Kayla Blood quits MMA for monster trucks

For Kayla Blood, it didn't matter whether the competition was a boy or a girl. If you were going to compete against her, her attitude was to be the best. This mindset, which she developed during youth athletics, continued throughout her time in the Louisiana National Guard and throughout her MMA career, and now serves her as a rider for the Soldier Fortune Monster Jam Truck.

In a traditionally male-dominated sport like Monster Jam, Kayla Blood is one of the women helping the next generation of competitive girls realize that there's nothing they can't do. After seven years in the Triple Threat Series and running in smaller arenas, she is now competing in the Stadium Series.

Muscle & Fitnesscaught up with Kayla Blood to talk about her first year in the Stadium Series, the similarities of entering the octagon and strapping into the Monster Jam truck, and how she did it balances motherhood, work and help pave a path for the next generation of girls.

Monster Jam Triple Threat

If you're on a bigger floor in larger venues, you'll have longer freestyles. We're going from 60 second freestyles in arenas to 2 minute freestyles in stadiums. When you freestyle in stadiums, it's no joke at all because you're flying higher and it's just a lot of chaos to control. Two minutes after you finish your run, you can feel it because you're breathing heavily and the adrenaline is pumping. Other than that, it's just the wear and tear on your body after so long. In these smaller arenas you get thrown around, but in stadiums you get 30 feet of air in those Monster Jam trucks on the stadium floor so you feel it in your neck muscles at the end of the weekend.

You have to find what you feel more comfortable with - whether it's the neck braces or the helmet. Everything has to fit really well in the Monster Jam truck and to be honest we've gotten better at that than before. We have so much more safety equipment to keep us in our seats. Our seats are designed specifically for us, so it feels like you're sitting in your own car seat. When you get in there, strap yourself in as tight as you can. I breathe in and out deeply and just push myself down. Sometimes that isn't enough either. You will find that you have to try a little harder. I'm going to try to get in a little bit before my free skate because I know I'll have to put in a little more effort once my seat settles in. After that it’s rock’n’roll time. We can do the craziest things, have the craziest accidents, and walk away with a smile on our face. They can do massages and other things to help, but I'm pretty hard working and busy so I don't have the time to do that as often as I'd like. Otherwise, I'm happy to do it Take collagen because that's a great thing for joints and recovery.

Kayla Blood learns by the seat of her pants

Every time you get into these Monster Jam trucks and participate in different competitions, you learn something new and feel more comfortable. Every year you might get a whole new chassis and it's a whole new ball game for you and your crew chief come together to learn together. By the second or third event you should be on the right track. The rest of the season you leave your truck dialed in and that's when the fun really starts to happen. I've been driving for seven years now and when I get seat time I feel much better controlling the truck in a stadium. You have no boundaries or Jumbotrons to worry about. I love it and it was fun to drive, drift the truck around and whip it through the corners without having to worry about any of that stuff. It takes a bit of skill and a bit of luck.

To be the best, you have to beat the best

I grew up as a tomboy, a racer and always tried to be the best no matter what. I grew up running track and playing other sports. My coaches always taught me that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. I ran track practice against the boys and played basketball against the boys. We learned at a very early age that regardless of whether there were men out there, we were going to go out and compete just as hard as they did. To be on this stage now is great. We are able to successfully show all the little girls out there that it is possible and we are even changing the perspective of non-believers on women in motorsports. Seeing is believing and when they witness our success it means more than anything.

I was in MMA for quite a while and trained with guys. I was in the military with a few guys and I'm just used to it. I think these experiences shaped me and made me very courageous and confident for what I do now. You have to believe in yourself to get out there and drive a Monster Jam truck. Let's face it, women experience a lot of hate and negativity when we play this sport. Every time we're on the track all eyes are on us and if we don't have the best luck, I feel like it's always a little more difficult for us compared to the men. But we're out there, learning every chance we get, like everyone else. You will have great moments and bad moments, but we will continue to push forward.

Leading the way for a new path

I had no one to look up to and I had to overcome a lot of things growing up. I never thought I would be in this position to do what I am today and it literally only happened because I didn't give up. Every time I fell, there was always something inside me that said keep going. I will have these little girls come to me when we have the pit parties before our events - some of the things they say to me and how much it means to them - you don't realize how many little eyes are on you or how many people you inspire. Sometimes I want to cry because you think you're having a bad day and feel like you can't drive some days and there's this little girl coming up to you and telling you about this amazing time watching you drive, how you're her favorite driver and these are the things that motivate you to keep going. Again, seeing is believing. Every one of these women in Monster Jam is talented and we're all winners and beating the boys and proving it. When I win my freestyle runs, I get on my truck and do push-ups and the girls go crazy. I do it exclusively for her.

MMA vs. motorsports

Before you go into the cage you have to know your opponent and you honestly don't know if you're going to get your butt whipped or if you're going to get someone's butt whipped and that's like going into motorsports. When you drive these 12,000 pound trucks you never know what's going to happen. You don't know if you're going to have a crazy accident or if you're going to do something amazing. The nerves are always there and you just have to work through it. You may end up a little punch drunk, but it's great. I've been hypercompetitive my whole life and my life would be pretty boring if it were otherwise.

How Kayla Blood got into Monster Jam form

In motorsport, safety comes first. Whenever it comes to your body, this is number one. Some drivers in motorsports don't really believe in training, but it only makes you stronger when it comes to taking hits and hits. I myself have recently started an individualized diet where I make sure I take my vitamins and supplements. You want to give your body back what it no longer produces. If you don't take care of your body, it will be harder to recover from injuries. Exercising also helps mentally, because whenever You are mentally strong You're confident because you've done the work and are at the level you need to be at.

I like running because I am a runner. When I make it to a track, I do some 400s and sprint some 100s. I also like long distance running, so that's what I do. To be completely honest, I've never worked out in the gym enough to feel confident enough to go in and know what I needed to do. I have a friend that I will be going with that will help me through some workouts. I like to do it Focus more on my lower body and abs because you need your legs to accelerate. If you are strapped into the truck for a while, you can feel this too. I just try to be ready for anything. It's somehow easier to go to the gym when I'm on the go because of all the things I'm juggling at home. I like coming to the event on Thursday because I can go to the gym and have everything I need right there.

Kayla Blood balances big trucks and babies

Of course the child comes first. Whenever I'm home I try to give him all the attention he needs. We have a very close family and we do motocross and many activities together. It's an everyday thing. When he is at school, I get up in the morning, take him to school and go straight to work. Maybe sometimes I come to training and then it's soccer practice and I come home to repeat it the next day. It's something you get used to and it becomes your routine. I would say don't think about it too much and just know what the important things in your life are. If my family is taken care of, everything else will fall into place.

Follow Kayla Blood on Instagram @kaylabloodgranger.