Young MMA star Shalie Lipp dies in car crash

Shalie Lipp, an up-and-coming MMA star was killed when two cars collided in Minnesota on Sunday, May 7. She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. 

The accident happened on Interstate 94 around 11:30 am on Sunday, May 7. Shalie, 21, was the passenger in Chevrolet Malibu driven by 35-year-old Joseph Trottier, which struck a Jeep Cherokee on the Red River Bridge according to Valley News Live.

Lipp was the only fatality, with her death coming only days before she was due to compete at the No Mercy XI event on  Saturday, May 20, in the Kent Freeman Arena, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Shalie Lipp posted this video of herself on Instagram on May 1, training for her upcoming fight against Natalie Gage.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shalie Lipp (@shalielipp)

Having recently returned from a month in Thailand, where she had trained in MMA and Muay Thai, she had been excited to be fighting so close to her home town of Fargo, North Dakota, where she trained at the Academy of Combat Arts. Her trainer Eric Sweeney was quoted as saying:

“My heart is absolutely broken. You were such a wonderful human, full of promise and drive. 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.”

The Daily Beast said on Twitter: “Friends and MMA colleagues have paid tribute to amateur MMA fighter 21-year-old Shalie Lipp, who died in a two-vehicle accident in Minnesota on Sunday.”

Friends and MMA colleagues have paid tribute to amateur MMA fighter 21-year-old Shalie Lipp, who died in a two-vehicle accident in Minnesota on Sunday.https://t.co/xKieKk76sm

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) May 9, 2023

Shalie was much-loved and respected with a verve for life and notably sport, in which she was remarkably capable and driven. She received wonderful tributes from friends and colleagues alike.

According to ‘No Mercy’ promoter Jeremy Bjornberg, she was UFC-bound with her amazing work ethic.

Police will continue to investigate the incident that took her life.