Bellator 190 Results - Lara defeated Ovchynnikova

Last night, Alejandra Lara defeated Lena Ovchynnikova via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 4:09 of Round 3
That makes Alejandra Lara 7-1-0 now and drops Lena to 12-5-0.

Lena Ovchynnikova vs Alejandra Lara - MMA

Tonight at Bellator 190, one of my favorite MMA fighters Lena "Hunter" Ovchynnikova (12-4-0) will be taking on Alejandra "Azul" Lara (6-1-0).
As you know I stopped predicting fights a LONG time ago but this should be a good one.
The fight takes place at the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy.

Rachael Ostovich - Women Fighters

Female MMA fighter Rachael Ostovich likes to dress up like Wonder Woman and fight people.
No...really.
She is five foot three, 126 pounds and has a 4-3-0 MMA record.

Back to the Wonder Woman thing...
I have to give her props because she cares enough to do a photo shoot pose imitating one of my favorite WW pics ever, done by Alex Ross.

Though she doesnt always dress up like Wondy....

WMMA Featherweights Ranking - February 2016

Say what you will...
Love her or hate her....
Cris "Cyborg" Justino is still at the top of the WMMA Featherweights.
People keep harping on that failed drug test in 2012, but that was 4 years ago and she still has a 14-1-1 record and that one loss was in 2005. \
She also has a 2-1-0 Kickboxing record and a 7-1-0 Submission grappling record.

Featherweights (136-145 pounds)

1. Cris "Cyborg" Justino (14-1, 1NC) – Invicta FC Champion
2. Marloes Coenen (23-6)
3. Julia Budd (8-2)
4. Latoya Walker (5-0)
5. Arlene Blencowe (7-5)
6. Faith Van Duin (5-2)
7. Charmaine Tweet (7-5)
8. Peggy Morgan (4-3)
9. Amanda Bell (4-3)
10. Gabrielle Holloway (5-4)

11. Cindy Dandois – 12. Megan Anderson – 13. Daria Ibragimova – 14. AJ Jenkins – 15. Jessy Miele

You can see the whole list here:
https://wmmatoday.wordpress.com/unified-wmma-rankings/

Barb Honchak - MMA Women

It's been awhile since I did anything on female mixed martial arts fighter Barb "Little Warrior" Honchak.
The last time I mentioned her she had a 5-1-0 record, but now that has jumped up to 8-2-0.
And now Barb is the #1-ranked Flyweight (116-125 pound) female fighter according to the WMMA Rankings.
Barb was born on August 30th, 1979 in Edwardsville, Illinois and fights out of Miletich Fighting Systems in High Ridge, Missouri
She is five foot four, fights at 126 pounds and besides MMA she is trained in kickboxing and jiu-jitsu.

Barb made her pro MMA debut on November 28th, 2008 at KOTC - Horsepower
So far she has defeated Vanessa Porto, Aisling Daly, Bethany Marshall, Roxanne Modafferi, Nina Ansaroff, Amber McAvoy, Felice Herrig and Monica Lovato.
Her only two losses were to Angela Magana and Cat Zingano.
On April 5th, 2013 Barb defeated Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson to become the first Invicta FC Flyweight Champion.

Outside of MMA, Barb has a Master's Degree in both Ecology and Genetics and a Bachelor's degree in molecular biology.

Female MMA Updates

Just a few quick notes here.

Watch Missouri native, Megan Thomas.
She's a a cheerleader turned model turned MMA fighter and some are already saying that she might be the next Gina Carano.

Check out the article by Steve Cofield over at Yahoo Sports.
It's his view on female MMA.

And finally, Erin Toughill ("Steel" of the American Gladiators) will be facing Adrienna Jenkins at the Palace Fighting Championships card on February 6th.
Erin Toughill is 8-2-1 and Adrienna Jenkins is 10-2.
You can check out Palace Fighting Championships site here.

Female MMA Moving into the Spotlight?

It's a bit early to say, but I think the Gina Carano / Kelly Kobold fight may have finally been the event that has pushed female MMA into the spotlight.
The amount of articles referencing women in MMA has picked up considerably.
Here's just a couple of examples......

