Female MMA News - Miesha Tate, Zoila Frausto , Gina Carano, AZUMA and More

At ShoMMA 7: Johnson vs. Mahe, at the Save Mart Center in Fresno Calif. on March 26, female MMA fighters Miesha Tate and Zoila Frausto went at it, with Miesha coming out on top, winning via an arm bar submission at the 4:09 mark in the second round.
This victory brings Miesha up to 9-2-0, and drops Zoila to 5-1-0.

Over at the The Zeitgeisty Report, they pose an interesting question....
"What ever happened to Gina Carano?"
One of the conclusions they come up with is...
"I’ll wager she never returns to the ring and if she does, it won’t be with anyone that could further damage her looks. If that turns out to be the case, it’ll mean the end of women’s MMA which has tied its entire future up in Carano."
You can read the full article here



Although it's kickboxing, not technically MMA, AZUMA defeated Megumi Yabushita in a New Japan Kickboxing Federation (NJKF) fight on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at Differ Ariake, Tokyo, Japan.
AZUMA won by decision.
Like I said, it was a kickboxing match up, so I dont think it affects Megumi's 18-16-0 record.

And speaking of Megumi, she is sponsored by MMA apparel company Fight Chix, and CEO of Fight Chix, Elisabeth Nuesser, was just recently interviewed by the MMA Torch.
(Boy I went a long way around to get that segue didn't I?)
Although you may look at it as just a sponsorship, Fight Chix is just as important to female MMA as TapouT and Affliction are.
You can read the interview here

And you can check out Fight Chix's website here:
http://blog.fightchix.com/


After having Lisa Marie Varon (TNA Knockout Tara) and Erin Toughill both gunning for her, Kim Couture went down to Mexico to take on Rosa Vizcarra and get a first round TKO.
To add a little Lucha Libre flavor to the match, Kim wore a mask before the bout.
You can see the whole fight here:



And speaking of Erin Toughill (see how good I'm getting at this?), she recently announced on her Facebook page that she was done with Strikeforce, and maybe female MMA altogether.
She said:
"U R hearing it first: I will no longer b fighting 4 Strikeforce. Its a personal decision tht I mde & one tht was NOT made in haste, trust me. Ill b doin interviews in cming days tht explain "WHY" I have made this hard decision. Cant subject myself 2 wht has bn going on (any longer) Retiring? Dunno, but am on verge due ...to basic issues like: NOT being able FIGHT!!! I am getting zero return for all I have put in...DONE."

I hope she doesn't leave female MMA, because she has always been one of my favorites.

Posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on March 31st, 2010

Female Mixed Martial Arts Updates, 11-15-09

Several female MMA fighter updates.....

As you probably already know, Marloes Coenen dismantled Roxanne Modafferi in sixty five seconds at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers event on November 7th.
She submitted Roxanne with an armbar, avenging her loss to Roxanne back at K - GRACE 1 in May of 2007.
Now the Dutch mixed martial artist has her sites set on Strikeforce's 145-pound women’s champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.
The word is that the title fight may go down as early as the January 30 Strikeforce event in Miami, Florida.

Now what about Santos and Coenen?
I say if Cris keeps her upright and pounds away, she'll win being the better striker and more powerful.
But if Marloes can take her down, she might have a chance at submission.

And speaking of The Cyborg, both she and her husband Evangelista are expected to fight at Strikeforce's December 19th show at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
No...not against each other.

The upcoming video game, EA Sports MMA may or may not have female MMA stars in it.
The game is due out in 2010, and I'm thinking that if they had any female mixed martial artisits lined up, we'd know it by know.

And now the feud between TNA Knockout Tara (formerly WWE Diva Victoria, Lisa Marie Varon) and Kim Couture is really on?
I thought this had the look of a pro wrestling angle when I first heard about it, but after their run in at TNA's Bound for Glory PPV, I'm pretty sure we're getting a "work" here.
(Even though Kim and Tara both told MMA websites that it was a "shoot" and not planned.)
The bad thing about this is that no matter how much I love female pro wrestling, you should not mix it and female MMA.
In a female MMA match, we know that the person that wins...really wins.
In a scripted pro wrestling match, the winner is already determined.
MMA does not need the idea that any of its bouts are fixed. There needs to be a wide, clean line between MMA and wrestling.
Now some pro wrestling showman ship wouldn't hurt any, but leave it there.

