MMA fighter dies in tragic accident 2 weeks before next fight

Up-and-coming MMA fighter Shalie Lipp has passed away hardly two weeks before a major fight.

A resident of Colorado, USA, Lipp died in a tragic two-vehicle car crash on the I-94 bridge linking Fargo-Moorhead. The 21-year-old was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu and reportedly made contact with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee travelling eastbound at 11.30 am, Sunday morning.

All others escaped uninjured barring Lipp, who was also the only occupant of the two vehicles not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Representing the Academy of Combat Arts in Fargo, Minnesota, the amateur MMA fighter was scheduled to take on Natalie Gage in a flyweight title fight in the main event at Ignite No Mercy 11 in the Kent Freeman Arena in Detroit Lakes on May 20. Lipp had also recently returned from a training camp in Thailand.

Her personal trainer Eric Sweeney, wrote in a tribute on social media:

"My heart is absolutely broken. You were such a wonderful human, full of promise and drive. One of the few people I've ever met that was truly reaching for greatness. And I will never forget you. It is beyond my minds capacity today to think that I won't see you this week...or ever again. We were just cracking the code"

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MMA fighter dies: Shalie Lipp was meant for the UFC, claims promoter

Just like her trainer Eric Sweeney, 'No Mercy' promoter Jeremy Bjornberg also believed that Shalie Lipp was on the path for greatness.

According to the Bjornberg, the 21-year-old MMA fighter would have eventually landed up in the greatest promotion in the world, the UFC. He said in an interview with MyMMANews:

“She had an amazing work ethic she had only been back a few days from a month of training in Thailand," Bjornberg said. "At 19 years old, she started fighting the top fighters in the Midwest. She was someone everyone knew was going to go somewhere and end up in the UFC.”

Born to area sportscaster Rollie Lipp and North Dakota State College of Science Hall of Famer Jennie Bucholz, Shalie Lipp compiled a 3-2 amateur MMA record before her tragic passing.