First, this article at MMA Funhouse by Michael David Smith....
Gina Carano's Toughest Fight: Getting Recognition for Women's MMA
Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin was honored at the Women's Sports Foundation's annual Salute to Women in Sports on Tuesday night in New York City. So was softball player Jessica Mendoza. Dozens of female athletes from sports ranging from basketball to skateboarding were lauded from the podium.
And Gina Carano sat in the audience, wondering if her fellow athletes even know that her sport exists.
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2008/10/15/gina-caranos-toughest-fight-getting-recognition-for-womens-mm/

And this article at SFGate by Kelly Mills....
Women taking their place in kickboxing ring
At the Best of the Bay kickboxing event Aug. 16 in San Francisco, there were three women in the ring for one bout, and no one batted an eye. One of the women was the "ring girl," scantily dressed and wearing heels, who walked along the ropes with a sign signaling the round number. The two other women were fighters, dressed in traditional satin muay Thai shorts, tank tops and boxing gloves. As the bell went off, the ring girl teetered off the canvas, and the two fighters emerged from their corners, trading ferocious punches and kicks. The crowd cheered as one fighter landed a hard right cross, while the other threw a whiplike kick aimed at her rival's head. When the bell rang again, the two women returned to opposite sides of the ring, sweaty and slightly bloodied, awaiting coaching from their corners, as the ring girl picked up her sign.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/17/LV8P13GQHV.DTL

Sometimes it's difficult to even find anything on female MMA fighters, but now that seems to be changing.

Lucia Rijker - "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World"

Dutch female professional boxer, actress and kickboxer Lucia Rijker was born on December 6th, 1967 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Lucia has been dubbed by the press and opponents "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World". Lucia speaks four languages, is a Buddhist and dedicates time daily to meditation and chanting. Her mother was born in Holland and her father was born in Suriname, in South America.

Lucia is one of the most accomplished athletes in the world. She started her martial arts career at the early age of six, when she began training in Judo. A year later, she was part of the Dutch National Softball Team. At fourteen, after picking up fencing a year earlier, Lucia became the Netherlands Junior Champion of that sport.

No other woman has ever defeated her in the ring (as of February 2007); her boxing record is 17-0 (14 K.O.'s), and her kickboxing record is 37-0 (25 K.O.'s), conquering five world titles in the process. Finding no female opponent that could challenge her, she decided to confront a male opponent. She met her only defeat in October 1994 at an exhibition Muay Thai kickboxing match against male opponent, World Champion Somchai Jaidee of New Zealand (a 2nd-round K.O.).

Lucia has been on the cover of numerous magazines including Inside Kung Fu. As a professional boxer, she has won the WIBF Welterweight Title, and has beaten name fighters such as Marcela Acuña (5th-round K.O.; Acuña was 0-1), and Deborah "Sunshine" Fettkether (10th-round decision; Fettkether was 8-4-3 going in). For years, many women's boxing fans have clamored for a match between Lucia and Christy Martin ("The Coal Miner's Daughter"). The two had been widely considered the world’s top female boxers (Martin, more for raising the sport out of sideshow / joke status, she has lost 4 of her 50-plus fights; Rijker, for being impressively unstoppable). Also, they have repeatedly expressed great dislike for one another in public.

After winning her first 14 fights, but failing to secure a match with Martin, Rijker stepped away from boxing in 1999 to pursue a career in Hollywood. However, she returned to the ring in February 2002. She beat standout Jane Couch (20-4 going in) by decision (8 rounds) on June 21, 2003 for her 16th win. Win number 17 was a 10-round decision over "Sunshine" Fettkether on May 20, 2004.

She co-starred as "Billie 'The Blue Bear'" in 2004's Oscar-winning, female boxer-based film Million Dollar Baby. She was also featured in the documentary film Shadow Boxers. She played a minor role in Rollerball (2002 film) and even had a brief cameo in the season 2 finale of the L Word as Dana's trainer. Lucia and Martin were scheduled to fight on July 30, 2005 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Major U.S. promoter Bob Arum (Top Rank Boxing's head) had made their match the main event of a card (with otherwise male boxing matches) called "Million Dollar Lady". Each woman was guaranteed $250,000 (U.S.); the winner would get an extra $750,000, astronomical paydays for female boxers in the year 2005. Unfortunately, Lucia may not realize this million-dollar dream. On July 20, 2005, it was announced that she had ruptured an Achilles tendon while training for the fight; recovery time was estimated to be 4-7 months, perhaps long enough for the commercial appeal of the promotional gimmick to grow stale.

In an interview with Dan Horgan of doghouseboxing.com, Lucia stated that although not retired as a professional boxer, she only wants one more fight, a bout with female star Laila Ali.

She's currently giving lectures and seminars inspiring athletes and people from all walks of life to perform their best, while still maintaining her top physical form and a strict diet.

Lucia Rijker - "The Most Dangerous Woman in the World", posted to http://femalemixedmartialartists.blogspot.com/ on 3-8-2007