Kim will be taking on Kerry Vera on November 20th at the Strikeforce Challengers card in Kansas City Kansas.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Kerry will win.

And finally from the British TV show GMTV, here is an appearance by female MMA fighter Rosi Sexton...



posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on Nov 15th, 2009

Yes Another Gina Carano/Cristiane Santos Update

Well I keep trying but all I seem to come up with these days is Gina Carano/Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos stuff.
Maybe I should just quit fighting and give into the hype.
After all, it's only 12 days till showtime.
(That wasn't a pun...really)

Anyway, word has come out now that Cristiane Santos is the odds on favorite to beat Gina on August 15th.
And adding to that is Carano's ex-boyfriend Kit Cope coming out on MMAJunkie Radio saying that (to put it nicely) Gina is gonna get beat if she keeps training at (as he puts it) "Xtreme Fashion" with Shawn Tompkins and Randy Couture.
Randy, by the way, will be in Gina's corner at the fight, but not long time friend Kim Couture.
This has lead to the totally unfounded (as far as I can tell) rumor that Gina is seeing Randy.
But think about it realistically a minute.
You're in the fight of your life, who do you want in your corner?
Mixed martial artist, Greco-Roman wrestler, former collegiate wrestler, and only five-time champion in UFC history Randy?
Or 1-1-0 Kim?
I'd go with Randy.

Female MMA, Sarah Kaufman, Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler

Sarah Kaufman raised her undefeated record to 9-0 at ShoMMA with a unanimous decision over Miesha Tate (6-2) in a 135-pound fight.
Both women put on a good fight and were determined to win.
I wonder if Tate had more time to get ready for Kaufman, would the outcome have been any different?
Sarah as you know was a "last minute" substitute for Kim Couture.
But Sarah didn't have any extra prep time either as she just jumped into this fight.

The next fight though will be a different story, as Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has already announced that the winner of this fight (Kaufman) will face Shayna Baszler on June 19th.
"The Queen of Spades" Baszler who is 9-5-0 and Kaufman will both have plenty of time to get ready for each other.

Now I wonder if we can get Strikeforce to extend the rounds to three minutes instead of five?

Sarah Kaufman Versus Miesha Tate Tonight

Here are some articles about tonight's MMA bout between Sarah Kaufman and Miesha Tate....

First, an article from Fanhouse:

Miesha Tate Out to Prove She's More Than Just a Pretty Fighter
Miesha Tate (5-1) went from training for a fight against a well-known, less experienced opponent in Kim Couture (1-1), to a lesser-known, more experienced opponent in Sarah Kaufman (8-0). It was a bitter pill to swallow for the up-and-coming female MMA star, but one that she ultimately realized could benefit her career even more in the long run.

You can read the full article by Ariel Helwani here

Then an article from Sports Illustrated:

Female fighter Tate ready to shine
Here's how close Miesha Tate came to completely missing out on a career as a professional female fighter: It was down to wrestling or basketball. A high-school freshman in Tacoma, Wash., she and her best friend had always played sports together. But in the winter season, their school only offered basketball or boys' wrestling. Tate couldn't play basketball and her best friend was barely 5-feet tall. It wasn't a difficult decision, the way Tate remembers it now.

You can read the full article by Ben Fowlkes here

So for a change, one of the female MMA bouts on a card is generating quite a bit of press.
I think it's kinda safe to say that Miesha is the underdog here.
But underdogs have won before.

Sarah Kaufman faces Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Challengers

It has been confirmed now that Sarah Kaufman ( 8-0 ) will step in to replace Kim Couture in match with Miesha Tate at the May 15th, Strikeforce: Challengers.
Not a lot of notice for the as of yet undefeated fighter who last fought on April 23, winning by TKO in the second round.
But Sarah stepped right up, and interestingly, her intial offer was made via the forum at mixedmartialarts.com, also known as The Underground.
I wonder if that's a first?

