Long was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was raised in Sunny Mead, California. Later, she moved to Bakersfield where she trained in martial arts under Eric Nolan, who was her manager and trainer throughout her kickboxing career.
Career
Long is a practitioner of the martial arts. She began her training in the Japanese art of Aikido, eventually earning a black belt in the system. Long would go on to earn a black belt in ChineseKung Fu San Soo, eventually reaching the level of master in the style. She would train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with the Machado family, as well as in Jeet Kune Do, Tae Kwon Do, Kali, and Wing Chun Kung Fu. Long has appeared in numerous movies, and was Michelle Pfeiffer's stunt double in Batman Returns. In the 1990s, Long was inducted into several sports halls of fame. These would include the Bob Elias' Sports Hall of Fame, Inside Kung FuHall of Fame, and the Black Belt Magazine Black Belt Hall of Fame. She has appeared on the cover of 35 magazines. Between 1994 and 1998, Long authored a monthly column in Black Belt Magazine. Long became a professional kickboxer, and one of the top female fighters in the sport's history. She compiled an 18-1 record, winning five world titles in the process, and earning several nicknames including the "Queen of Mean", "Princess of Pain", and "The Punisher". Some of her ring career highlights include wins over Ramona Gatto, Bonnie Canino, Japanese star Kyoko "Kamikaze" Miyazaki, French champion Dani Rocard, Canadian champion Nora Daigle and two defeats over Denise Taylor. Her only loss as a professional kickboxer came in a Muay Thai match with Britain's Lisa Howarth at Pickett's Lock near London in February 1990. Kathy had a brief 3-fight career in professional boxing between March and June of 1998. She took two 4-round decisions over Sandra Yard and lost a 4-round decision to Lena Akesson retiring from boxing with a career record of 2 wins and one defeat - all 4-rounders, all by decisions. Long provided commentary at the first Ultimate Fighting Championship event. On August 15, 2009, almost 16 years after she provided commentary for the very first Ultimate Fighting Championship, Long made her MMA debut defeating fighter Avery Vilche by decision at "Call to Arms" promotions Called Out event in Ontario, California. In preparation for her debut Long trained with Betiss Mansouri and Romie Aram at Millennia MMA, Gokor Chivichyan and Gene LeBell at the Hayastan Academy, Ahmad Reese and Lisa Twight of Gym Jones, Javier Vazquez at Universal Martial Arts Center, and with Muay Thai and strength conditioning coach Maria Morales. On August 22, 2015, after a 6-year hiatus from MMA, Long returned to MMA competition at age 51. She fought under the Ascension Muay Thai and Kickboxing promotion in Tijuana, Mexico against Mexican fighter Mixia Medina and won the fight by decision. She is now. Long currently teaches at Tapout in Los Angeles.
