Jon Mark Beilue: Her Biggest Fight — So Far

Sarah Alpar was in a transition period, sort of perched on a balance beam of life when she enrolled at West Texas A&M University in 2013. She thought she knew what she wanted to do, but still had questions.

"She was really motivated," said Dr. Vanessa Fiaud, an associate professor of sports and exercise sciences, "but I also thought she looked a little lost. As I am for all my students, I told her I would be there for her if she wanted to talk - and she took advantage of it."

As often happens, plans can get derailed after high school. Just a couple of years earlier, Alpar left Tascosa to wrestle for Oklahoma City University (OCU). She was the first female wrestler at Bonham Middle School and had a standout career in high school with the Lady Rebels.

But at OCU, she battled staph infections and a kidney stone and other things piled up on her. She made it through the first year, but that summer, she didn’t want to go back. She wasn’t happy, felt some anxiety, and decided to make the drive to Oklahoma City and tell the coach in person that she wasn’t returning.

"I just told myself this isn’t for me," Alpar said. "I needed to get back home, go in a different direction and find myself again."

And now, at age 28, Alpar has certainly found herself. On Tuesday, this WT graduate will be in Las Vegas in the octagon in the biggest match of her young and promising Mixed Martial Arts career.

It’s a bantamweight fight in the Dana White Contending Series at the Apex Center in Vegas. The opponent: Shanna Young of Knoxville, Tenn. At stake: a possible contract in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) organization, the holy grail of the sport.

"This is the biggest fight of my career so far," said the 5-4, 135-pound Alpar, who carries an 8-4 record into the match. "It’s a chance to make it to the UFC, which has been my goal since the beginning. It’s a chance to kick-start my career and make a name for myself. I’m right where I need to be. I’ve had a great camp, and ready for it. I feel like it’s my time."

When Alpar came to WT, she had studied at Amarillo College for two years. Trying to figure out what was ahead for her, she also was a waitress when she started jiu-jitsu classes at the Martial Arts Center in Amarillo. Mike Lister, the owner, asked if she would consider stand-up fighting.

"He thought I’d be a good fighter, and the next thing I knew, I had a fight coming up," she said. "I just fell in love with it. Everything about it appeals to me - the fact it’s not something everyone can do, it makes me a tougher person, it pushes me to the limits to see what I’m made of."

She won her first fight with a submission in the third round and has never forgotten the feeling.

"I felt like a rock star, and every fight has felt like that," Alpar said. "The adrenaline is pumping, and the crowd is rowdy and it’s great. I’ve loved it from the beginning."

Alpar has had 12 sanctioned bouts over eight years, but she picked up her nickname — "Too Sweet" — from the outset.

"I got that from a matchmaker in my first fight," she said. "He wanted his fighters to have pretty nicknames, and he thought, 'This girl is too sweet,’ and it stuck ever since. It’s like my alter ego when I get on the mat. In person, I’m passive, and don’t like confrontation. But I fell in love with the name. It fits."

Much needed encouragement at WT

Despite a love of mixed martial arts, Alpar knew she needed something beyond that. She felt a need to finish her education, and in part, make her grounded. Fiaud, in particular, helped to encourage her dreams even if Alpar flunked one of her classes and had to repeat it.

"She has always supported me and given me encouragement throughout my career," Alpar said of her former advisor. "She has believed in me forever. She’s very straightforward but very fair."

Maybe it’s just the power of belief in a student, belief when it’s not a peer that can have an incalculable measure.

"Communication has two sides - the one who sends it and the one who receives it," Fiaud said. "On my end, I saw some potential in her and the way she was doing things. I’m not a mixed martial arts fighter or taekwondo fighter in any way. I’m not her coach or a former coach, so I don’t take credit for any training.

"All I was there for was to help her pursue her dreams. I knew she had the talent. The question is unlocking that talent. Sometimes that lock is psychological. We had a lot of talks. I always believed in her, probably not much more than her friends, but the title associated with me might make it different."

Alpar, who got her degree in sports and exercise sciences in May 2014, wants to earn a master’s degree from WT but the immediate future poses some exciting possibilities.

Alpar trains at American Elite Mixed Martial Arts gym in Edmond, Okla., just north of Oklahoma City, where she has lived since 2015. She combines training with a job as a coffee barista.

Training, under her coach, Derrick Adkins, includes strength and conditioning, as well as sparring and technique five to six days a week.

"For anyone who thinks whatever you’re pursuing is too hard or you’re not good enough to make it, just don’t give up," she said. "You’re stronger than you think."

When she goes to Las Vegas, she will take with her not just confidence, but a tattoo below her neck on the right side. It says, "Psalms 139:14."

"It means a lot to me," she said. "I wouldn’t put it on if it didn’t. During the last couple of years, I have found my faith and God has helped me every step of the way."

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that fully well."

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for "WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?" If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu.

—WTAMU—