Jessica Aguilar is an amazing individual in terms of her priorities in life, her passionate work ethic, how she is continually seeking out others to help and is greatly appreciated for her huge heart. In addition to being an incredibly warm and caring human being, Jessica is also an extremely fierce competitor, and she demonstrates this every time she steps onto a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) mat or into a fighting ring or cage. The transformation from her "girl next door" demeanor into her "warrior fighting" mode must be seen to be appreciated, as it all starts with the perpetual twinkle in her eyes morphing into a laser focused determination that can best be described as a pure predator mode. Hard to imagine, even when you are observing this first hand, as Jessica perpetually beams and radiates positive energy that is second to none, then as if a switch has been flicked on, this petite, 115 pound sweetie instantaneously becomes an absolute fighting machine as her eyes alone tell you that there will simply be no escape from her explosive aggressive fighting style. Yes, when it is time for Jessica to unleash what she has un-relentlessly trained for, her fighting skills simply become reactionary and instinctual.

Jessica was born in Mexico and raised in Houston, TX by her mom and two older brothers, as she lost her father when she was just six years-old. Tragedy struck again 10 years later when she lost her brother in an auto accident. Whether it was by choice, by fate, or lack of options, Jessica had to grow up quickly, accept major family responsibilities early in life, and quickly learn that the best coping solution is to always focus on the positives, work your hardest at the things you can control in life, and always treat others with respect – lessons that have servedher extremely well.

Jessica learned at a very early age that she was gifted when it came to sports. Unfortunately, Latin culture at that time, and more importantly, her mother's belief - is that girls and competitive sports should not mix. Not surprisingly, Jessica was relentless, and begged until her mother let her play sports. Jessica was a natural as she excelled at basketball, track, soccer, softball, and basically any sport she committed herself to. Jessica's athletic accomplishments through childhood and high school yielded her many personal and team championship awards, as Jessica proved not only to be a great competitor, but constantly proved that she could do anything that she set her mind to do. But her mother never embraced her athletic interests, and instead wanted Jessica to just be the best student she could be. This was not a problem as Jessica's work ethic, ability to focus, and ravenous desire to continually learn consumed all facets of her life. She completed high school one year early but instead of leveraging her academic and athletic accomplishments into a college scholarship, contributing to immediate family financial needs became her higher priority and Jessica instead went to work as a Lab Tech/Specialist at the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Bank working there five years and contributing to her family's financial needs.

Jessica's good looks, smooth athletic style, and positive energy resulted in her friends convincing her to move to LA and pursue a career in acting, a challenge she accepted immediately and found a new job with the American Red Cross in Los Angeles. Jessica soon learned that while she loved acting, earning a respectable living would be all but impossible for a rookie actress that had no formal training. During one dry acting patch, Jessica decided to move to Oregon and found steady work, this time as a correctional officer in the state prison system, another life experience that enabled Jessica to take on major new challenges in life without any fear. But within a year and a half, her former acting experience actually yielded a unique opportunity as Jessica was sought out for Spanish actress roles and a film job in Miami which she accepted. This led to other roles in an Italian film, television series Dexter and Johnson & Johnson commercials filmed in the Philippines. Jessica embraced acting work when it was available, as full-time work and adequate pay were a perpetual challenge. But in her free time, Jessica kept in great physical shape, always spending as much time as possible in the local gyms and fitness centers.

On a lark, in December 2005, Jessica signed up a local Gym called Punch Fitness that happened to also offer Boxing and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) classes. This new challenge gave Jessica a special rush and she proved to be an absolute natural. Just one month into her new BJJ training, her instructors convinced her to compete in a regional North American Grappling Association (NAGA) tournament as they and her both wanted to see what she was really capable of – and natural abilities served Jessica well – as she won first place in her division. Jessica was pumped – and could not wait for her next tournament – and was disappointed to learn that the woman's division was not included. As luck would have it, a local MMA professional fight promotion just lost one of their female fighters and needed a quick replacement to fight against Lisa Ward who was then a top 10 ranked female professional fighters in the world. Jessica immediately sought out the opportunity, even though her three months of total MMA experience was nothing compared to Ward's many years of professional fighting and her two FILA World Grappling Championships. Conventional wisdom was right, Jessica lost by a decision, but more importantly – she proved to the world that she was the real deal and with just a few months of MMA experience that she could very effectively compete at a world elite level.

During the three round battle, Jessica's heart and determination won her countless fans as she refused to tap out, even when her arm was nearly broken. Jessica's new challenge – how to become a world MMA Champion? Jessica was now 110% committed to becoming the best. Fight promoters were seeking her out – and then some very good fortune came her way. Jen Boronico, a dear friend from one of the gyms she trained at also happened to be a MMA fighter and golden glove boxer – Jen gave her a simple message – "If you want to be the best you need to train with the best"– and introduced her to Ricardo Liborio who operates American Top Team – the single largest and best known professional MMA fighter gym on the planet. Jessica was apprehensively welcomed, as becoming a true professional MMA fighter takes years of training starting often at very early childhood ages. So the likely hood of Jessica becoming a true highly skilled MMA fighter would be a huge long shot, especially considering that her first (and perpetual) impression with everyone in life is that she is the ultimate girl next door – Just too nice to be a "fighter". But, based upon her recommendations and sincerity, Jessica was given the chance to prove she was capable of training at ATT as a professional fighter.

No one has ever looked back. Jessica has convinced everyone that not only does she have the work ethic, the heart and the fierce competitive spirit that are needed to be a professional fighter, she has also simply earned everyone's respect. To put this into perspective, Liborio, a Master Carlson Gracie awarded Black belt and now the highest ranking awarded BJJ Red & Black Belt and operator of American Top Team proudly tells anyone about how great Jessica is and how much better she becomes every day. Liborio also happens to be the head coach of the USA National Grappling Team which just won the 2009 FILA World Championship – with 11 gold medal winners – the first Gold Medal was won by Jessica as she is now the defending Woman's No-Gi World Grappling Champion. Jessica is now trained by Marcos Da Matta, a BJJ World Champion and head trainer for many of ATT's best professional MMA fighters. Jessica's boxing coach is Howard Davis, a world acclaimed boxing coach and Olympic Gold Medalist who was named the most Outstanding Boxer of the 76 Olympics, her Muay Thai Coach is Master Cha – one of the most highly recognized "Thai fight" Thailand champions who also trains Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves, Mike Brown, and recently Kimbo Slice; and she trains side by side with some of the world's best black belts and MMA Fighters such as Mike Brown, Rafael Rebello, Chris Manuel, and her corner men include champions such as fighters Gesias 'JZ' Cavalcante & Jorge 'Jorginho' Santiago. And while Jessica is self-managed and self-promoted, she immediately points out that the ATT family is such a huge part of her success, as Co-Owner Dan Lambert has also played a key role in providing career decisions and business advice.