Chelsey Little’s garage is spartan, by any measure.

A heavy bag hangs from the ceiling, a couple of feet above a thin foam rubber training mat. To the side sit another practice dummy, some gloves and other protective gear. A small fan offers more relief from the suffocating midday heat than the open door, but not much.

“I’ve passed out while training in there,” Little said.

The garage is more than just a sweatbox, though. It’s more than just a place to store a car or stay in shape. It’s a personal dojo where Little is developing into a martial arts master.

Just 18 months after Little signed up for a mixed martial arts class because “it sounded fun,” the Vicksburg resident won her first competitive jiu-jitsu tournament earlier this month in New Orleans. The petite 21-year-old trains nearly every day either in the garage or at Anthony Mitchell Jiu-Jitsu in Ridgeland, and is hoping to have her first professional mixed martial arts fight by the end of the year.

Little might resemble her name, but she packs a big punch.

“People say you’re so little. Little and dangerous,” she said with a smile. “I don’t look like a fighter. But when you get in there it’s a whole different story.”

Growing up, Little said, she never was into sports. She watched professional wrestling on TV and admired the female performers, but never played a sport in high school and only worked out in the gym.

That changed in February 2015, when she signed up for a jiu-jitsu class at a gym in Vicksburg. Almost immediately, she took to it like a fish to water. In the months that followed, she increased the intensity of her workouts and sparred with men. Once Little started holding her own, she realized she might be able to do more in the sport than use it to stay in shape.

“It was always something I wanted to try, and there was never a gym until last year. I signed up for it and absolutely fell in love with it,” Little said. “It just clicked. I can’t say there’s an exact moment when I thought about competing. I was rolling with the guys and winning. It was then I realized I have a lot of potential.”

Little’s first jiu-jitsu competition was at Millsaps College in April. She finished second in her weight class. She competed twice more before winning in two different divisions — Gi (wearing a traditional martial arts uniform), and No Gi (workout gear) — at the American Grappling Federation’s Battle of the Big Easy tournament in New Orleans in early August.

Little won four matches total. Two were by submission, and two were on points.

Little’s success got her thinking bigger.

“I want to be a pro,” she said. “I don’t want to stop with just the little tournaments. It’s a big leap. I’m winning and placing in jiu-jitsu tournaments. I want to do an MMA fight by the end of the year.”

Little’s jiu-jitsu success will serve her well in her quest. Jiu-jitsu is a Brazilian martial art that relies on takedowns and submission moves. No punching or kicking is allowed in competitions, but its grappling aspect often serves as a foundation for mixed martial artists.

Little will have to hone her striking moves to compete in the MMA cage, but she feels more than capable. She said some of her training sessions involve throwing more than 400 punches into the heavy bag in her sweltering garage.

Training against men has also given her a psychological edge.

“My training partners are all men. When I’m rolling with them in the gym, I have to be faster and figure out what’s working,” she said. “When I’m training with the women, they’re not moving near as fast so I dominate pretty well.”

When she’s not training or competing, Little works as an accounts manager at Heritage House Nursing Center. She’s the mother to a 2-year-old son, Avery.

“He likes to watch. Sometimes he tries to imitate it,” she laughed.

When it’s time to fight — or “showtime,” as she calls it — however, she transforms from affable mom to menacing monster. Controlling adrenaline and flipping the switch to fight mode is crucial to success, and she feels it’s something she does well.

“When you get in there, it’s showtime. I’m not thinking I might get my arm taken off. I look at my opponent and think, ‘I’m going to break you in two,’” Little said. “It’s really important to go in there confident.”

And confidence is something Little has an abundance of. She’s also found a sport she loves and is thriving in.

“When I started, a lot of people said ‘Why are you doing that? You’ll never last.’ Well, I tried it and outlasted all of those people,” she said. “You have to love it. It’s not fun to get hit in the head. Some people love baseball or football. Fighting has to be your sport. You have to eat, breathe and love it.”