Randa Markos Husband, Height, Weight, Measurements, Bio, UFC Career

Randa Markos is a mixed martial artist of Canadian-Iraqi origin who began her professional career in November 2012. Barely two years after her professional career, she entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in March 2014 and has been competing in the strawweight class of advancement ever since.

Randa Markos Biography

Randa Markos-Thomas was born on August 10, 1985, in Baghdad, Iraq. Her parents are Azhar and Sam Markos, who are both ethnic Chaldeans and Catholics. She grew up with 3 siblings; a sister named Reva and brothers Robert and Chris. When Randa was still a toddler, the family fled their homeland after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war and spent several years in refugee camps. With the help of a relative, they were able to obtain a Canadian visa and eventually settled in the city of Windsor in Ontario, Canada.

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Although she managed to escape the war in her native country, Randa Markos faced a number of other challenges during her childhood in Canada. Her father fell into alcoholism and as a result, became very abusive to every other member of the family. Fortunately, Randa Markos found comfort from the chaos at home by joining her high school wrestling team. Despite fierce opposition from her rather conservative father, she continued to perform excellently in wrestling. After graduating from high school, she received a pharmaceutical assistant’s diploma at TriOS College in Ontario, Canada, and then worked for several years in a local pharmacy.

While retaining her full-time job as a pharmacy assistant, Randa Markos began her training in mixed martial arts at the Maximum Training Center in Windsor, Canada. She was introduced to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu system for the first time, and thanks to her background in wrestling, she had a relatively smooth transition into this sport. In her first 4 amateur fights, the talented fighter recorded impressive 3 wins and 1 defeat. Interestingly, in 2012 she was forced to become a professional in the amateur category due to a lack of opponents.

Markos made her professional debut in the MMA in November 2012 with a victory over Allanna Jones. This was followed by three unbeaten runs before she suffered her first career loss in her debut in the Resurrection Fighting Alliance (RFA) against her future TUF roommate Justine Kish. After the defeat, she quickly returned to the winning ways by defeating Lynnell House in her next match, a victory that earned her her first straw-weight title at the Provincial Fighting Championships (PFC).

Randa Markos UFC Career

In March 2014, Randa Markos followed an open call of the Ultimate Fighting Championship for 115-pound fighters, and after an impressive performance at the auditions, she was awarded a contract with the organization. In July 2014 she was announced as one of the last eight candidates for the 20th season of UFC The Ultimate Fighter TUF. Although she was seeded in 14th place, Markos proved to be one of the tournament’s breakout stars as she advanced to the semi-finals and eventually lost to Rose Namajunas in the final episode of the season.

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Markos made her promotion debut for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on December 12, 2014, at the season finale of The Ultimate Fighter 20, losing to her semi-finalist Jessica Penne in a split decision. Despite the defeat, she and her opponent were awarded the title “Fight of the Night”.

Since her debut in 2014, Markos has recorded a pattern of alternating victories and defeats at a number of UFC events. By July 2018, she has set a professional record of 8 wins and 7 defeats. She still has many battles ahead of her and will accumulate as many victories as possible in no small measure.

Husband

Randa Markos is currently married to Jeff Thomas, another professional martial artist. The duo met while Markos was still in college and after they were together for a while, they have formed a life-long bond in 2011. In addition to their blissful relationship, she credits her husband for inspiring her decision to become a professional mixed martial artist. Interestingly, he fought in the very first mixed martial arts fight she ever got to see.

Height and Other Body Measurements

Randa Markos is 163 cm (5 feet 4 inches) tall. She has a body weight of 52 kg (115 lbs). The UFC Star has an arm reach of 63 inches (160 cm) and a leg reach of 39 inches (99 cm).