett, 5.

The family works together to make sure their lifestyle functions well. If mom and dad are training or coaching at the gym, it's also the place for homework. They usually don’t make it home to Sevierville until 9 p.m. and pizza is a common dish for dinner.

When Turner has a fight coming up, the sacrifices can be greater. While mom and dad are in New York for the flyweight bout, they’ll be missing Foren’s baseball banquet and Beckett’s T-ball banquet.

Turner said she found out she was pregnant with Beckett on the eve of one of her fights. Not only did she have to cancel the fight, she put her career on hold for a year.

Taylor Turner and her husband and trainer, Eric Turner.

Though the sacrifices can sometimes add up, Turner feels it’s just one part of her “hero’s journey” that included a five-fight losing streak from 2015-18. Things have been looking up, winning both of her fights this year by submission or knockout.

“She never missed a class, never complained, she would kick a bag for two hours … the first thing you notice off someone like that is that they don’t quit, they’re willing to work and do anything to get ahead,”Eric Turner said. “So if you have a person like that you just know they’re going to be very successful at whatever they do … and Taylor doesn’t have a lot of quit in her.”

Turner doesn’t see herself quitting MMA anytime soon. She said she’s in great shape and doesn’t feel like she’s behind any of the younger fighters.

“I can’t really ever see myself stopping. Here I am at 36, I’m a little bit of a late bloomer but I’m still here,” she said.