‘I Was Crying, Kicking, And Screaming’ – How Selina Flores Transformed From Reluctant Student To World Champion
"The Teep Queen" is here! Learn about her Muay Thai journey ahead of her debut at ONE Fight Night 36 on October 3!
By Kriel Ibarrola
Sep 22, 2025, 05:09 UTC
For WBC Muay Thai World Champion Selina “The Teep Queen” Flores, martial arts wasn’t love at first sight. It was a journey paved with resistance and the stubborn refusal to embrace what destiny had planned.
Now, the 27-year-old American striker carries this unlikely origin story into her highly anticipated promotional debut against English-Irish veteran Marie McManamon at ONE Fight Night 36: Prajanchai vs. Di Bella II on Prime Video, which broadcasts live in U.S. primetime on Friday, October 3.
Ahead of their atomweight Muay Thai clash in Bangkok, Thailand, learn about Flores’ surprising path to Muay Thai superstardom and the road that led her to ONE Championship.
How A Bet Turned The Gymnast Into A Martial Artist
Born and raised in Vista, San Diego, Flores enjoyed a lovely childhood filled with great memories of her parents, her three older half-sisters, and older half-brother.
The Californian excelled academically, and when she was 10 years old, she fell in love with gymnastics, captivated by its athleticism and graceful artistry.
However, Flores’ father wanted his daughter to do something more practical – a skill to prepare her for life’s harsher realities. What seemed like typical family banter would reshape her life, as an innocent bet became the catalyst for her entire future.
Flores recalled:
“I grew up doing gymnastics and basically, how I got started with Muay Thai is that my dad – my very protective dad – didn’t want me to do gymnastics because he was afraid of me getting hurt. But I was really pushing to do it.
“So, we made this bet one night – and I don’t even remember what the bet was about. But my end [of the bet] was if I lost, that when I was done with gymnastics, I would have to do some type of martial art. And I ended up losing the bet.”
(@selinacflores)For the next five years, Flores continued to pursue gymnastics and even earned some medals in competition. But when she was 15 years old, she decided to step away from the sport. Between the frightening thought of flipping around on the balance beam and the desire to try something new, the teenager was ready to start the next chapter of her life.
Initially, Flores wanted to pursue cheerleading – and she was encouraged by her parents. However, her father also reminded his daughter of their bet. Left with no choice, she obliged and begrudgingly fulfilled her end of the agreement.
The Californian revealed:
“My dad immediately started looking for a gym. He found me a local MMA gym, and they had a Muay Thai program within the gym. So it was boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, MMA, and then the Muay Thai program.
“I was crying, kicking, and screaming, telling them that I hated them, both of my parents. And they forced me to do it. And on the first day, I remember coming home crying, and I told the coaches that I hated it.”
Finding Passion Inside The Gym Walls
According to the bet’s stipulations, Flores was forced to train at the gym for three months. But during that period, a shocking metamorphosis occurred.
The teenager’s tearful rebellion soon transformed into genuine fascination with Muay Thai. Flores’ natural ability for “the art of eight limbs” emerged, as she quickly picked up the skills and blended everything together.
She said:
“About a month in, I started [realizing], ‘Hey, I’m kind of good at this.’ Like, I’m kind of getting the techniques down. I’m kind of having fun. It took me a while because in the back of my brain, I didn’t want to like it.
“But then, I started sparring, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is sick, so I’m going to keep coming.’ It was like, ‘Mom, can I start coming every day? Can you take me to practice?’ So, it kind of turned into that instantly.”
About a year into her training, Flores’ coach offered her a chance to compete in an amateur Muay Thai bout.
Despite only being 16, she jumped at the opportunity to fight at the locally known “chicken coop” and put her skills to the test. The teenager went toe-to-toe against an older woman and ultimately lost the contest.
That defeat didn’t discourage her, though. Instead, it lit a fire within her:
“I gassed out. It was a shock to me how tired I was. I had never felt like that in training. I ended up losing the decision, and I remember right after the fight thinking to myself, ‘I am never going to let that happen again, and I want to one day be the best.’ Ever since then, that’s been my goal.”
Flores continued to develop her repertoire and would capture multiple amateur titles in the years to follow. She did this all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA in high school.
Though she displayed immense potential in Muay Thai competition, Flores’ parents wanted their daughter to get her bachelor’s degree and implored her to pursue higher education. Wanting to be respectful and obey their wishes, she attended California State University of San Marcos.
But after two years, “The Teep Queen” couldn’t take it anymore. She faced the ultimate crossroads – academic security or pursuing her athletic dreams. And in the end, she chose the latter.
Flores said:
“I wanted to only do something that was going to really fulfill me and make me happy. And I only found that in fighting. I never found that in any subject in school.
“[My parents] hated the decision that I made. But they still supported me, regardless. They’ve come to every fight, if they could.”
Flores Almost Left The Sport For Good
Every athlete experiences moments in their career when they are tempted to throw in the towel. Flores isn’t any different.
In 2020, just months after signing with a major international kickboxing organization, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the combat sports world. It made booking fights nearly impossible, threatening to destroy everything she had built.
Self-doubt crept in like poison, making her question whether this path led anywhere meaningful.
Flores said:
“I took a long break because of COVID. I was very discouraged with the whole situation. And I honestly didn’t even know if I wanted to fight anymore.
“It was a conversation that I had with my fiancé a lot, like, ‘Do I even want to continue? If it’s not for a big stage, then why am I doing this? I don’t want to fight locally for the rest of my life.’ He was the one who convinced me to just keep pushing forward.”
Flores tried to stay positive and train as much as possible at her gym, Premier Fight & Fitness in Spring Valley, California.
And in 2021, she returned to the big stage at North America’s premier Muay Thai promotion Lion Fight, picking up where she left off in her career and winning the inaugural Lion Fight North American Women’s Super Bantamweight Title in the process.
She continued to climb up the ranks, leading to a shot at the WBC Super Bantamweight World Title. The San Diego native traveled to Perth, Australia, to face local hero Bryony Soden for the belt in October 2024, and after five rounds of action, she emerged with the unanimous decision victory and the gold.
For Flores, that win made all the trials and tribulations worth it:
“It’s still, to this day, one of the best experiences I’ve had in my entire fighting journey, winning that belt the first time, just because of everything that I had gone through in the last couple of years of being on the fence of even quitting.”
Finally Joining ONE
Following a successful WBC Muay Thai World Title defense in February, Flores received the opportunity of a lifetime when ONE Championship offered her a contract to join its roster.
“The Teep Queen” paid very close attention to the world’s largest martial arts organization and yearned to compete against the planet’s most elite strikers. Now, she’ll get the chance to do so, and she couldn’t be any happier.
She said:
“It was such a good feeling, finally getting the contract signed. This has been my dream for years, so to finally get it is amazing.”
The San Diego native’s first test on the global stage comes against former ONE World Title challenger Marie McManamon, who trains alongside reigning ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan “The General” Haggerty at London’s famed Knowlesy Academy.
Though it has all the makings of a challenging promotional debut, Flores feels incredibly confident in her abilities. After all, “The Teep Queen” has been training in the sport for well over a decade and has overcome so much adversity in her Muay Thai journey to reach this point. That’s why she expects to “dominate” from beginning to end.
Flores said:
“I expect nothing less of myself than to absolutely dominate her in every situation, like every second. From three minutes to zero seconds, I expect to dominate her, and I expect to adjust wherever I need to adjust and win the rounds, round by round, exchange by exchange. So, domination is all. Nothing less.”
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