BY RYAN BEVINS, ON X (FORMERLY TWITTER) @BEVOIS
“To be honest, I don’t feel like I am able to say that I had a childhood, not in a way normal kids my age had. I had something that was specific to Bosnia in the ’90s, something I call a period of survival.” These are the words spoken by Bosnian soccer legend Edin Džeko and his sentiments are shared by LFA star Nejra Repp (née Halilović) and a generation of kids that grew up in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s during the Bosnian War.
The Bosnian War (1992-1995) is widely considered the worst and most devastating of the Yugoslav Wars that stretched from 1991 to 2001. Over 100,000 people were killed, including a large number of civilians. Furthermore, over 2 million people were displaced making it the most significant refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. Repp was born in 1991 just one year before the war began and she along with her parents and older brother lived through the war before moving to the United States in 1997. Those early years helped contribute to the determined, relentless, and ironclad mindset that has helped make Repp one of the most exciting and dangerous prospects in MMA today.
“Being raised, while having nothing, makes it that much more desirable to work towards my dreams,” Repp told LFA.com. “Growing up, I didn’t have a toy box full of toys or a playground in the back yard, but in the time, I didn’t know any better. That was the norm for me. Fast forward to today, the fight in the cage helps me appreciate how my family made it to where we are today. The real motivator here is to know that what my parents went through will be 100 times worse than anybody I will meet in that cage.”
Get your tickets for LFA 186: Bekoev vs. Foxworth
Counterclockwise: Nejra and her brother Ned in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991), Nejra and Ned arrive in the United States (1997), and Nejra and Ned when Nejra signed her first pro contract with the LFA (2023).
The conditions that Repp grew up in during the Bosnian War would seem unimaginable to many, but to Repp and her brother, it was all they knew. They embraced the dangerous war climate and would often pass the time by engaging in extracurricular fights on the streets of Sarajevo with other kids in the area. This would unknowingly plant the seed for someone who would eventually take the world of women’s MMA by storm. Another way to look at it is like this… while it is normal for kids in the United States to meet up in a neighbor’s back yard for a wiffle ball game, kids in Canada to meet up at a frozen pond to play ice hockey, or kids in Brazil to meet up at a local park to play soccer, the kids in war-torn Bosnia in the ’90s had other ideas for fun.
Nejra’s brother Ned Halilović is 5-years-older and illustrated their childhood in what could some day make an amazing Hollywood biopic.
“We would schedule neighborhood fights between different neighborhoods and Nejra never went with the girls, she was a tomboy, and would always go with us,” stated Halilović. “We would schedule fights even during the war. The war would get to us and we would say, ‘Hey we wanna fight you guys at this spot. We would strategically schedule these fights in between these big buildings, because there was sniper fire from the Olympic hills of Sarajevo, which was the ’84 Winter Olympics home. The snipers were very rapid and it was very easy to get to civilians down at the bottom, so we would be strategic in scheduling these fights behind buildings, behind these big garages, and these big communist looking buildings that were still standing from the Yugoslav era.”
“So Nejra would be there, she would be grabbing rocks, and whatever other weapons she could help find and help us out,” Halilović continued. “She would be running through the neighborhood with me, running back, and at an early age we learned that an adrenaline rush was our thing. We loved getting into these kind of things and she was always a hustler. During the war, she would go and sell her Barbies for a pack of gum or some sugar or salt. She was doing this when she was 5-years-old. Most of the time, we would spend our time in the basement, because they would bombard the city from the hills to the point where we couldn’t even go outside. The small grasp of air that Nejra and I would get in the light, we would spend doing sports, fighting, trying to hustle, trying to bring more food to the table, or simply walking 2-3 miles to get to the Red Cross to get a loaf of bread.”
Repp fondly looks back at these troubling times with a positive spin. It helped give her the motivation, mental fortitude, and work ethic that she has today… and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Well with a brother like Ned, I think anybody would be forced to learn how to fight! *haha* Ned never went easy on me just because I was a girl. In fact, that is probably the reason why I am the way I am today,” Repp explained. “I don’t feel like being a girl is a weakness. I beat up boys in the gym all the time. Just ask Coach Marc (Montoya)! My first exposure to martial arts was a kickboxing class that was held in an MMA gym. Showing up for class and watching the guys on the other side of the mat sparring and drilling motivated me to do more than just kickboxing. With my newfound skills watching LFA and UFC on the weekends got me fired up. I was always telling my friends how I can get in there and hang with the best of them. My husband would always say ‘Do it then!’ So I thought ya know what? I should!”
