Miesha Tate, Marloes Coenen and Zoila Frausto

The Bellator 115-pound women’s champ Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto will be fighting at the Bellator Fighting Championships 35 on March 5th in Lemoore, California, but it wont be for the belt.
Zolia will be taking on Karina Hallinan in a non title bout there.
Zolia is 10-1-0 and her opponent Karina is 3-4-0.
Interestingly enough, the two faced each other once before, when they both made their MMA debuts.
It was at Wargods/Ken Shamrock Productions - The Valentine's Eve Massacre on February 13th, 2009 at the Selland Arena in Fresno, California.
Zolia won by a controversial split decision.
What is it with Zolia and "controversial" decisions?
I have read that her fight with Karina had a questionable outcome and so did her fights with Jessica Aguilar and Megumi Fujii.
So really what is going on with her?
Three of her ten wins are questionable?
Are officials handing out victories to her?
Do MMA fans have something against her?

In other news, Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes made her Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce - Challengers 13 on January 7th, 2011 at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee and KOed Julia Budd in fourteen seconds of the first round.
Pretty impressive debut huh?
This moves Amanda to 6-1-0 and drops Julia to 1-1-0.
This also gives Amanda an undefeated streak since her loss to Ana Maria (3-4-0) in her debut back on March 8th, 2008 at Prime - MMA Championship 2 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Does Amanda have Strikeforce champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in her sights?
I would imagine so.

And finally, a match a lot of MMA fans are looking forward to will happen on March 5th at Strikeforce: Columbus (the same night as Bellator Fighting Championships 35...hmmmm).
Marloes “Rumina” Coenen will be talking on Miesha “Takedown” Tate.
Marloes is 18-4-0 and her last fight was a win over Sarah Kaufman via submission at Strikeforce - Diaz vs. Noons 2 on October 9th, 2010 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
Miesha's last fight was a win over Hitomi Akano by decision at Strikeforce - Challengers 10 on August 13th, 2010 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
The match will be for the Strikeforce 135-pound title.

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

Zoila Frausto versus Megumi Fujii Results

Zoila Frausto by Casper Munoz Photography

Well I'm stunned.
Zoila Frausto (10-1) defeated the (really) heavy favorited Megumi Fujii (now 22-1) last night at Bellator 34 to win the inaugural Bellator women's world title.
So what was going on with Megumi?
The "Queen of Submissions" (18 wins by submission) hardly even tried to get "The Warrior Princess" down on the mat.
And when she did, she took a beating from punches.

You have to hand it to Zoila, so far this year she has beaten the undefeated Megumi, Jessica Aguilar, Jessica Pene and Rosi Sexton.
And now she is the the first ever Bellator 115-pound champion.

The fight was scored 48-47, 49-46, 47-48.

And I am never going to predict a fight again.



Zoila Frausto versus Megumi Fujii Results, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on October 29th, 2010

Megumi Fujii vs Zoila Frausto Weigh In Pics

Tom Hill over at Tom Hill Photos.com has done it again, this time sending me some pics from the weigh in for the fight between Megumi Fujii (113.5 lbs.) and Zoila Frausto (114.5 lbs.).
The fight is tonight, so by tomorrow we should know if Megumi becomes the first MMA fighter to have a 23 in a row unbeaten record, and the women’s 115-pound championship.



I'm thinking she will

(all photos http://www.tomhillphotos.com/)




Megumi Fujii vs Zoila Frausto Weigh In Pics, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on October 28th, 2010

Megumi Fujii Vs. Lisa Ward and Zoila Frausto Vs. Jessica Aguilar

Two female MMA events have been announced for Bellator 31 on September 30th at the L'Auberge du Lac Casino and Resort in Lake Charles, La.

Megumi Fujii

Megumi Fujii will be taking on Lisa Ward.
Megumi has a 21-0-0 unbeaten MMA record and Lisa has is at 14-5-0.

Lisa Ward

This will not be the first time the two women have faced off.
The last time, Megumi defeated Lisa at Bodog Fight - Vancouver on August 24th, 2007 via an arm bar submission.

The same night at Bellator 31, Zoila Frausto will be taking on Jessica Aguilar.
Zoila is 8-1-0 and Jessica is 9-3-0.

Zoila Frausto

Zoila is coming off three wins in a row, having defeated Jessica Pene, Rosi Sexton and Michelle Ould.

Jessica Aguilar

While Jessica is on a five in a row winning streak over Lynn Alvarez, Catia Vitoria, Valerie Coolbaugh, Amanda Duvall.

The winners of the two fights will face each other to decide the organization's first-ever female champion.

I have to say, I think Bellator is doing this right.
We aren't waiting months between matches and I think that helps to keep everyone's interest up.

My guess.....
I think we will see Megumi defeat Lisa, Zoila take Jessica and Megumi walk away from all of this with the title.

Of course look at my win/loss record in the past here and see how good my guesses are...LOL

UPDATE:
Well I finally got one right!
Megumi Fujii (who is now 22-0-0) defeated Lisa Ward in 99 seconds via an armbar submission.
That was her eighteenth career submission victory and the eleventh victory by armbar.

And Zoila Frausto defeated Jessica Aguilar, although it was a bit of a questionable decision.
So questionable that the crowd booed when Zolia was announced as the winner.

Now Fujii and Frausto will face off at the finals in the women's 115 lb. tournament at Bellator 34 on October 28.

I'm still saying Megumi will take it all.



Megumi Fujii Vs. Lisa Ward and Zoila Frausto Vs. Jessica Aguilar, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on September 28th, 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 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