Female MMA - The State of the Art

In the aftermath of the Gina Carano-Cris Santos fight, I was looking around for inspiration for today's entry.
Here is a sample of the headlines I ran across.....

Do women belong fighting in mixed martial arts?
Baltimore Sun

Does women's MMA have a future?
Baltimore Sun
(Do I sense a pattern with the Baltimore Sun here?)

Carano's loss to 'Cyborg' hurts women's MMA
FOXSports.com

Strikeforce postmortem: Is Santos' win good for women's MMA?
ESPN

Though growing, women's MMA not equal to men's
Florida Today

Female MMA is far from accepted yet.
I keep hearing terms like "not as good as the guys", "lack of depth", "women shouldn't be fighting each other".
And of course "she's ugly, she looks like a man, I don't like her."

Wow.
I thought we had outgrown that kind of thinking.
No Cris Santos is not gonna get in the cage with Brock Lesnar.
Just like Laila Ali has no business in the ring with Mike Tyson.
But that doesn't mean Santos isn't great in her division.
Maybe the WWE and their Diva division has poisoned the minds of sports fans to where they think that a woman cannot be just as good as a man.
(perhaps Lisa Marie Varon will change that idea)

These ladies work just as hard as their male counterparts and should be treated with the same respect.
I'm not saying we should praise sloppy execution in either division.
The women should be (and from what I have seen are) held to the same standards.
But no matter how good some female MMA stars are, they will be judged less than the guys and thats just not right.

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.

Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Cyborg Santos Result

http://mmafrenzy.com/

In the Strikeforce Female 145-Pound Championship, Gina Carano vs. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos

Cyborg wins at the end...and I mean very end.. of the first round.
It was like 4:58 of a 5 minute round.

Well I said Cris would win......
You could see where the power was too.

Female MMA: 3 Minutes or 5 Minutes?

I mentioned in a post awhile back about changing the three minute rounds in female MMA to five minute rounds.
Well it seems that over at MMA Junkie and Watch Kalib Run there has been an ongoing discussion of this which I just caught the last part of.
You can go to their site and read all of the articles here:
http://www.watchkalibrun.com/2009/7/2/935763/peer-reviewing-dr-benjamins-ideas

It now seems the Carano - Santos fight will be five minute rounds.
That's something I wondered about when the fight was announced.
(Dang! I was gonna try to go a whole week without saying Carano or Santos!)

So what do you think?
Should female MMA be five minute rounds?

To me, and this is totally unscientific, saying female MMA should be three minute rounds and male MMA should be five minutes is like saying Danica Patrick can only drive 250 laps at the Indy 500 cause she's a girl.

Jessica Bednark and Tuff-N-Uff Productions

On July 10th, 2009, Tuff-N-Uff made Las Vegas history with an all female MMA card.
The show was at the packed Orleans Arena, and 20 female mixed martial artisits battled it out in the ring.
According to Barry Meyer, president of Tuff-N-Uff Productions, it was the largest attended female MMA event in Las Vegas history.
You can read a full write up on the event here.

A really good thing about this even is that a portion of the proceeds from this event went to help Jessica Bednark.
In case you didn't know, Jessica is a pro MMA fighter who suffered a ruptured artery in her brain while training back in May.
Jessica has no health insurance, and her boyfriend's brother Derek Gould, is collecting donations.
Derek can be reached at derekwgould@yahoo.com, and donations can be sent to 15824 Neon St. NW, Ramsey, MN 55303.
A paypal account has also been set up for Jessica, and paypal donations can be sent to helpforjessica@twincities.mn.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jessica and I pray for a complete and total recovery for this brave young lady.

WAMMA's Female MMA Rankings Versus Mine

How many pictures of Gina Carano are on this blog anyway?

I thought this month I would list the most searched for female MMA fighters here, and also list their WAMMA rankings so we could see how popular these ladies are verses how they are ranked.

Of course number one here and on WAMMA's list is (take a wild guess....)

1. Gina Carano
Yes, Gina Carano is still number one.
Was there any question?

2. Karen Williams
Karen got votes on the WAMMA list, but not enough to rank.
She was recently beaten by Erin Toughill by a first round TKO.

3. Cristiane Santos
Yes the "Cyborg" is riding the publicity wave from the upcoming Carano versus Santos match up.
But if Santos wins...will she become the next media female MMA sweetheart?
Strikeforce will be holding a pre-fight press conference tomorrow (July14th) at the Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater in New York City.
She came in 3rd in the featherweight division at WAMMA.

4. Emily Thompson
Emily was ranked number 9 in the featherweight division at WAMMA.
Number 4 here.

5. Erin Toughill
At WAMMA she came in 4th, and she came in 5th here.
Erin will be on the "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" Aug. 15 card facing an as of yet un-named opponent.
Erin came in 5th here and 4th at WAMMA.

6. Alexis Davis
Alexis didnt rank on WAMMA, but she did get votes and she came in 6th here.
The Canadian lost to Tara LaRosa on January 23, 2009 at Extreme Challenge: War At The Shore.

7. Jessica Aguilar
Jessica came in 6th in the flyweight division at WAMMA and she came in 7th here.
This lovely young lady has a MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/jaguilar_smiles

8. Lisa Ward
Lisa came in 4th in the Flyweight didvision at WAMMA and 8th overall here.
You can visit Lisa at her MySpace page here:
http://www.myspace.com/lisa_ward

9. Yoko Takahashi
Yoko came in 9th here and 7th in the featherweight division at WAMMA.
Her fight stats are 15-10-1 including a loss to Cristiane Santos at EliteXC Heat on October 4th, 2008.