Female MMA News: Tara LaRosa, Kim Couture and Miesha Tate

Here's an article about female mma fighter Tara LaRosa from fanhouse.com...

Tara LaRosa may be the best mixed martial artist -- male or female -- that you've never heard of.
While Gina Carano and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos have received all the attention from MMA fans and media, the consensus pound-for-pound best female fighter in the world has seemingly been pushed aside. What a shame.
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/04/30/the-curious-case-of-tara-larosa/

In other news, Bellator has held their first female mma match.
It was between Jessica Pene and Tammy Schneider, with Jessica coming out victorious.
And in a similar vein, WEC is now planning a women's division.

And bad news, as word comes that Xtreme Couture Vice President Kim Couture has pulled out her scheduled May 15 "SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challenger Series" fight with Miesha Tate.
Strikeforce officials didn't give a reason for Couture's decision, but the organization is looking for a replacement in hopes of keeping Tate on the card.

UPDATES:

It looks like undefeated Sarah Kaufman will replace Kim.

And this may give insight as to why Kim pulled out of the match:

Randy Couture served his wife Kim Couture with divorce papers on Tuesday according to a Raw Vegas report.
It was widely reported that Kim pulled out of her fight with Meisha Tate at SHO MMA: Strikeforce Challenger Series on May 15th due to martial problems. According to the report the divorce papers came as a shock to Kim.
http://www.aroundtheoctagon.com/?p=1755

Miesha Tate, Kim Couture, Gina Carano, Cristiane Santos and More

Here are several articles dealing with female MMA.
If you notice, all the articles reference Strikeforce, who seems to own the female MMA scene at the moment.
I'm glad the female fighters have a place to show their skills, but any kind of a sports monopoly makes me nervous.

FightHype has a really good interview with Miesha Tate about her upcoming fight with Kim Couture.
You can read the article here

It looks like the Gina Carano vs. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos Strikeforce title bout is targeted for August.
Here's an in-depth article at MMA Junkie.com about it.

And according to Fanhouse.com, Josh Barnett is still a little more than upset with Mrs. Santos about the Hitomi Akano fight.

More on the Kim Couture, Miesha Tate Fight

I mentioned the upcoming Kim Couture / Miesha Tate fight in my last entry.
Here is an article from Beau Dure over at USA TODAY about the fight, and rumors of unrest between Tate, Couture and Cris "Cyborg" Santos......

Lacking stars, depth, women's MMA has yet to deliver a big hit
By Beau Dure, USA TODAY
Kim Couture has only two professional mixed martial arts bouts, but she's ready for a step up in competition after her last opponent.
"I don't know if you saw the last fight, but that's kind of what happens when I fight someone with an equal record," Couture (1-1) says of the first-round knockout of Lina Kvokov, who appeared to have stage fright.
Couture next fights Miesha Tate, who has a 6-1 MMA record and experience in international grappling competition. The bout on Strikeforce's Challenger Series card May 15 in Fresno features two fighters with an acute interest in pushing women's MMA forward after a couple of missteps (Showtime, 11 p.m. ET).

You can read the full article here

Kim Couture versus Miesha Tate

Kim Couture (1-1, the wife of MMA legend Randy “The Natural” Couture) and Miesha Tate (5-1) will be facing off at Strikeforce's May 15 ShoMMA show.

Kim won her last fight against Lina Kvokov in November, but the fight that most fans know her from is the brutal battle with Kim Rose. That fight proved Kim didn't know the meaning of the word quit.

Miesha's 5-1 record includes her one loss to Kaitlin Young, and victories over Dora Baptiste, Jessica Bednarek, Jamie Lynn Welsh, Elaina Maxwell and Jan Finney.

MMA Updates, Gina Carano, Kim Couture and More

It looks like the Gina Carano / Cristian "Cyborg" Santos fight could happen in August at the Strikeforce show.
If it happens, the fight will most likely air on Showtime or CBS.

