Jessica "Jag" Aguilar
A type "A" go girl who is on a mission! Jessica is an amazing individual in terms of her priorities in life, passionate work ethic, how she is continually seeking out others to help, is greatly appreciated for her huge heart; and in addition to just being incredible warm and caring human being – Jessica is also an extremely fierce competitor, and demonstrates this every time she steps onto a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) mat or into a fighting ring or cage. The transformation from her "girl next door" demeanor into her "warrior fighting" mode must be seen to appreciate, as it all starts with the perpetual twinkle in her eyes morphing into a laser focused determination that can best be described as a pure predator mode. Hard to imagine, even when you are observing this 1st hand, as Jessica perpetually beams and radiates positive energy that is 2nd to none, then as if a switch has been flicked on, this petite 115 pound sweetie instantaneously becomes an absolute fighting machine as her eyes alone tell you that there will simply be no escape from her explosive aggressive fighting style. Yes, when it is time for Jessica to unleash what she has un-relentlessly trained for, her fighting skills simply become reactionary and instinctual. Sounds a bit surreal, but once you know more about Jessica and see her in action, it all becomes just something to take in and admire. To put things in perspective, Jessica's life experiences would have been too much to bear for most, but given the strength of her spirit, life's challenges have simply made her stronger, more sensitive to other's challenges, and have clearly taught her that anything can be accomplished with hard work, dedication, and always striving to be the best person you can be in every facet of life. Jessica is a Mexican American, raised in Houston TX. by just her mom and two older brothers, as she lost her Father when she was just 6 years old. Tragedy struck again 10 years later when she lost her brother in an auto accident. Whether it was by choice, by fate, or lack of options, Jessica had to grow up quickly, accept major family responsibilities early in life, and quickly learn that the best coping solution is to always focus on the positives, work your hardest at the things you can control in life, and always treat others with respect – lessons that have served her extremely well. Jessica learned at a very early age that she was gifted when it came to sports. Unfortunately, Latin culture at that time, and more important, her mother's belief - is that girls and competitive sports should not mix. Not surprisingly, Jessica was relentless, and begged until her Mother let her play sports. Jessica was a natural as she excelled at basketball, track, soccer, softball, and basically any sport she committed herself to. Jessica's athletic accomplishments through childhood and high school yielded her many personal and team championship awards, as Jessica proved not only to be a great competitor, but constantly proved that she could do anything that she set her mind to do. But her Mother never embraced her athletic interests, and instead wanted Jessica to just be the best student she could be. Not a problem – As Jessica's work ethic, ability to focus, and ravenous desire to continually learn consumed all facets of her life –she completed high school one year early – but instead of leveraging her academic and athletic accomplishments into a college scholarship, contributing to immediate family financial needs became her higher priority and Jessica instead went to work as a Lab Tech/Specialist at the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Bank working there 5 years and contributing to her family's income needs. Jessica's good looks, smooth athletic style, and positive energy resulted in her friends convincing her to move to pursue a career in acting, a challenge she accepted immediately and found a new job in LA. Jessica soon learned that while she loved acting, earning a respectable living would be all but impossible for a rookie actress that had no formal training. During one dry acting patch, Jessica decided to move to Oregon and found steady work – this time as a correctional officer in the state prison system – another life experience that enabled Jessica to take on major new challenges in life without any fear. But within a year and a half, her former acting experience actually yielded a unique opportunity as Jessica was sought out for Spanish actress roles and a film job in Miami which she accepted which led to other roles in an Italian film, with Dexter (a Showtime Series), and Johnson & Johnson commercials filmed in the Philippines. Jessica embraced acting work when it was available, as full time work and adequate pay were a perpetual challenge. But in her free time, Jessica kept in great physical shape always spending as much free time as possible in the local gyms and fitness centers. On a lark, in December 2005 Jessica signed up a local Gym called Punch Fitness that happened to also offer Boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) classes – a new challenge – one that gave Jessica a special rush and she proved to be an absolute natural. Just one month into her new BJJ training, her instructors convinced her to compete in a regional North American Grappling Association (NAGA) tournament as they and her both wanted to see what she was really capable of – and natural abilities severed Jessica well – as she won 1st place in her division. Jessica was pumped – and could not wait for her next tournament – and was disappointed to learn that the woman's division was not included. As luck would have it, a local MMA professional fight promotion just lost one of their female fighters and needed a quick replacement to fight against Lisa Ward who was then a top 10 ranked female professional fighters in the world. Jessica immediately sought out the opportunity, even though her 2 months of total BJJ experience was nothing compared to Lisa Ward's many years of professional fighting and her 2 time FILA World Grappling Championships. And conventional wisdom was right, Jessica lost her first MMA fight which she had a week to prepare for, but more importantly – Jessica proved to the world that she was the real deal and with just a few months of BJJ and a week of MMA experience that she could very effectively compete at a world elite level. During the rounds of battle Jessica's heart and determination won her countless fans as she refused to tap out, even when her arm was nearly broken. Jessica's new challenge – how to become a world MMA Champion? Jessica was now 110% committed to becoming the best. Fight promoters were seeking her out – and then some very good fortune came her way. A dear girl friend from one of the gyms she trained at also happened to train BJJ and golden glove boxer – she gave her a simple message – "If you want to be the best you need to train with the best"– and introduced her to American Top Team – the single largest and best known professional MMA fighter gym on the planet. Jessica was apprehensively welcomed, as becoming a true professional MMA fighter takes years of training starting often at very early childhood ages. So the likely hood of Jessica becoming a true highly skilled MMA fighter would be a huge long shot, especially considering that her 1st (and perpetual) impression with everyone in life is that she is the ultimate girl next door – Just too nice to be a "Fighter". But, based upon her recommendations and sincerity, Jessica was given the chance to prove she was capable of training at ATT as a professional fighter. No one has ever looked back – Jessica has convinced everyone that not only does she have the work ethic, the heart, the fierce competitive spirit that is needed to be a professional fighter – she has simply earned everyone's respect. To put this into perspective – Ricardo Liborio, a Master Carlson Gracie awarded Black belt and now the highest ranking awarded BJJ Red & Black Belt and operator of American Top Team proudly tells anyone about how great Jessica is and how much better she becomes every day. Liborio, also happens to be the head coach of the USA National Grappling Team which just won the 2009 FILA World Championship – with 11 gold medal winners – the 1st Gold Medal was won by Jessica as she is now the defending Woman's No-Gi World Grappling Champion. Jessica is now trained by the best trainers in the world. Jessica's boxing coach is Howard Davis, a world acclaimed boxing coach and Olympic Gold Medalist who was named the most Outstanding Boxer of the 76 Olympics, her Muay Thai Coach is Fernando "Fefe" Falkenbach– a highly accomplished trainer who also trains Thiago "The Pit Bull" Alves, Mike Brown among many others along side one of the other Muay Thai coaches Katel; and she trains side by side with some of the world's best black belts and MMA Fighters such Mike Brown, Rafael Rebello, Chris Manuel, and her corner men include champions such as fighters Gesias 'JZ' Cavalcante & Jorge 'Jorginho' Santiago.
