A coach took notice of Brereton’s efforts and encouraged her to compete, unknowingly setting her off into the Muay Thai world. Now, with two world championship titles under her belt, Brereton teaches and helps run the Chaos Muay Thai gym in Devon with her partner and coach, Steve Pender.

Training for a match is a gruelling and time-consuming process but working as a personal trainer or instructor makes it easier to accommodate fight training. Brereton has the added challenge of training around her 4-year-old daughter’s schedule but she says she and Pender find ways to manage. In fact, her daughter is used to being in the gym, and Brereton’s mum and friends are often willing to lend a hand.

Barlow, on the other hand, balances her Muay Thai career with her other full-time job as a teaching assistant at an all-boys school. Her days look something like this: she wakes up at 5:50 am to go for a run and do a quick session in the gym, leaves for work at 8:10 am, gets home by 4:30 pm, and is back in the gym for another round by 5 pm.

“When I first started, I was sleeping everywhere I could,” Barlow says. “I even fell asleep at work. I was struggling. I’m still struggling now but I just get it done.”

She admits that living at home makes it easier; her parents push her and make sure she’s on top of her routine and diet (Barlow swears she can eat a whole tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream).

The balancing act is a must for anyone seriously interested in Muay Thai. Even with the belts and accolades, there’s no money in the sport. Frankly speaking, it doesn’t pull in the same crowd, attention or dollars that boxing or Mixed Martial Arts does.

“I can understand why people don’t like certain sports but I think Muay Thai is more exciting,” says Barlow. “I ask people, ‘What is it that you like about MMA? Do you like it when they stand up? Or the bit where they’re grappling on the floor?’ They’ll say, ‘The stand up’. Well, that’s my sport.”

A fighter with Starkie’s experience may be able to snag £300 to £500 a fight, but there’s no money to be won in a smaller show. Meanwhile, a high-ranking woman can earn somewhere around £1,000, according to Brereton. It’s mere peanuts compared to the cost of training, food, equipment, supporting a family… The list goes on.

“[Muay Thai] is very self-funded so you gotta put your heart and soul and all your money into your diet, your training, your travel because not a lot of sponsors cover those costs,” says Brereton.

She says she’s looking to get into the more lucrative MMA. She also recently signed a contract with the World Muaythai Angels, an all-female promotion company from Thailand known for their beautiful fighters and policy of wearing makeup during fights. She’s set to fly to Thailand in February and compete in a televised fight series. The winner of the series gets the one million Thai Bahts prize (approximately £22,695) and a car.

“It’s not often we get opportunities like this as females,” Brereton says. “[It’s] very exciting.”

Support in the form of sponsorship rarely comes along and, when it does, it's usually on a gifting basis. Barlow receives gloves and equipment from the Muay Thai athletic brand Fairtex, and meals from Gold Standard Nutrition.