The Top Ten Female MMA Fighters of 2010

While doing some work on my female MMA lenses over at Squidoo (RIP) I came up with a list of the most searched for female mixed martial artists on the net.
Now you have to keep in mind, these are actual fighters, not people that are inactive like Gina Carano.

Actually Gina would STILL be number one by a wide margin, but she hasn't competed since the Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg fight when Cris beat her by TKO at 4:59 in the first round.
Gina has made no indication that she is coming back into the ring so far.

So here are the top ten most searched for female MMA fighters on the net right now.....

1. Miesha Tate (11-2-0)
2. Cristiane Santos (10-1-0)
3. Marloes Coenen (18-4-0)
4. Sarah Kaufman (12-1-0)
5. Amy Davis (1-2-0, 1 NC)
6. Megumi Fujii (23-1-0)
7. Zoila Frausto (10-1-0)
8. Carina Damm (15-5-0)
9. Lisa Ward (14-6-0)
10. Roxanne Modafferi (15-6-0)

You may notice that in this list, all of these women are really fighters.
With the exception of Amy Davis, they are all in the ten plus fight range and seven of them are ranked in MMARising.com's "Top 15 Women’s Pound-For-Pound MMA Rankings".
This leads me to believe that female MMA fight fans are actually going for talent and not looks.

I mean c'mon, would Gina have been as popular as she was were she not as hot as she was?

And speaking about that, Miesha Tate needs to watch out for that trap.
She's 11-2-0 and ranked number 11 on the top 15 pound for pound, but a lot of people are looking to her as the new "Face of Female MMA".
She hasnt fought since Strikeforce - Challengers 10 back on August 13th, 2010 when she beat Hitomi Akano by unanimous decision.

Of course all that will change when she takes on Strikeforce women’s 135-pound champion Marloes Coenen for the title, probably some time in March.

Then we'll see if she's the new "Face".



The Top Ten Female MMA Fighters of 2010, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on January 9th, 2010

Female MMA: Sarah Kaufman Defeats Roxanne Modafferi

In case you missed it, reigning Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Champ Sarah Kaufman beat challenger Roxanne Modafferi at Strikeforce Challengers 9 fight card at the Comcast Arena in Everett, Washington on July 23rd.

Round one was good and both women looked evenly matched but in round two, Roxanne looked like she was starting to slow down.

In round three, Sarah looked like she had been studying Cristiane Santos' playbook, with a KO worthy of the Cyborg.

In case you missed it, FatherOfJoe has all three rounds posted on YouTube and you can see them at his channel here
http://www.youtube.com/user/FatherOfJoe

This win brings Sarah up to an impressive 12-0-0 and sets her up to defend her title against the winner of the August 13th four-women 135-pound tournament at Strikeforce Challengers at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona.

As far as the tournament goes, right now it's looking like Hitomi Akano, Maiju Kujala, Miesha Tate and Brazilian veteran Carina Damm in the single night bracket to determine who will face Sarah Kaufman.





Female MMA: Sarah Kaufman Defeats Roxanne Modafferi posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on August 2nd, 2010

Miesha Tate and Hitomi Akano at Strikeforce Challengers

Miesha Tate

On August 13th at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, female MMA fighters Miesha Tate (9-2-0) and Hitomi Akano (15-7-0) will meet in the first bracket of a four-women 135-pound tournament at Strikeforce Challengers.
Maiju Kujala (4-1-0) is the third woman in the four-women tournament, but as of this entry, the fourth woman has not been decided on.

Miesha was born on August 18, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington, and her last fight was a win over Zoila Frausto (7-1-0) by submission (armbar) at Strikeforce - Challengers 7 on March 26th, 2010.

Hitomi Akano was born on July 27, 1974 in Osaka, Japan, and her last bout was a loss to Hiroko Yamanaka by split decision at Jewels - Seventh Ring on March 19th, 2010.

Maiju Kujala is from Finland, and her last fight was a win over Titiana van Polanen by unanimous decision at UG - Upcoming Glory 7 on March 27th, 2010.

The winner of the tournament will face the winner of the Sarah Kaufman (Champion) versus Roxanne Modafferi fight at Strikeforce Challengers 9 on July 23 in Kent, Washington for the promotion’s 135-pound championship.

Miesha Tate and Hitomi Akano at Strikeforce Challengers, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on July 19th, 2010.

Female MMA: What's next for Cyborg Santos?