Nejra Repp was nominated for the LFA Fans’ Choice Awards: Female Fighter of the Year in 2023.
After Repp and her family moved to the United States in 1997, they made Seattle, Washington their new home. This is where Repp would continue to explore her love of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. She also had developed a keen sense of making things happen from her early days in Bosnia. This personality trait played a part in her having the confidence to seek out and approach LFA Vice President Mark Bieri at an LFA event in Phoenix, Arizona in the summer of 2022. She was still an amateur fighter and was there with her coach to support her teammate Melanie McIntyre, who was making her pro MMA debut against Maria Henderson at LFA 135.
“My coach at that time pulled Mark Bieri aside to chat after Melanie’s fight,” Repp explained. “I looked at Mark and told him, ‘I’ll see him real soon.’ *Haha* I almost forgot about that! It ended up manifesting into something real.”
It did indeed manifest into something real. Just six months later, Repp would sign with the LFA and one month after that, she would make her own pro MMA debut at LFA 152. This was at the beginning of 2023 in a year that Repp fought for the LFA three times and was nominated for the LFA Fans’ Choice Awards: Female Fighter of the Year. Repp would immediately catch the attention of fight fans for her explosive punching power, which would add a third meaning to her popular fight nickname “Bosnian Bombshell”. This is a reference to her looks, her fighting style, and the conditions she grew up in.
Nejra Repp and Maycee Barber have been working hard for their big fights this summer.
The raw talent, ambition, and marketing was all there. The final domino to fall was adding a world-class team. That too came to fruition at the end of 2023, when she made the move to Denver, Colorado to train at Factory X with coach Marc Montoya and numerous UFC stars, which include Brandon Royval and Youssef Zalal, who also got their start in the LFA before they became stars in the UFC.
“It’s been amazing! I remember when I walked in for my first class, I was so intimidated by the amount of talent in the room,” Repp exclaimed. “Everything is so structured and professional. I finally found what I’ve been looking for and I was immediately sold. Factory X is really more than just a gym. It’s a family. Just the genuine camaraderie throughout the team shows itself even outside of the gym, whenever someone needs a hand. We are really there for each other through thick and thin.”
One of the most recent and important training partners that Repp has been working with for her next fight is another LFA great turned UFC star in Maycee Barber. The former LFA star is headlining a UFC event in Denver exactly three weeks after Repp co-headlines LFA 186 in Denver. They are both known for their aggressive, fan-friendly style of fighting, which helped them form an instant friendship. The fact they get to enjoy high-altitude training in the city where they will be fighting next is just a bonus for the two flyweights as they prepare for two of the biggest fights in women’s MMA this summer.
“I LOVE Maycee! There you go! She has been great this whole camp. I am so grateful to have her,” stated Repp. “I feel like I’ve leveled up in so many ways just being around her. We’ve developed a great relationship and she is very helpful in the gym sharing knowledge with me. After training with her this camp it’s easy to see why she is ranked #4 in the UFC Flyweight Division. I really believe to be the best that you have to train with the best!”
Watch LFA 186: Bekoev vs. Foxworth
Nejra Repp picked up a big TKO win against Whittany Pyles at LFA 180.
Repp is now four fights into her professional MMA career. All four fights have taken place in the LFA Octagon in four different cities across the country. She has been enjoying the process of developing as a fighter in and out of the cage and is excited to finally be able to fight in her newly adopted hometown of Denver at LFA 186.
“It’s been great! I enjoy bringing my family and friends around to share these moments with me, Repp explained. “I’m super excited to be fighting in Denver next! It’s going to be a perfect place for me to showcase my skills as an MMA fighter and first time professionally as a co-main event.”
While some fighters are in a hurry to get to the UFC, Repp understands she has only been fighting professionally for 16 months and still has some goals she is looking to accomplish in the LFA. The LFA women’s flyweight world title is the oldest women’s championship in the promotion and a win at LFA 186 could move her into the title picture. This would make her the first European born female to fight for the LFA women’s flyweight world title.
“Fighting for the title is absolutely a goal of mine,” Repp exclaimed. “The obsession of competing in this sport doesn’t end with just any win. I want the greatest win of all. Being able to represent as the first European born female would be amazing and my biggest hope is to inspire others to challenge themselves to get after whatever they love.”
