Natalie Salcedo never imagined insurance work would lead her to fighting. But routine has a way of pushing people toward the unexpected.
The undefeated atomweight meets Chihiro Sawada in an MMA clash at ONE Fight Night 39 on Friday, January 23, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Stadium. The 33-year-old American brings a perfect 4-0 professional record into her second promotional appearance after submitting Macarena Aragon via armbar at ONE Fight Night 35 last September.
Growing up in Junction City, Kansas, Salcedo experienced something different than Hollywood’s version of high school. The military town near Fort Riley shaped her through discipline rather than social hierarchy. Sports existed on the periphery of her youth while academic focus came naturally.
The Disney Channel version of teenage life never materialized. Junction City operated differently, and Salcedo only realized how different after leaving.
“Growing up, I felt like the Disney Channel. When they are depicting what a high school looks like or movies where every school has these cliques, honestly, for the longest time, I thought that stuff was just made up,” she said. “People were actually very nice and very accepting.”
Natalie Salcedo trades insurance desk for Colorado gym life
Familiarity eventually felt limiting. Kansas represented comfort, but comfort alone couldn’t satisfy what Salcedo needed in her early twenties. The urge to experience something beyond routine pushed her West.
Colorado emerged as the logical next step. Friends already lived there. Progressive Insurance provided the practical reason to make the move real. Leaving family behind meant building independence without a safety net.
“I just wanted something different. I wanted to do something else, experience something else in the world,” she said. “I had friends that lived there, I applied for a job, and then I got a job working for Progressive. And I was like, ‘Ok, well, I’m gonna go do this.’”
Martial arts entered Salcedo’s life at 22 without pressure attached. She started training casually at Warrior Fitness Center in Colorado Springs, drawn first to Muay Thai for fitness rather than competition. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu followed, though it took months before something clicked. Grappling became where she felt most comfortable.
The gym also became where she met her husband, Benjamin Westrich, who owned the facility. Training evolved into friendship before developing into something more.
“Maybe a few weeks into training there was when I met him,” she said. “Over time, there’d be different group activities that everybody was going to, so we just started hanging out and became friends, that sort of thing. And then, eventually, that became a relationship.”