Up-and-coming MMA star Shalie Lipp has died following a car crash less than two weeks away from her next big fight.
The 21-year-old from Colorado, USA, died in a two-car accident on Interstate 94 in Minnesota on Sunday morning, with Lipp being the passenger of a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu.
Minnesota State Patrol report that the car which Lipp was in "made contact" with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee travelling eastbound on the Red River Bridge at 11.30am, Sunday morning. Lipp was the only occupant of the two vehicles not wearing an incident, with the others escaping uninjured from the horror crash.
Lipp was scheduled to fight on May 20 in the main event of Ignite No Mercy 11 in the Kent Freeman Arena in Detroit Lakes, and she was a member of the Academy of Combat Arts in Fargo, Minnesota.
Lipp had recently returned to the US from a Thailand-based training camp, where she was practicing MMA and Muay Thai. Outside of MMA, Lipp was said to be keen on track and field, and Gymnastics in school.
Her reported personal trainer, Eric Sweeney, has paid tribute. "My heart is absolutely broken," he wrote. "You were such a wonderful human, full of promise and drive. One of the few people I've ever met that was truly reaching for greatness.
"And I will never forget you. It is beyond my mind's capacity today to think that I won't see you this week ...or ever again. We were just cracking the code.
"Being your friend will change me forever. It already has. Thank you for all of the moments. All of our discussions, both personal and professional. The laughs, the tears, and every emotion in between. I will remember all of them. I am grateful for all of them."
Lipp, daughter of area sportscaster Rollie Lipp and North Dakota State College of Science Hall of Famer Jennie Bucholz, had a record of three wins and two losses before her tragic passing.
