Friends and MMA colleagues have paid tribute to amateur MMA fighter Shalie Lipp, 21, who died in a two-vehicle accident in Minnesota on Sunday. Valley News Live reports that Lipp was one of two passengers in a Chevy Malibu when it “made contact” with a Jeep Cherokee carrying three passengers on Red River Bridge in Moorhead around 11:30 a.m. The report said she was the only fatality and the only person not wearing a seat belt. Her strength coach, Eric Sweeney, told Valley News Live, “She was an inspiration to so many people.” MMA promoter Jeremy Bjornberg told MyMMANews that Lipp had just returned from a month of training in Thailand. “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.” Lipp was scheduled to fight Natalie Gage on May 20 in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.
