The Ultimate Fighter

Brooke Mullen is training to become an MMA expert

by Jordan Schwartz

When you see Brooke Mullen’s petite frame, you could imagine her doing somersaults and cartwheels across a gymnastics floor.

What you may not envision is her applying arm bars and choke holds in a caged octagon that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship ring.

“I’ve always liked to beat up the boys,” said the 2008 Clifton High School grad, who began training in June at Jerry Jones Ultimate Martial Arts on Franklin Ave. in Nutley.

“I’ve been a gymnast my whole life and I always wanted to do something that I could do when I grow up,” she said. “I figured I could get somewhere with fighting, so my boyfriend and I decided to sign up.”

Mullen grew up a tomboy, wrestling with her older brother, Eric.“He used to beat me up all the time,” she remembered. “I was his punching bag.” But that was just fine for Brooke, who admits she prefers hanging out with guys rather than girls.

“I always wanted to be ‘Daddy’s Little Boy’ instead of ‘Daddy’s Little Girl,’” she laughed.

As a little girl, Brooke would climb the furniture and jump down the stairs, so her mom signed her up for gymnastics at the age of one.

“I didn’t really have a life when I was little,” she admitted with no regrets. “It was all about training and I loved it.”

Mullen became a star pupil at Rick’s All American Tumbling in Fairfield, where she now teaches. When she got to CHS, Brooke immediately joined the gymnastics team, earning numerous All-League and All-County honors.

Last year, Head Coach Judy D’Argenio told Clifton Merchant Magazine that she credited her senior captain for her leadership and ability to keep the rest of the girls focused and organized.
Mullen also competed on the outdoor track team at Clifton High. She specialized in the pole vault, but also participated in the hurdles, triple jump and high jump. This past spring, Brooke was part of the first outdoor track squad in school history to capture the state sectional crown, and only the second in the past 34 years to win the Passaic County title.

So how does a young woman make the transition from gymnastics and track to hand-to-hand combat? Apparently, the sports have a lot more in common than you might think. “I’m kind of used to falling and getting beaten up from gymnastics,” said the athlete. “If you’re a gymnast, it gives you the flexibility and the mindset to take more damage. You know how to fall properly so you don’t break your arm or anything.”

The fighting background will come in handy if Mullen accomplishes her goal of becoming an FBI field agent. She’s attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan to study forensic science.

The Main Ave. resident decided she wanted to work for the government during her junior year of high school when she joined the ROTC program.

Meanwhile, Mullen continues to train six hours a week from Tuesday to Saturday at Jerry Jones. She often stays after class to perfect her technique, and then goes home and watches UFC fights on television with her boyfriend and fellow CHS ’08 alum, Danny Platt.

Mullen is hoping to become good enough to make the school’s competition team, which is currently made up of nearly all men. “I won’t hit a girl,” she said with a smile.

They’re lucky.