Rising MMA star Shalie Lipp dies aged 21 following horror two-car crash

Rising MMA star Shalie Lipp died aged 21 following a horror car crash, just days before a huge fight. 

The Colorado native was a passenger in a two-vehicle accident on Interstate 94 in Minnesota Sunday morning. 

She was riding in a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu, reportedly driven by 35-year-old Joseph Trottier of West Fargo, which ‘made contact’ with a 2017 Jeep Cherokee on the Red River Bridge at around 11.30am Sunday, according to Minnesota State Patrol. 

Lipp was the only occupant of the two vehicles not wearing a seatbelt and everyone else emerged from the horrific crash uninjured, the crash report added. The accident is still under investigation. 

The young star was slated to fight Natalie Gage in the main event of Ignite No Mercy 11 in the Kent Freeman Arena in Detroit Lakes on May 20. 

Just a week ago, she had promoted the bout on her Instagram page, with a video showing her in the ring and training. 

She wrote: ‘I would love it if you guys came out and supported me so close to my hometown! Bring some friends, have a couple drinks, and enjoy some violence! See you there.’

She had reportedly just returned from a month in Thailand to train in MMA and Muay Thai.

Her last fight came on April 26, 2023, in Thailand, according to her Instagram.

Eric Sweeney, reported to be Lipp’s personal trainer, paid tribute to a ‘wonderful human’. 

‘My heart is absolutely broken. You were such a wonderful human, full of promise and drive,’ he wrote. 

‘One of the few people I’ve ever met that was truly reaching for greatness. And I will never forget you.

‘It is beyond my mind’s capacity today to think that I won’t see you this week …or ever again. We were just cracking the code.

‘Being your friend will change me forever. It already has. Thank you for all of the moments.

‘All of our discussions, both personal and professional.

‘The laughs, the tears, and every emotion in between. I will remember all of them. I am grateful for all of them.’

‘No Mercy’ promoter Jeremy Bjornberg claimed that Lipp was UFC-bound as he paid tribute to her. 

‘She had an amazing work ethic she had only been back a few days from a month of training in Thailand,’ Bjornberg told MMA News. 

‘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 held a 3-2 amateur MMA record, winning her first two amateur fights before falling to Cheyanne Bowers in March 2022.