Michelle Wickert’s MySpace page says it all.

“Dana White..you need another Octagon Girl….I know you’re watching!”

Michelle wants to work for the UFC and she’s not going to stop until she reaches her goal. “I have sent in pictures, my resume, my magazine,” she says. “I’ll do that every month until they get so sick of receiving my stuff. I even joke saying they don’t have to pay me. Just let me do it!”

A former music teacher, Michelle has many goals, but becoming a UFC Octagon Girl is at the top of her list. “Now they are branching out into other states and countries,” she says, thinking of new angles. “They could use another Octagon girl. Maybe her name would be Michelle Wickert.”

Michelle left her job teaching music to inner-city kids after five years. She attributes the decision to quit to “bad administration and Mayor Doug Wilder.” She grew tired of fighting for her classroom, books, her salary, and health insurance and decided to go in another direction.

“I got tired of all the negative energy,” she recalls.

Now she tries to keep everything positive as she focuses on a new career of modeling and working as a ring girl at mixed martial arts events in and around her home state of Virginia. It’s a part-time gig right now but it’s something she’d trying very hard to make full-time.

In the meantime, she works as the office manager for her fiancé, Pete. They plan to open a gym together later this year. “He’s a huge MMA fan and has trained for over 10 years in the sport,” Michelle says of her boyfriend. “We’re just a few months away from opening our own MMA gym. He’s my biggest fan and is never jealous. I mean really - he’s with the ring girl. How many guys can actually say that? He supports all my goals and dreams - including UFC and Playboy.”

Yes, another one of Michelle’s goals is to make it into the pages of Hugh Hefner’s magazine. “Playboy - that’s a tough one,” she says. “You’ve got every single lady wanting to be in playboy somehow and someway. I’m another number in the mix. I have pursued it just as hard (as the UFC). I haven’t had any offers yet. I’m waiting though.”

“To be honest, I really just want to model, to be a ring girl, and walk in Rachelle Leah’s footsteps.” When questioned about her admiration for the UFC host and Octagon Girl, Michelle says “She’s a hard worker and you can tell she won’t stop until she has accomplished her goals or feels she did what she could to get there.”

Michelle does not just enjoy being watched in the Octagon between rounds, but she’s a big fan of the sport and trains herself. “I wanted to learn how to box so I learned to kick box and Muay Thai instead. I also had to take a P.E class in college and I ended up taking Judo. I became an immediate fan of MMA once I had my first class.”

And how do other fans react to a female MMA fan? “To be honest I think people are kind of taken back by it, especially since I know the sport and train in the sport. More and more women are starting to like it. I’m a little different because I’m one of the very few ring girls who actually know what’s happening in the ring.”

Michelle also has her favorites. “I was a PRIDE fan before it was bought by UFC but to be honest I like them all. I’m a total fan of CroCop. Everyone says I kick like him and I just smile and say thank you. That’s a compliment. I’m also huge fans of Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz.”

Michelle got her start as a ring girl when she was attending MMA shows with Pete. The program had an ad saying they were looking for ring girls and she gave it a shot. “Before (my first event) I was scared to death. During, it was great. After all the fans came up for pictures and autographs it was awesome from then on out!”

And now, she is working quite regularly. “I ring girl all the time. I’m always working with different schools to promote fights and ring girl,” she says. “I do at least one (show) a month, sometimes it’s two or three. I remember last year I had months where every weekend we were out of town working fights.”

If you think it’s easy being a ring girl, Michelle will set you straight. She works hard keeping her body ready to be ogled by fight fans. She works out every day of the week, including 6-7 days of running, three days of weights, and 2-3 spin classes.

Her diet is also strict. “I eat very healthy because I have to and because it really makes a difference in how you feel throughout the day. I’m always on call and you never know when a job may pop up. My diet is much like a figure competitor. Protein shakes, lean meats, little carbs, lots of fruits and veggies.”

Does she ever cheat just a little? “The day after a show or a photo shoot watch out because I’m eating like crazy! I love junk food.”

Other than Pete, Michelle’s friends and family don’t understand what she’s doing. “My family and friends really don’t get it. Not in a bad way but they have no clue as to what MMA is. I have a few friends who know what I do but they’ve never seen me in action.”

Working MMA shows has helped get other work as well. The connections she has made have led to a number of modeling gigs. “(I’m) always modeling. I got my first three-page spread in the February 2008 issue of Ultimate Grappling.”

“I can finally cross off one of my ‘things I like to do before I die’” says Michelle. “Ultimate Grappling Magazine was very kind to give me that. I can only hope that it’s the beginning of things to come. I still want to shoot for Playboy, Maxim, Stuff, FHM. The list goes on and on.”

What else is on the list of things Michelle wants to do? “To represent a company as their spokes model; be the host of a TV show; see Africa; have one random person recognize me on the street; and to be a UFC Octagon Girl!”

One might question why Michelle wants to work for the UFC so badly. “As stupid as it sounds, it’s my calling. I love being in front of hundreds of people. It’s the best feeling ever,” she says. “The biggest crowd I’ve been in front of was 4,500. I have also trained very hard but I don’t have the guts to actually fight. Being a ring girl is the way I contribute back to the sport and that’s why I take it so seriously. Being an Octagon girl would the sweetest way to give back. Plus I’ve got a great smile.”

The former Hawaiian Tropic contestant is not going to give up either. “My deadline is when I die. I’m not going to stop. I feel like I would be a great asset to the organization. If I don’t make it at least I continued to try. If UFC doesn’t want me I know there are other organizations that could use me.”

For now, things are going about as well as Michelle could expect. “I am on track. I may never reach some of my goals but I won’t stop trying either. Things are going how I expected. It’s a do or die industry and I’ll make it work somehow and someway.”

And has she accomplished her goal of getting one random person to recognize her on the street? “It hasn’t happened yet, but the magazine did just come out,” she says. “I’d hug that fan!”

Michelle Wickert can be contacted at www.michellewickert.com.