Hiroko Yamanaka vs Cyborg Santos?

While female MMA in the US is not really flourishing, it's doing quite well in Japan.
And one of the reasons it's doing well is fighters like five foot eleven, 143 pound Hiroko Yamanaka.
Hiroko is currently 12-1-0 with her last fight being a win over Bolormaa "Esui" Erdenebileg (2-2-0) at Jewels - 15th Ring on July 9th, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

Why am I mentioning Hiroko now?
Since Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos has re-signed with Strikeforce, they are probably gonna want someone good for her to fight.
As in not get killed instantly.
I think Hiroko fills that bill.

Like I said she is 12-1-0.
8 of her wins were by decision, 2 by submission and 2 by TKOs.
MMARising has Hiroko ranked number two in the featherweight division, right behind Santos.
The "Incomplete Queen" (I have no idea what that nickname means) is not only trained in MMA, but also in submission grappling (1-2-0) and shoot boxing (2-0-0).
She was the final Smackgirl Open Weight Champion and she won the Super Gals Mix Cup Open Weight Tournament.

One problem here is logistics.
Hiroko is in Japan and Cris is in the US.
There are actually rumors that Strikeforce offered Hiroko a bout with Cris earlier this year, but travel issues killed it.
If the travel issues could be resolved, maybe Strikeforce could make this happen.

Another problem is...well...to put it nicely...who cares?
Hiroko is a Japanese star and Cris is popular here.
Like I said earlier, female MMA in the US seems to be treading water.
How would they generate buzz for a fight between Cris and Hiroko?
Well that's a game for the publicists and I wish them well.

Meanwhile, female MMA fans can speculate and hope that somehow this match turns into reality.

UFC Buys Strikeforce - What Will Happen to Female MMA?

 Saturday afternoon, Dana White announced that Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, has purchased Strikeforce.
What does that mean to female MMA?
Well we all know that Dana has said that women will never fight on a UFC card.
But he did at least say that Zuffa will honor Strikeforce's current contracts.

Does that mean that after the current contracts are finished, we will see a mass exodus of female fighters to Bellator?

Face it, White thinks MMA is a man's game pure and simple.
Rather than trying to promote and cultivate the female mixed martial artists out there, he would rather say that there is not enough depth of talent in the female ranks.
I think it's basically because he doesn't want women in the sport.
Which is fair really.
It's his promotion, he doesn't have to do what he doesn't want to.
You can take your ball and go home if you don't like it.

Then you can watch and attend other MMA promotions that do back female fighters.

So will Bellator now become the home of fighters like Miesha Tate, Cristiane Santos, Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen?
Personally I'm thinking yes.

But White has said that Strikeforce will be a totally separate entity, so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Marloes Coenen Vs Sarah Kaufman Results - Female MMA

Last night, Dutch submission specialist Marloes Coenen challenged Sarah Kaufman for the Strikeforce welterweight title at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California, on the Showtime portion of Saturday night's Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II card.

In the first round, Marloes stayed on her feet and went toe to toe with Sarah who is known as a striker. Marloes being four inches taller than Sarah helped her stand up game.

In the second round, Sarah managed to reverse a take down attempt and fight off an arm bar.

In the third round, Marloes caught her in a armbar after Sarah reversed yet another takedown.
That led to her submission at one minute and 39 seconds in.

There is some controversy because it appeared Marloes held the arm bar even after Sarah tapped out.
Sarah was evidently upset about that and complained after the match.
Marloes said that she blamed the ref for being slow letting her know that Sarah had tapped.

After the fight, Marloes and Sarah met and worked everything out.

This win takes Marloes to 18-4-0, and drops Sarah to 12-1-0, breaking her undefeated record.

According to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, up next up for Marloes is Miesha Tate (11-2-0) sometime early in 2011.




Marloes Coenen Vs Sarah Kaufman Results - Female MMA, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on October 10th, 2010

Female MMA - Strikeforce Challengers 10 Results

Miesha Tate, the next "Face of Female MMA"?

Last Friday (August 13th) at the Strikeforce Challengers 10 event they had the first women’s 135 lb tournament for the mixed martial arts promotion.
This tournament was to decide who would get a shot at the 135-pound belt currently held by Sarah Kaufman.

Hitomi Akano took on Carina Damm and won in the second round (1:48) with a triangle choke submission.

Miesha Tate got a descion win over Maiju Kujala after the second round (the semi final fights were two three minute rounds) with takedowns.

Then it was Miesha Tate versus Hitomi Akano in the final, with Miesha defeating Hitomi Akano via unanimous decision.

Now Miesha gets a crack at Sarah Kaufman's 135-pound title.

Well... that is after Marloes Coenen gets her chance.

To maintain momentum, I really think the Kaufman/Coenen fight should be held in September, with the winner taking on Miesha in Octiber.
But alas, this is not to be.
It looks like the fight will be "before the end of the year"....



Also at the Strikeforce Challengers 10 event, there was another female MMA bout with Liz Carmouche defeating Colleen Schneider via unanimous decision.