10. Elena Reid
Elena came in 10th here and she didnt rank at WAMMA, but got votes.
Elena's last bout was at Extreme Beatdown on April 18th, 2009, when she defeated "The Karate Hottie" Michelle Waterson.

For more female combat, check out my other blog:
http://womenboxing.blogspot.com/

Felice Herrig Updates

http://www.mmamadhouse.com/

I didn't know a lot about Felice Herrig when I did my first entry on her back in 2007.
Then she was on Oxygen's reality series "Fight Girls".
At the time she was a 22 year old, working at a salon in Wheeling, giving facials, manicures and pedicures.
Gina Carano mentored Felice and she won her first fight against Gina Reyes.
As one of the five finalists in Thailand, Felice won her fight against a champion Thai fighter.

She recently lost a three round, split decision to Iman "Mannie" Achhal at UWC 5: MAN "O" WAR in Fairfax Virginia.
But she is now looking forward to her next fight at XFO 29 on Friday April 17, 2009.

You can see more of Felice at http://chicagosmma.com/

MMA News, Erin Toughill

I reported on the then upcoming MMA fight between Erin Toughill and Adrienna Jenkins back several weeks ago, and forgot to follow up on that.
Erin won, but she didn't fight Adrienna Jenkins. Adrienna was injured and unable to compete, so Karen Williams was substituted.
Erin won via TKO in the first round. She pretty much just overpowered her smaller opponent and bashed her until the ref stepped in at 2:06.

Palace Fighting Championships will hold another event on April 23, this time a mixed martial arts / boxing card, and the womens match there will be April Cautino vs. Sarah Kaufman.
PFC is saying April Cautino, but I wonder if they mean April Coutino?
I can't find any record of an April Cautino.

Female MMA Fighters

Looking for some stuff on the web, I ran into two different stories about two different women that I think really shows the drive and determination behind female mixed martial artists.
Female MMA is not easy, nor is it an easy road to take. Don't get me wrong, it's hard on the men as well. But the women have to undergo the same training and punishment and still have to deal with being a female in what is basically a man's sport.
But like I said, these two ladies show what it takes to compete.

First, a story from Portland Oregon about female MMA fighter Jody De Simone.
http://wweek.com/editorial/3509/12054/

Then an in depth story about female MMA fighter Cindy Hales from Seattle.
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2009-01-07/news/spoiling-for-a-fight/1

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

Gina Carano in the WEC?

Gina Carano may wind up in the WEC (World Extreme Cagefighting).
If she does, that will pretty much make Carano their centerpiece.
Now imagine that, a female MMA star as the main attraction of a promotion.

"White said he is thinking of inviting Gina Carano to fight in the WEC. Carrano had been fighting in the now defunct EliteXC. "Gina Carano is a star, I think she's talented. I think she's got all the tools, so what I'm willing to do is bring Gina into the WEC. We could do fights whenever there's a challenger for Gina. That's how I'll test the waters and see how it goes." In the past, White has dismissed talk of having women fight in his organization, saying there wasn't enough talent out there."
http://www.660news.com/news/sports/article.jsp?content=s111849A

If this does pan out, will it signal a change in the thinking of MMA promotors?
NOW is there enough talent?
And what about Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos?
Will Dana White invite her as well?
Gina's gotta fight somebody......

Gina “Conviction” Carano versus Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos

All is not lost!
LOL
MMA Mania has run an excerpt from an interview in Fighters Only magazine that says Gina Carano still wants to make the Carano / Santos fight happen.
Of course this will take some maneuvering but it is still a possibility.
Gina has the pull, now it they can get an organization to fall into line.

Here's a snip from the article:
Gina Carano vs Cris Cyborg fight still possible
Former Elite XC female superstar Gina “Conviction” Carano (7-0) still has plans to face off against Brazilian rival Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (6-1) even with the collapse of Elite XC, according to a recent interview with Fighters Only magazine.

And here's a link to the whole article:
http://mmamania.com/2008/11/09/package-deal-gina-carano-vs-cris-cyborg-fight-still-possible/

Female MMA: Kaitlin Young

FightHype has an in depth interview with female mixed martial artist Kaitlin Young.
I think Kaitlin has the potential to be just as big as Gina Carano with the right training and backing.
But now that Elite has folded, it's kinda put female fighters like Kaitlyn up in the air.
She was scheduled to fight Sarah Kaufman on November 8th, but with Elite gone, the fight was canceled.
Anyway, here's the link to the interview:
http://fighthype.com/pages/content3756.html

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/

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

Muay Thai - Alisanne Casey

Fighter Name: Alisanne Casey
Height: 5'2"
Preferred Fighting Weight: 110 - 115 lbs
Date of Birth: 7/5/1969
Dominant Hand: Left
Fighting out of: Flash Academy,Salt Lake City, Utah U.S.A.
Trainer: Kwame Stephens
Record: Style Win Loss Draw
Kickboxing/Muay Thai (Amateur) 3 2 0
Trained for two years with Sakasem "The Punisher" Kanthawong

Titles held:
WKA North American Muay Thai Title
WKA American Muay Thai Title

More info:
http://www.tuffgrrlz.com/index.asp?page=competitors&fighter_id=73


muay thai