Baszler was trained in mixed martial arts (MMA) by former UFC fighter Josh Barnett and in catch wrestling by Billy Robinson. She had her first professional MMA fight in 2006 and gained recognition in the following years for the use of her hammerlock submission set-up while on her back; a set-up which she has used to submit several opponents, including Roxanne Modafferi. In an audio interview on the Sherdog Radio Network, she dubbed the submission, which she created in training, as the "Shwing." 