The pride of representing her motherland does not end there as she hopes becoming the first European born LFA women’s flyweight world champion would then earn her a trip to the UFC. This would allow her to accomplish something for Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Puja Tomar just did for India last weekend, when she became the first Indian woman to win a UFC fight.
“Becoming the first Bosnian woman to win a fight in the UFC is a huge motivation,” stated Repp. “This is actually still on a page written in my journal from 5 years ago, when I started my amateur career.”
Nejra Repp with her cornerman MarQuel Mederos at LFA 180.
Repp returns to the action in the Co-Main Event of LFA 186.
Repp has big dreams, but she never lets them get in the way of her tasks at hand. She is enjoying the process and the process has already produced three highlight reel KO/TKO wins inside the LFA Octagon. It has seen her move her fight camp to Denver, Colorado to train at Factory X alongside some of the best coaches and training partners in the sport. It has also seen the Bosnian people in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad embrace and support her as she is looking to follow in the footsteps of Mirsad Bektić, Damir Hadžović, Elvis Mutapčić, and Denis Stojnić as Bosnian fighters to have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. However, if she were to do it, she would give her country its first female UFC fighter.
The goals are clear and the mission is set, but for now she is only focused on the next step and that next step on her mission towards greatness takes place when she faces Veronika Borisova in the co-main event of LFA 186. Borisova is a top undefeated 22-year-old prospect from Russia. She is a Master of Sport and World Cup Champion in Hand-to-Hand Combat. Borisova also holds a perfect 5-0 record in professional MMA. On paper, this has fight fans expecting a striker vs. striker, All-European Showdown, but Repp is ready for anything.
“I think it will be a great fight! I am looking forward to giving her a proper welcome to the United States,” stated Repp. “Once I connect, she is not going to want to stand and bang. This is where being at Factory X has played its role. I am ready wherever this fight goes!”
You can watch Nejra “Bosnian Bombshell” Repp face Veronika Borisova in the Co-Main Event of LFA 186. The event takes place this Saturday, June 22nd and it will be available worldwide on UFC Fight Pass at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT.
=====================================================================================================
About LFA:
LFA is a professional Mixed Martial Arts promotion that was formed by the powerhouse merger between RFA and Legacy FC in 2017. It has launched the careers of over 300 athletes that have reached the pinnacle of MMA by competing in the UFC. LFA presents live Mixed Martial Arts events on a monthly basis around the world including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Denver, Dallas, Phoenix, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo. Based in Las Vegas, NV, LFA is one of the most active and respected MMA organizations in the fastest growing sport in the world. The promotion owns and operates LFA FIGHT NETWORK™, a premium YouTube channel that features live combat sports events alongside live LFA Prelims and historical fights.
Please visit LFA.com for updates and information. Visit the official LFA YouTube channel (LFA FIGHT NETWORK™) at @LFAfights. LFA is on Facebook at Facebook.com/LFAfighting. LFA is also on Instagram at @LFAfighting and X (formerly Twitter) at @LFAfighting.
About UFC FIGHT PASS®:
UFC FIGHT PASS® is the world’s leading digital subscription service for combat sports. Since launching in 2013, UFC FIGHT PASS is now available in more than 200 countries and territories. FIGHT PASS provides its members with unlimited access to live UFC FIGHT PASS Prelims; live mixed martial arts and combat sports from around the world; original series and historical programming; special features; behind-the-scenes content; in-depth interviews; and up-to-the minute reports on the world of combat sports. UFC FIGHT PASS subscribers also have 24/7 access to the world’s largest fight library, featuring more than 20,000 bouts from dozens of combats sports organizations, as well as every fight in UFC history. Fight fans can access UFC FIGHT PASS on personal computers, iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Xbox One, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, and Sony TVs with Android TV. For more information, please visit UFCFightPass.com.
About MAGNESS ARENA:
The home of champions, Magness Arena is a multi-use venue within the Ritchie Center. Magness Arena is used primarily for ice, court and stage events and is available for sporting events, concerts, graduations, banquets, trade shows and more. The arena is named after cable television pioneer Bob Magness, who donated $10 million towards construction costs. It features padded individual seating, two members-only club seating areas, a four-sided video scoreboard, and a concourse with glassed-in views of the adjoining Hamilton Gymnasium and El Pomar Natatorium. The arena can be identified around the city by the attached 215-foot-tall, gold-spired Williams Tower, which contains a 65-bell carillon. For More info visit the venue’s official website.
