Schneider revels in weirdness, nickname confusion ahead of Bellator debut

The already lively Bellator MMA flyweight division is about to get an infusion of personality.

When Colleen Schneider makes her debut with the promotion at Bellator 170 on Saturday in Inglewood, Calif., she'll bring with her a wealth of international experience as well as a love of geeky pop culture that she proudly wears on her sleeve.

The well-traveled Schneider took some time to explain to theScore how she integrates her quirks into her fighting career:

With your Bellator debut being booked for January, that had to put a damper on your holiday celebrations. Did your friends and family adjust their meals to accommodate your dieting?

No, I would never ask anyone to do that. I'm happier that people go do what they want to do.

I'm actually weird, like at the end of my weight cut when I can't eat, I will ask people to get food that I want and eat it in front of me and tell me about it. And people are always like, "No, there’s no way you actually want me to do that." And I say, "Yes, please. Leave, go get that burrito right now and describe to me the amazingness of the burrito as you eat it, it will make me feel better.

I think I'm just highly empathetic, so that works for me.

In your last fight, the commentators pointed out that you were wearing red Star Trek-themed gear, which is traditionally the garb of the doomed Away Team members...

Ah, see, that is the knowledge of the casual fan. First of all, the red shirts dying only applied to the original series; the uniform I was wearing was from "The Next Generation."

Also, if you look at the pips on it, they were captain's pips on the neck, so it was actually Picard's uniform. It wasn't an ensign's uniform, it was a captain's uniform.

As far as your fighting career goes, you've been all over the world fighting in India, Mexico, Japan, and China in addition to the United States. How has that international experience prepared you for Bellator?

Wherever they want to fly me I'm used to it, that's for sure. You don't know what you're going to get, you're just going to show up somewhere and whatever happens, happens and you have to deal with it and you have to make the best of it.

So I've gotten good at not making my mindset contingent on anything in particular like, "I have to have this or this has to go this way." F--- it, it doesn't matter. It's a fight. You go in there and fight and how I do isn't dependent on any other factors.

Bellator has a working relationship with the Rizin promotion in Japan, so would you like to take advantage of that and fight there again?

Yes, oh my God, I want to soccer kick someone in the head so badly. I totally want to fight for Rizin under that ruleset. Rizin is insane, it's PRIDE re-imagined. If that opportunity comes up I would jump on it in a heartbeat.

Can we get some clarification on your nickname? You were recently announced as "The Thoroughbred," but you've also been listed as "Biscuit," "The Beautiful Disaster," "Thumper," "Super Collider," and there's also a "nopantskiller" hashtag floating around. What do you prefer?

I'm just trying to confuse the hell out of everyone and I think it's working, so I'm doing a great job. Super Collider is the nickname now, it comes with the physics background. I did my research in astrophysics.

"No Pants Killer" isn't a nickname so much as it is an affectionate way of joking around that I don't wear pants, I wear basically pro wrestling trunks when I fight. It's good, it holds, but it's not an official nickname.

So it's more of a lifestyle?

Yes! No Pants Killer is a lifestyle choice.

(Images courtesy of DIVISA and Invicta Fighting Championships)