Strikeforce has a brand new ring girl gracing the six sided cage this Spring. Her name is Corissa Furr, and she isn’t afraid to get her feet wet.
Word has it that you’re quite the tomboy.
Total, total tomboy. My mom would try to hand me a Barbie, I would throw it back at her and say, ‘What are you thinking?’ In almost every situation in my life, I’m pretty much one of the guys…I can count on one hand the girlfriends I have, the rest are the homies!
Now that you model, do you feel you’ve come full circle?
It’s fun to get all glamorous and dress up once in a while. Of course, that’s cool. But, when people meet me at events, they still see my personality when I start talking. They’ll see that I’m not a starlet craving attention. I’m still just one of the guys. I drink beer and watch MMA and do normal things. That’s what I hate, people make those assumptions about models, doing stereotypical things like going shopping and going to the salon—I don’t do any of those things really. I appreciate when people recognize that I’m a normal person.
What beer do you enjoy?
I love a Blue Moon. That’s the first thing that I ask for at the bar. If they don’t have Blue Moon, I’ll go to the closest thing. I actually like a lot of beer. Flying Dog is brewed in Frederick, Maryland, which is where I’m from. It’s kind of funny because there’s nothing cool that comes from Frederick. It’s one of the smallest places ever. The fact that they have the Flying Dog Brewery and Maxim named it a top 10 beer is very cool.
Do you pinch yourself to remember you’re still a small-town girl living near Hollywood and working in TV?
That’s the number one most important thing to me—never forget my grassroots. People recognize it too. My parents are kinda hippies, and the values that they enforced and instilled in me will definitely stick with me forever.
You were on HBO’s Entourage. Who is your favorite character?
I like Drama. Actually, he’s great in person. He’s funny, totally cool.
What have been some of the crazier things you’ve seen working for Manswers on Spike TV?
They always try to think of ways for guys to enlarge their penises…because that’s soooo important. They had this thing for guys to wear on their junk and supposedly it works. As corny as it sounds, they actually are doing scientific research.
You named your dog Spider after Anderson Silva. Is he undefeated too?
He’s had such a hard life so far. He had to have like a $5,000 surgery. After I adopted him from the shelter, I went back two days later because they had to neuter him and give him shots. When I go to pick him up, he has a broken leg. The shelter, of course, doesn’t take any responsibility. I ended up paying for his X-rays. Turns out he had a torn ACL and needed surgery. I was able to raise the money for it. If you consider those types of hardships, yes, he is undefeated.
How did you win the Strikeforce ring girl competition?
I saw the Twitter post in the morning, went to my friend’s studio that afternoon, filmed my video, and submitted it that night. I had it all done that same day. I had built up a little bit of a following from other things I’ve done with my career, and those people knew how much I like MMA. They were more than willing to help and vote for me. ‘I remember you watching this back in high school! And how much you were into it!! You definitely deserve it.’ I’m sure Tweeting my fighter friends and stuff like that didn’t hurt the situation. I definitely thought I could win because I’m passionate about it.
You started watching the sport because of Wanderlei Silva’s reign in PRIDE, is that right?
I miss PRIDE. There’s no organization like PRIDE. Soccer kicks were the best. I mean, who doesn’t like that? I definitely understand the need for regulation and fighter safety. MMA is unique from other sports because there are so many different cultures and styles. You have to be smart and well-rounded. There are a lot of sports that I enjoy, but fighting is so much more involved. I can only hope that it keeps growing and gets recognition.
And now you’re a ring girl in Strikeforce.
I’m not just one of those girls that shows up, ‘What do I do? How many rounds are there?’ Even if I wasn’t here, I’d still be talking about it. Strikeforce is like a family. It’s awesome.
As a PRIDE fan now working for Strikeforce, what would it be like to hold cards for a Fedor bout?
That definitely would be amazing. There are several PRIDE fighters that I like, and being able to stand on the cage while one of them is fighting would be memorable. That’s one more thing that I like about Strikeforce,they have the walkway and the fighters are the only one in the spotlight.
Did you have fun working the Arnold Sports Festival with Strikeforce?
The Arnold is definitely a place for protein. You walk in, you’re hungry, you need a meal replacement? You got it. It was the first time there for Strikeforce. Arnold came to our booth and did an interview about the sport and had great things to say.
And you got to meet Anderson Silva. Did you tell him about your dog?
I said, ‘I’m glad to meet you. You’re my favorite fighter.’ I showed him a picture. His translator said, ‘He wants to know what the dog’s phone number is.’ I said, ‘I guess it’s my phone number.’ He’s so funny, that’s one of the reasons that he’s my favorite. If you have personality to go along with serious fighting skills, I’m a fan.
Strikeforce also promotes female MMA. Any chance we may see you drop the ring cards and lace up the gloves?
I don’t think there’s a weight class I can compete it in Strikeforce. I’d have to beef up to beat 115 pounds. For now, I’ll just enjoy my position as a ring girl and my cage-side seat. There’s nothing else like it.
We’ll enjoy it too. Check out Corissa on Twitter: @corissafurr
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