A Llanelli kickboxer is seeking sponsorship to continue her award-winning career in the sport.
Dr Tennessee Randall is a world champion, having won three world titles, as well as being two-time European champion and winning titles across three different weight divisions. She was undefeated globally from 2018 to 2023 in the under 56kg category.
Her latest triumph came in Abu Dhabi last November, where she claimed the world title in the under 65kg full-contact category. Over the years, Tennessee estimates she has taken part in around 1,000 fights.
Kickboxing in the UK is not a professional sport, meaning there is no salary, no central funding, and little financial support, and now Tennessee is seeking business support or sponsorship.
“Everything we do, we fund ourselves – travel, accommodation, entry fees,” Tennessee said. “We were raffling and bag-packing in supermarkets to raise money for my most recent overseas tournament. The support was incredible, but it shows how tough it is.”
Tennessee has received backing from kickboxing equipment specialists Top Ten, but consistent sponsorship is still lacking.
“I don’t know when my next tournament is because I don’t know what I can afford,” she said.
Tennessee also has a doctorate in psychology from Swansea University, where she now works as a research associate in the Natural Products Biohub.
At seven years old, she and her sister Maddison were being bullied, so their parents, Leigh Randall and Tracy Williams, decided to send them to kickboxing.
“They wanted us to be able to defend ourselves,” Tennessee said. “I’d tried football, I’d done a bit of dancing – but nothing stuck. With kickboxing, I loved it straight away. I loved the fighting side of it. I always wanted to spar, always wanted to compete.”
Her journey in kickboxing began at Llanelli Leisure Centre, where she trained for four years and progressed to a brown belt. But there was no competitive pathway.
“I wanted to fight, but the club I was at didn’t do tournaments,” Tennessee said. “That’s why I joined Xandao Kickboxing when they were based at Lakefield Hall. I remember coming home from training there one day and telling my mum that my coach said I was good enough to represent Wales, She couldn’t believe it.”
At 11 years old, Tennessee entered her first major international competition — the WKC World Championships in Dublin, where she reached the final. The following year she won her first world title in Portugal at the age of 12. Another followed in Cádiz, Spain.
After a defeat aged 14, Tennessee began training with Llanelli boxer Nigel Haddock in a traditional boxing gym in Trimsaran.
“You’d walk in and hear the whirring of the skipping ropes and the swinging of the punch bags — it was a proper old-school gym.”
Later, Tennessee continued her development at Penyrheol Boxing Gym in Gorseinon.
Tennessee now has her sights set on major upcoming competitions, including a World Series event in Uzbekistan, The European Championships in North Macedonia, and The European Games in Istanbul.
Tennessee said:
“These are the tournaments where you fight the best of the best. That’s what I want — to keep pushing myself. Kickboxing has made me who I am – the discipline, the resilience, the drive. It’s shaped everything and helped me achieve what I dreamed of as a child.
“If I had more support, I could compete more, stay active, and keep improving. There’s so much more I want to achieve to further put my local area and Wales on the map.”
Tennessee can be reached by email on tennesseer-20@hotmail.co.uk or via @dr_tennessee_randall on Instagram.
