Tara Nicole LaRosa was born on January 8,1978 and is an American mixed martial artist and grappler whose most high-profile successes occurred while competing in BodogFight, where she became the first and only BodogFight Women's Bantamweight Champion.
65 Facts About Tara LaRosa
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Tara LaRosa dominated the bantamweight division during her seven years in it, and became a flyweight in 2009.
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Tara LaRosa holds wins over top mixed martial arts fighters such as Amanda Buckner, Kelly Kobold, Shayna Baszler, Alexis Davis, Julie Kedzie, Sally Krumdiack and Takayo Hashi.
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Tara LaRosa has lived in eight different cities over the course of a decade in order to train at different gyms.
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Tara LaRosa moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico in January 2013 to train at Jackson's Mixed Martial Arts.
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On December 6,2013, Tara LaRosa was inducted in the New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame.
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Tara LaRosa attended the now defunct St James Catholic High School.
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Tara LaRosa earned a field hockey scholarship to attend Catawba College between 1996 and 2000.
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Tara LaRosa's first MMA fight was an April 2002 bantamweight bout against Shelby Walker in HOOKnSHOOT.
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Tara LaRosa used her judo skills to get Walker to the ground, get the full mount and landed punches that led Walker to tap the canvas with her right hand at almost three minutes in the fight.
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Tara LaRosa won when she hurt Wilson with a right knee, obtained full mount on the ground and unleashed punches, which resulted in a TKO win at 4:59 in round 1.
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At a Shooto Americas event, Tara LaRosa submitted Ginele Marquez by armbar.
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Tara LaRosa was defeated by TKO after 2 minutes in the first round.
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Tara LaRosa took a year off from MMA competition and returned to face and defeat Linda Langerak.
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Tara LaRosa faced Alisa Cantwell at XFO 4 on December 3,2004.
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Tara LaRosa faced Hitomi Akano at MFC: USA vs Russia 3 on June 3,2006, and won the fight by unanimous decision.
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Tara LaRosa submitted Buckner by rear-naked choke with 29 seconds remaining in the bout.
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At BodogFight: USA vs Russia on December 2,2006 in Vancouver, Tara LaRosa joined Team USA to fight her counterpart, Julia Berezikova, a member of Fedor Emelianenko's Russian Red Devil team.
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Tara LaRosa won the fight by armbar submission in the second round.
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Tara LaRosa met Kobold at BodogFight: Alvarez vs Lee on July 14,2007 for the BodogFight 135-pound women's championship.
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Tara LaRosa won the fight via armbar submission in the fourth round.
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Tara LaRosa was in talks to join the International Fight League and YAMMA until those promotions closed in 2008 because of financial losses.
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Tara LaRosa's contract with the AFL was a lucrative one for a duration of 18 months, which would have made her the highest paid female fighter in MMA.
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Tara LaRosa's signing was officially announced at an AFL event on May 30,2008 with plans to have her fight on the promotion's first pay per view card that fall.
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Tara LaRosa never competed in the AFL as a result of bad economic conditions.
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Tara LaRosa returned to MMA competition after a 14-month absence to face Alexis Davis at Extreme Challenge: The War at the Shore on January 23,2009.
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Tara LaRosa survived a triangle choke at the conclusion of the second round and won by TKO when the doctor stopped the fight late in round three due to a worsened cut above Davis' eye.
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Tara LaRosa rematched Roxanne Modafferi at Moosin: God of Martial Arts on May 21,2010.
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Tara LaRosa was defeated by split decision, marking her first loss in seven years.
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Tara LaRosa faced Takayo Hashi at DaMMAge Fight League 1 on November 24,2010 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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Years later, Tara LaRosa went on to face Damm at Shark Fights 14 on March 11,2011, in Lubbock, Texas.
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Tara LaRosa won the fight via submission from a reverse heel hook early in the second round.
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The match had fulfilled the first of 3 bouts Tara LaRosa had with Shark Fights.
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In 2012, Tara LaRosa signed a non-exclusive three-fight contract with Resurrection Fighting Alliance.
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Tara LaRosa fought Kelly Warren at Resurrection Fighting Alliance 2 on March 30,2012.
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Tara LaRosa defeated Warren by submission due to an armbar with one second remaining in the fight.
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Tara LaRosa faced Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs Sugiyama on October 6,2012.
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On September 29,2013, Tara LaRosa faced Rin Nakai in a non-title bout at Pancrase 252: 20th Anniversary in Yokohama, Japan.
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On September 6,2014, Tara LaRosa faced Roxanne Modafferi for the third time at Invicta FC 8.
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Tara LaRosa faced Sarah Moras in the elimination round to get into the TUF house.
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Tara LaRosa has competed in different regional competitions for NAGA Grappling World Championships.
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Tara LaRosa became Women's Champion at Submission Fighting Open 7.
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Tara LaRosa competed at Southern Open Submission Championships, placing 1st in the Women's Advanced, 2nd in the Men's, and 3rd in Men's divisions.
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Tara LaRosa was named the Southern Open Submission Championships' MVP of Tournament.
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Tara LaRosa won first place in the and Women's Advanced Philadelphia Freedom Open Jiujitsu Tourney in 2002.
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Tara LaRosa was first in the Men's Philadelphia Freedom Open Jiujitsu Tourney.
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Tara LaRosa won NAGA - Georgia's Women's competition, and was second in the 2nd Men's portion.
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Tara LaRosa won Grappler's Quest - Copa Alantica Women's Advanced competition, and repeated as first-place winner in Women's Advanced for Music City Grappling Championship.
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Tara LaRosa was first in NAGA -Florida's Women's Advanced, and 3rd in NAGA -Florida's Men's Intermediate.
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Tara LaRosa competed in the first women's divisions at the ADCC World Championships on May 27 and 28,2005.
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Tara LaRosa won a silver medal in the absolute division.
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Tara LaRosa was presented the rank by Combatives University founder, Matt Larsen, and the Combatives Black Belt Guild.
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Tara LaRosa won the 135-lbs Combat Jiu-Jitsu title while competing in Carolina Combat League.
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Tara LaRosa's family was initially against Tara being a professional fighter.
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Tara LaRosa was in Vancouver doing promotional work for BodogFight when she heard the news of Elizalde's death.
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Tara LaRosa endured a life-threatening experience in December 2010 during a second attempt to complete a 70-mile hike on Western Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands trail.
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Tara LaRosa's mother called the authorities and LaRosa's location was found by GPS tracking of her phone.
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Tara LaRosa was rescued by two rangers from Somerset County, Pennsylvania and later treated for hypothermia.
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In January 2018, Tara LaRosa participated in a sparring match against a comedian with no martial arts training named Kristopher Zylinski.
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Tara LaRosa began attending right-wing events following her retirement in 2015.
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In November 2018, Tara LaRosa spoke at a HimToo rally in Portland, organized by a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer.
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The woman being restrained was heard saying "I can't breathe", while Tara LaRosa reported that she was bitten during the incident.
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Since then Tara LaRosa has become a close ally to the far-right group the Proud Boys as she supports their beliefs.
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Tara LaRosa has advanced conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 US presidential election, and published a list of people who had signed a petition against Donald Trump which she falsely claimed was a list of anti-fascist activists.
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Tara LaRosa has been criticized by other supporters of the Proud Boys who oppose women's involvement in the group.