So after the smoke settled Friday night we were left with....
Hitomi "Girlfight Monster" Akano 16-8-0
Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm 15-4-0
Miesha "Takedown" Tate 11-2-0
Maiju "Maki" Kujala 4-2-0
Liz Carmouche 3-0-0
Colleen "The Beautiful Disaster" Schneider 0-2-0



Female MMA - Strikeforce Challengers 10 Results, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on August 17th.

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 Results and Upcoming Bouts

Here are some female MMA results for last month....



At Bitetti Combat 6 on February 25th, Amanda "Lioness of the Ring" Nunes defeated Ediane “India” Gomes in the second round via TKO.



At Strikeforce Challengers 6 on February 26, Sarah Kaufman defeated Takayo Hashi becoming the Strikeforce 135-pound women's champion.



At RFC 20 Stacked on February 26, Diana "Dynamite" Rael defeated the debuting Caroline "Rare Ninja" Portugal round two via TKO.



At Jungle Fight 16 on February 27th, Carina "Beauty But The Beast" Damm stopped Aline Serio in the first round with punches from the mount.

Upcoming....

At Reno Xtrene Fights III on March 19th, San Jose’s Jenny Trujillo (1-0) will take on Nicole Johnson (1-1) in a three round Featherweight match

Female MMA - Erin Toughill

One of my favorite female MMA stars won't be making her debut with Strikeforce on August 15th.
Erin Toughill was originally slated to appear on the card, but now she is being held in reserve in case (okay, I know, I mention them every entry now....) Gina Carano or Cristiane Santos gets injured before their match.

Erin is 10-2-1 in MMA and also 8-2-1 in boxing and what an incredible break it would be for her to step into that match and win.
We could actually see a new star made right before our eyes.
Of course I am not wishing anything bad on Gina or Cristiane, that IS the fight everyone wants to see.

And according to Strikeforce, Erin just might get a shot at the winner of the Carano-Santos fight.



Female MMA - Erin Toughill, posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on 7-31-2009

Female MMA News Today, Gina Carano, Chris Santos and Kyra Gracie

In female MMA news today....

There's an article over at Bleacher Report by Josh Sanchez about the idea of bringing Kyra Gracie over to Strikeforce's women's division, which I think is a very good idea.

And speaking of Srikeforce, they have put a video up promoting the ( I know, I cant even go a week without saying it) Gina “Conviction” Carano vs. Chris “Cyborg” Santos fight.


The MMA promotion "MMA Big Show" had a 16 round card Saturday night (Saturday July 25th) called Unstoppable and on that card, Big Show had their first female mixed martial arts bout.
It was Erica Ellington, a freestyle fighter, took on Marissa Caldwell, a jiu jitsu specialist.
Marissa defeated Erica with an armbar at 2:33 of the first round.
(They didnt need a five minute round did they?)

Gina Carano Versus Cristiane Cyborg Santos Is Set

As most of you probably already know, the No. 1 and the No. 2 females fighting in the world, Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will finally face each other Aug. 15.
This has been brewing since EliteXC went under a little over a year ago.
The fight will be for the Strikeforce 145 lb Women's Championship.
Gina should have little problem making the 145 pound allowance, but Cristiane has had trouble making it before.
The bout will be five rounds, and unless something changes between now and then, they will be three minute rounds.
I'd like to see five minute rounds, but we'll see.
The bout will air live on Showtime on Saturday, August 15th, at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA.

My prediction right now (this is subject to change) is a win by Gina by decision.
I'm not seeing any kind of blow out here.
I think it will go the distance and whoever wins, it wont be by a huge margin.
I also think that how this bout goes will have a major impact on female MMA bouts in the future.

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

More Hitomi Akano versus Cris Cyborg News

I mentioned the Hitomi Akano versus Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Santos match on April 11 in a previous post.
But now I hear that Josh Barnett will be in Akano's corner.
This would make sense since Akano is one of Josh's students.
Should an upset happen....what would happen to the anticipated Gina Carano / Santos fight?

The Akano / Santos fight will air on Showtime as part of their Strikeforce premier.
You can find out more about ths Showtime event here:
http://strikeforce.sho.com/

MMA News: Cristiane Santos versus Hitomi Akano

Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (6-1) of Brazil will be facing “Smack Girl” Champion Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (14-5) of Japan at the "Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Diaz " event on April 11th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

I think this will be a very interesting match up, because the two women are almost polar opposites.
On the one hand you have Santos' Muay Thai striking and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills, and on the other hand you have Akano's submission skills.
Cristiane is of course the co-holder (along with Gina Carano) of the number one ranking in the WAMMA.
So what would a loss to Akano do to that standing?
And what would that do for Akano?

Hitomi was the very first lady I profiled on this blog back in February of 2007.
She has won 11 of her 14 fights with a submission. 10 of them were armbars and 5 were in the first round.
She beat fellow female MMA fighter Hari Hari in 38 seconds in the first round with an armbar.

Cristiane has won 4 of her fights in the first round, and 2 of those were by corner stoppage, her opponents corner men threw in the towel after the first round.
But the only loss she has had was via a leg lock submission, and submissions are Hitomi's bread and butter.
All of Hitomi's losses were by decision.

Cristiane has the height, weight and age advantage, but in MMA, sometimes that doesn't mean a lot.

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