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.

Gina Carano and Strikeforce

I know not being sure of your future is no fun, but Gina Carano should at least feel flattered.
It must feel like a senior prom to her with so many people wanting to take her out.
UFC President Dana White wants her for the WEC, Affliction's Vice President Tom Atencio want her (mainly for the Carano/Santos dream match) and now, Gina's orginal promotion Strikeforce wants her as well. Too bad all the EliteXC fighter's contracts are right now in limbo.

Anyway, MMAjunkie has a big write up about all this and you can see everything in depth here:
http://mmajunkie.com/news/13321/strikeforce-also-interested-in-female-star-gina-carano.mma

Elite XC damages Female MMA?

I had to post this because I love Command and Conquer and Gina Carano.

Here's an excellent article by David Mayeda over at FightTicker.com lamenting the loss of EliteXC and what it will do to the female mma fight scene.....

What Pro Elite did that no other MMA organization could accomplish was put female mixed martial arts on a national platform, and when it came to the competitions, they did this in top fashion. In fact, in a recent FightTicker poll, voters concluded that EliteXC should promote Gina Carano more than any other fighter with the Kimbo Slice era closing. This was the right choice.
Over the course of EliteXC’s three televised fight cards on CBS, the company consistently highlighted quality women’s matches. Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young kicked off the focus on women. Sure there were hiccups in Carano not making weight and their fight being stopped prematurely. However, the match itself was arguably the best match on the card and attracted 5.5 million viewers, making it the sixth most watched MMA match in U.S. history.
http://www.fightticker.com/story_1021081546_the_pro_elite_debacle_a_loss_for_womens_mma

Female MMA: Gina Carano versus Kelly Kobold

You know this Gina Carano / Kelly Kobold fight is getting a lot of press.
Good for both of them!

FEMALE FIGHTERS LOOK TO MAKE THE MOST OF PRIME-TIME MMA SHOWCASE
Posted By NEIL DAVIDSON, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Kelly Kobold remembers the first time she had to tell someone she was a pro fighter. She was in the locker-room after a workout and a woman, noticing the bruises on her body, came over and gave her a business card.
It was for a battered women's advocacy agency. "Honey, he's not worth it," the woman told her.
On Saturday, Kobold and opponent Gina (Conviction) Carano get to show off women's mixed martial arts in prime time when they meet in a 140- pound bout on CBS' EliteXC Saturday Night Fights (CBS, 9 p. m. ET).
The main event at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., features heavyweights Kimbo Slice and veteran Ken Shamrock. Elsewhere on the card, Jake Shields defends his EliteXC welterweight title against England's Paul Daley, former UFC heavyweight titleholder Andrei Arlovski takes on former IFL title-holder Roy Nelson and middleweight Murilo (Ninja) Rua faces Benji Radach.
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1231294

Gina Carano in action October 4th

Two TOTALLY different ends of the mixed martial arts spectrum here.
No offense to Mr. Slice, but Gina is way cuter....LOL

KIMBO SLICE AND GINA CARANO OPEN MEDIA WORKOUT QUOTES WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 17, 2008
There was a tremendous turnout at the Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano open media workout Wednesday at Legends Mixed Martial Arts Training Center in Los Angeles. The fighters will appear on the upcoming third installment of CBS ELITEXC SATURDAY NIGHT FIGHTS, broadcast live from the BankAtlantic Center, in Sunrise, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 4 (9-11 p.m., ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
http://www.15rounds.com/kimbo-slice-and-gina-carano-open-media-workout-quotes-wednesday-sept-17-2008/

Carano, Kobold-Gavin, Santos, Takahashi bouts confirmed for EliteXC card

"Two female tilts will take place. The first features the face of female MMA — Gina Carano — go head to head with Kelly Kobold-Gavin, plus Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, the wife of veteran Evangelista Santos, is slated to square off against Yoko Takahashi."
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/8494324/Preliminary-bouts-confirmed-for-EliteXC-card

MMA RISING SUPERSTAR GINA CARANO AILING, FORCED TO WITHDRAW FROM JUNE 2 MMA EVENT

LOS ANGELES (May 17, 2007) – Gina Carano has pulled out of the “Dynamite!! USA” June 2 mega-MMA fight card at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum due to illness, EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw announced today.

Carano, of Las Vegas, Nev., was scheduled to clash with Jan Finney of Springfield, Ohio, in one of the featured EliteXC fights on SHOWTIME on June 2.

“I just feel terrible about this,’’ said the popular, crowd-pleasing Carano, who spent part of April in Thailand filming a television reality series. “I don’t know how or where I got sick, but I have not felt right since returning to the United States.

full story at:
http://www.mmaringreport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1235&Itemid=79

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