Alexis Rufus (born 28 April 1979) is an English Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. Having turned professional in 2005, Rufus is a two-time European and five-time world champion. Early life Alexis Rufus was raised with two brothers and has described herself as a tomboy growing up. She was involved in numerous sports in her childhood and, at eighteen, began studying fine art sculpture at university and then worked in the London art industry for ten years. She began training in Muay Thai when a friend suggested it as an alternative to normal workouts. Career Having begun her professional career in 2005, Alexis Rufus suffered her first loss in a full contact kickboxing match on 7 April 2007 when she dropped a unanimous decision to Tracey Renow in Hove, England. The pair rematched in Hove on 24 November 2007 with the vacant Golden Belt Women's British -59.5 kg/131 lb Full Contact Championship on the line, and Renow again came out on top, this time by majority decision. Rufus then rebounded with a lengthy win streak and, on 13 September 2009, outpointed Lucy Payne at Muay Thai Addicts II in London to become the United Kingdom Muaythai Federation (UKMF) Women's English Featherweight (-57 kg/125 lb) Champion. Now a reigning domestic champion, she soon moved up to international competition and beat Caterino Valerio by decision to take the ISKA Women's European Bantamweight (-54.5 kg/120 lb) Muay Thai title in Essex, England on 13 March 2010. Later that year, on 23 October, she became a world champion for the first time when she beat Malika Machtoune for the ISKA World Muay Thai title in Essex. Winning by technical knockout in round two, Rufus forced Machtoune's team to throw in the towel after cornering the Frenchwoman and delivering a barrage of unanswered knees and punches. Rufus ended out 2010 with a unanimous decision win over Jessica Gladstone, who she has described as her toughest opponent, at Journey Fight Series I in Calgary, Alberta, Canada on 13 November. On 19 March 2011, Rufus took on Lorena Klijn for the vacant IKF Women's World Bantamweight (-55.4 kg/122 lb) Muay Thai title in Essex. The first two rounds were close but Rufus began to pull away in the third and inflicted Klijn's first defeat by unanimous decision. Shortly after, she won her third world title when he beat Joanne Calderwood for the