Colleen Schneider

Colleen Schneider (born March 12, 1982, in Syracuse, New York) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist. Colleen was a contestant in season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter reality competition television show.

Early life
She attended Cicero-North Syracuse High School in New York, and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in physics. While at Berkeley, Schneider competed in and taught taekwondo, which led her to discover mixed martial arts.

Strikeforce
On August 13, 2010, she made her debut for the Strikeforce promotion at Strikeforce Challengers 10 in a reserve bout for their one-night Women's Welterweight tournament. She lost to future UFC bantamweight Liz Carmouche via unanimous decision after two rounds.

Super Fight League
After going 1–4 in her first five fights, she signed with the upstart Indian promotion, the Super Fight League at SFL 2 against Cherie Buck in the flyweight division. She won the fight via TKO in the second round.

She then fought Aya Saeid Saber at SFL 6, in which she won after stopping Saber from elbow strikes in the first round.

She then competed against Sanja Sucevic at SFL 14 to crown the first SFL World Women's Flyweight Champion. After using her wrestling to control Sucevic in the first two rounds, Schneider submitted Sanja with a keylock to win her first title.

She later relinquished the title in order to compete to get onto The Ultimate Fighter season 18 reality television show.

The Ultimate Fighter
In May 2013, Dave Meltzer released a list of rumored participants on the upcoming The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate and Schneider was on the list. In August 2013, it was confirmed that Schneider was one of the fighters selected to be on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate. In the elimination fight to get into the TUF house, Schneider faced Shayna Baszler and lost via an armbar submission in the first round.

Invicta FC
Schneider made her Invicta Fighting Championships debut on February 27, 2015, against Irene Aldana. She lost the fight via submission in the first round. She returned to Invicta January 16, 2016, with a split decision win over Raquel Pa’aluhi. At Invicta 17 on May 7, 2016, she faced Tonya Evinger for the bantamweight championship but was defeated via unanimous decision.

Bellator MMA
In November 2016 Schneider signed for Bellator. She made her debut against Chrissie Daniels at Bellator 170 on January 21, 2017. She won the fight via anaconda choke submission in the first round.

Schneider faced Kate Jackson at Bellator 182 on August 25, 2017. She lost the fight due to a catastrophic knee injury at the end of the first round. The injury led to a difficult surgery and rehab, after which Schneider chose to retire from the sport. She is now pursuing a PhD in sustainable economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Titles

 * 2014 – FILA Submission Grappling World Championships
 * 2014 – SFL Super Fight League World Women’s Bantamweight Champion
 * 2013 – SFL Super Fight League World Women’s Flyweight Champion