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Milwaukee's Daily Magazine for Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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Readers Blog: Wisconsin's Combative Sports Insider

Wisconsin's Courtnie Korpela Featured on Tosh.0 Tonight

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Wisconsin Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners Courtnie Korpela and Brandon Han are set for a highly publicized rematch tonight on Comedy Central's Tosh.0 "Web Redemptions" series.

In December, Han vs. Korpella first squared off at the NCGA "Waukesha Open" in which Han refused to tap to a rear-naked-choke from Korpella ultimately forcing him to go to sleep. The video of the choke immediately went viral and his since been seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. Comedian Daniel Tosh and his Tosh.0 staff liked what they saw.

The weekly comedy series that features Internet clips and commentary from Tosh invited Han and Korpela out to his set to be a part of the show that will premiere tonight on Comedy Central. And while the 28-year-old Red Schafer MMA student wasn't able to give away all of the night's comedic moments, she did give a teaser at what fans can expect.

"I was flown out there, we were on set at seven in the morning, and then we filmed for the next seven or eight hours," Korpela told US Combat Sports reporter Paul Fladten about her Tosh.0 experience. "We weren't at the studio but we filmed at a gym. It was exciting to be training jiu-jitsu in Los Angeles."

And while Korpela isn't sure exactly how the clips will be spliced together for tonight's show, she did divulge what type of segments fans can expect to see.

"They filmed different segments at different times so we never knew exactly how it was going to be put together. It was filmed in various bits and pieces. But it includes an interview segment, a training segment, and a rematch as well."

She said that the host of the show was every bit as hilarious in person as he seems on television.

"If you have seen Tosh on television than you know what he's like in person. What you see on TV is what you get. It's clear as soon as he walks on set that the show is his. He owns it. He puts it all together, knows how it going to run, and he is just an unpredictable, funny, clever, and demanding guy."

Korpela said that she was excited to be featured on national television, but even more excited to be able to showcase her hobby to many of her family and friends that have never before seen her grapple.

"The match that Nate [Schafer] taped just blew up on Facebook and a whole bunch of other sites. And at first I was just excited because my friends and family could watch one of my matches because they don't go to tournaments or anything like that. But truthfully I didn't expect the video to spread as quickly as it did. It was just very exciting to watch it grow and watch people talk about it."

As the video continued to make its way across various websites and blogs, Korpela said she watched as other countries misinterpreted what they had seen online.

"A lot of the articles written in different countries had their own misconceptions about the sport. One said that women were pulled out of the crowd to fight trained men in the cage and I just happened to be that lucky one."

She said that the publicity of the match could hopefully spread even more awareness about the benefits of grappling, especially for women.

"I'm really excited for women to see that this is a sport that they can pursue and I'm glad that there are venues in Wisconsin and our Midwestern culture that allows women to compete in a division with men. I think that really shows a lot about how the Midwest is doing its part to help our sport grow in terms of gender differences."

Along with forever being linked to Han as the guy she choked out on national television, Korpela said that she was able to really get to know him through the experience and discover what a fun and respectable person he truly is. Make sure to watch Comedy Central tonight as Han and Korpela square off one more time for a ridiculous amount of viewers.

"The training and rematch will all be very funny tonight," said Korpella. "The jiu jitsu that Brandon and I put together will be beautiful. Tosh will be up to his usual antics with interviews and training and all of that. I can't wait to see it."

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