Supermodel's incredible transformation into an MMA fighter
Former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Mia Kang once lived a life that many others envied.
Getting paid huge amounts of money while traveling to beautiful parts of the world as a high-profile model.
But in reality, Kang was losing a horrible internal battle.
Now, she's chosen a career that most would hate, and she's loving every minute of it.
"I’ve been judged on my appearance day in and day out every day since the age of 13," Kang told The MMA Hour.
"I’ve been through every eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder on the planet — that you can ever imagine.
"Anorexia, bulimia, addiction to diuretics, laxatives. Fully body dysmorphic. I would look in the mirror and see a fat person."
"I grew up obese and overweight and bullied. … I’ve lived on both extremes. I’ve been a size 14, I’ve been a size zero.
"And just day in and day out, feeling guilty every time you eat something and being criticised on every part time part of your body, I’d just had enough."
Everything change for the 28-year-old Hong Kong native when she saw a group of Thai boys practicing martial arts in 2016, immediately she pulled over and asked if she could join in.
Soon she went from being an international model to an MMA fighter, living in Thailand.
"I just wanted to go to Thailand and be in the sun," she said.
"Muay Thai and living in a training camp and going through all that, it taught me to respect my body.
"It brought me out of everything I was going through. Even basic things like eating three meals a day — I learned how to do that.
"I found strength in my body that I never knew I had. I saw things in my body … I had a six pack at one point — never in my life did I think I was gonna ave a six pack.
"It really gave me my self confident and really helped me rid a lot of insecurities that were weighing me down my whole life."
And now Kang has completed her incredible her incredible overhaul by winning her first professional MMA fight via a third-round TKO.
Her first thought after the bout - she wants to do it all over again.
She has now hired a top manager in the sport of MMA, Malki Kawa, who represents some of the best fighters in the world.
In the meantime, she's practicing in wrestling and jiu-jitsu and dabbling in some more modelling, which this time she's loving.
"The two things coupled together really gave me the confidence to come back to New York and come back to the fashion industry and the modeling world — the entertainment industry — and say, ‘I’m not gonna conform to your standards anymore," she said.
"I’m not gonna starve myself and be insecure about myself because I’m trying to fit into a size zero pair of jeans.
"I’m not going to do that anymore. I found health, confidence, happiness through this sport, through everything.
"This is who i am. This is the kind of woman we need in our magazines. This is the kind of role model we need for our kids.
"I’ve been that 14-year-old girl who’s looking through magazines, going, ‘Why don’t I look like that? Why am I not that skinny?’ No. Something needs to change.
"Really, Muay Thai has done more for me than people know. People look at me and they think, just another model posing in those gloves. But I’m about that life — I’m about that life."