For those who don’t know, Tara LaRosa, arguably the best pound-for-pound female mixed martial arts fighter on the planet, recently lost a loved one in Iraq:
Sgt. 1st Class Adrian M. Elizalde, boyfriend of bodogFIGHT 135-pound women’s champion Tara LaRosa, was killed in action by an improvised explosive device Thursday near Al Aziziyah, Iraq, southeast of Baghdad. Elizalde, 30, a Special Forces engineer, was assigned to the Company C, 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Lewis, Wash.
Elizalde earned the coveted Green Beret in 2005 and was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force – Arabian Peninsula. Survived by his daughter, Sydney Grace of Klamath Falls, Ore., he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Her story is gut-wrenching and deeply upsetting. If you’re a member of The UnderGround, send her some love.
More info on LaRosa here.
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