Now that the dust has settled over the Carano vs. Cyborg fight, what's next for the newly crowned female MMA champ?
Will she appear on talk shows (with a translator) or start appearing in ads for MMA apparel?
Who knows?
But let's focus on the fighting side of her, which seems to be what Cris "Cyborg" Santos is all about.
Who's next in the Cyborgs sights?

Well I reported awhile back that Erin Toughill (10-2-1) would likely face the winner of the match.
But at Saturdays event, Erin was nowhere to be seen.
There are rumors that Erin and Strikeforce had a "break down in communication" and Erin wasn't there.

But Strikeforce's new acquisition was there, and ready to step in if anything had happened to Carano or Santos.
And that fighter is veteran Marloes Coenen (16-3).
Remember, Santos almost faced her back in February of 2009, but Santos pulled out because she signed with Strikeforce.
Now that would be a match.
The 5'9, 145 pound Marloes might not be bulled around the ring by Santos as easily as Carano was.
Although Marloes has lost to Erin, so would Erin still be the most logical choice?

Another fighter beigin mentioned is Roxanne Modafferi (who has beaten Marloes).
Roxanne is currently 13-4-0.
But Roxanne fights at 135, although that didn't stop her from beating Marloes.

Sarah Kaufman is another name I have heard mentioned.
I think Sarah has a pretty big base of loyal internet fans.
With wins over Miesha Tate and Shayna Baszler she would seem like a good choice.
And she does have a 10-0-0 record right now.
But wouldn't Sarah also have to put on some weight to get in this fight?

Of course there is the possibility of Gina Carano facing her in a rematch.
But I didn't hear Gina's people yelling "Rematch!" after the fight.

And now we come to my "Wildcard" pick.
Lisa Marie Varon.
If you read my blogs, it's no secret I'm a big fan of female wrestling.
Lisa Marie (Victoria in the WWE and Tara in TNA) might be the first female wrestler to follow in the footsteps of her male counterparts like Brock Lesnar and Bobby Lashley.
She is training for MMA, and could you imagine the hype of an ex-female pro wrestler going after the women's MMA champ?
Of course Lisa needs some checks in her win column before that ever happens.
But remember, Gina Carano only trained in Muay Thai for what, 4 months before her first fight?
Lisa is 5'8, 155 pounds and has about nine years of wrestling training to fall back on.

Female MMA got the hype Saturday, so lets see if the fights they pick can keep the interest going.

Roxanne Modafferi - Female MMA

Roxanne V. Modafferi (born September 24, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist.

Modafferi's training began in taekwondo as a teenager in Pennsylvania, moving on to Mark Lawler's kempo karate two years later. Full of confidence, she then began attending the Dalton Judo Club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her description of the experience is; "I thought I was all cool, like the movie stars, but then I learned what it was like to fly". She went on to gain a brown belt in the style, but her training was cut short when she left to study at the University of Massachusetts. Three months before her studies began, a fellow brown belt brought her to a Royce Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu association in Adams, Massachusetts, where she trained intensively for three months.

Modafferi majored in Japanese Language and Literature with a minor in Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts. While at college, she found the Amherst Athletic club, where New England Submission Fighting is based. In addition, she trained at another Royce Gracie association in Hartford, Connecticut for about a year (necessitating a weekly two hour round trip), also investigating Jeremy Libiszewski's School of Self-Defence in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Next came Joao Amaral's New England BJJ club, now associated with Brazilian Top Team; Modafferi says "Those guys are tough as concrete is hard, and beat my weaknesses out of me when they found them". To work on her striking, she also attended the Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy's North American branch in Somerville, Massachusetts, run by Kru Mark DellaGrotte.

Modafferi spent September 2003 to June 2004, her junior year, in Tokyo, Japan. This enabled her to compete in a number of NHB and BJJ competitions, where she eventually achieved a 3-0 record in the Smack Girl promotion and defeated Jennifer Howe (who at that time was considered the best in the US, if not the world) in Hook n Shoot. In Japan she trained at the Cross Point club in Kichijouji, which taught both muay thai and BJJ. She hopes one day to write a book about her experiences during that time, having already contributed several articles on the topic. After graduating in May 2005, she secured a position with Berlitz teaching English in Japan, arriving for the second time in July 2005.

Her last fight was a win by split decision against Cassandra Blaso at Fatal Femmes Fighting, on 2 February 2007.

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