Kim Couture will be on the May 15 "ShoMMA: Strikeforce Challengers," acrd facing an undetermined as of yet opponent.

Kyra Gracie won the Absolute and Lightweight divisions last year at the 2008 Womens Brown/Black Belt World Champions.
She is said to be competing at the April 18th New York International Open Jiu-Jitsu Championship in New York, but I haven't seen confirmation of this yet.

At the April 11 in “Extreme Beatdown” at Apache Gold Casino, Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson will be facing MMA and boxing star Elena “Baby Doll” Reid in a special female 112-pound catch-weight attraction bout..

I don't know if I mentioned it before or not, but Erin Toughill has a website at http://www.erintoughill.com/

And Tara LaRosa won her MMA fight with Sally Krumdiak at Atlantic City's Trump Marina with a third round submission.
Tara's next fight is tentatively scheduled for May 30 in Atlantic City or June 14 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Shayna Baszler and the Top Ten Female MMA Stars

In response to the comment by zoneblog1 on the last entry......
I have featured Shayna Baszler three times on this blog in the past and I think she is a very good fighter.
The "Top Ten" list over there in the sidebar is the top ten most "searched" for female mixed martial artists.
Not the top ten "best".

Anyway, for those of you that don't know, Shayna Baszler (The Queen of Spades) was born on August 8, 1980 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Her mixed martial arts training is in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and her fight record is currently at 9-5 with all 9 wins via submission. She trains with former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett.
Her last fight was a loss to Cristiane Santos by TKO on July 26, 2008 at EliteXC: Unfinished Business .

In all due fairness to her I did run another check and yes, this month Shayna did come into the top ten.....

Gina Carano
Kim Couture
Kaitlin Young
Cristiane Santos
Emily Fisher
Julie Kedzie
Tara Larosa
Satoko Shinashi
Shayna Baszler
Shelby Walker

I will be updating that list shortly.

But in all due fairness to the "over-marketed, picked-4-prettyness-only, hand-picked-opponent-only type ladies you call fighters"......
Out of that list, Cristiane Santos and Tara Larosa have both beaten her by TKO.
While Shayna has defeated Julie Kedzie.

Kim Couture versus Lina Kvokov set for November 21st

Kim Couture will face Lina Kvokov at “Strikeforce: Destruction” on November 21st.
Both women are 0-1-0, but everybody has to start winning somehere don't they?
Kim is (as WWE's Jim Ross would say) "double tough".
The wife of UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture broke her jaw in her first fight earlier this year just seconds into the first round.
But she showed true fighting spirit by staying in there all three rounds.
Even though her opponent Kim Rose won the fight by unanimous decision, Kim scored a personal victory.
Both women on paper are evenly matched.
But showing the kind of guts Kim did back in June, I do not envy Lina Kvokov.

Speaking of Lina, she is involved in a very worthwhile organization, "Female Fighters Against Domestic Violence".
You can check out their website here: http://www.ffadv.org/

Kim Couture, Wife of Randy, Prepares for Mixed Martial Arts Debut

Kim Couture, Wife of Randy, Prepares for Mixed Martial Arts Debut - FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog: "Although heavyweight champion in exile Randy Couture can't fight anyone until he gets his legal entanglement with UFC straightened out, his wife, Kim Couture, will participate in her first mixed martial arts fight Friday night in Las Vegas."

HDNet Interviews Kim Couture about her upcoming Muay Thai / Boxing Smoker event at Xtreme Couture. This is going to be Kim’s first MMA event and is bringing more attention to the female MMA community. Before she met Randy, Kim had trained a bit in MMA, but was never really technical. As she began more involved with Randy, she met Gina Carano who eventually brought Kim into the gym. Because of Gina, Kim started training more and more technical. Gina and Kim spar together now. There first time Sparring, Gina Carano broke Kim Couture’s nose
http://www.mmafightgirls.com/post/1790/gina-carano-broke-kim-coutures-nose-upcoming-smoker-fight-video-interview/



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