Chael Sonnen’s rise to prominence in the MMA stratosphere has nothing to do with his accomplishments as a fighter or lack thereof, but more to do with the sly innuendos, quick-witted remarks and a penchant for emitting sublimely outrageous vocali…
Chael Sonnen’s rise to prominence in the MMA stratosphere has nothing to do with his accomplishments as a fighter or lack thereof, but more to do with the sly innuendos, quick-witted remarks and a penchant for emitting sublimely outrageous vocalizations from his indefatigable oral cavity.
Though some find his antics tongue-in-cheek, there are others who visualize him as an attention-seeking, offensive piece of nothingness, and whose only claim to fame was a failed attempt at unseating Anderson Silva as the UFC middleweight champion.
The same contingents believe Uncle Chael’s incessant rhetoric has passed its sell-by date and as such he should disappear from whence he came.
I on the other hand beg to differ, and regardless of his over-the-top behaviour, I don’t believe the Oregon native has jumped the shark, and here’s why.
In less than eight weeks time, all roads lead to Atlanta, GA, for the most eagerly awaited and highly anticipated fight card of the year—UFC 145. The event is set to be stacked to the rafters with some of the most combative superlatives residing …
In less than eight weeks time, all roads lead to Atlanta, GA, for the most eagerly awaited and highly anticipated fight card of the year—UFC 145.
The event is set to be stacked to the rafters with some of the most combative superlatives residing in Zuffa-based hierarchy.
And with that in mind, the Philips Arena is geared for an explosive night of edge-of-seat fueled action, where anything could happen.
The Zuffa brass have released a UFC 145 promo which features amazing material of Jon Jones submitting Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida via guillotine choke at UFC 140. In one of the most anticipated events of 2012, “Bones” Jones is sl…
The Zuffa brass have released a UFC 145 promo which features amazing material of Jon Jones submitting Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida via guillotine choke at UFC 140.
In one of the most anticipated events of 2012, “Bones” Jones is slated to defend his light heavyweight title for the third time against friend-turned-foe and former training partner, Rashad Evans (17-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC).
Evans, who recently secured the top spot to contest the championship by winning a unanimous decision against Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis at UFC on FOX 2, has been at loggerheads with Jones, ever since the latter made it known that if he ever became champ, he’d be willing to fight Evans on the say-so of UFC president Dana White.
At 23, Jones (15-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) became the youngest 205-pounder in the history of the organization when he dethroned Pride legend Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in March of 2011.
The same year he followed that up with two successful title defenses against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (rear-naked choke) and Machida.
UFC 145 is scheduled for April 21, 2012, at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Ga.
Go here for video highlights of the Strikeforce main event featuring Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey. The proceedings came to an excruciating halt at 4:27 of the opening stanza, courtesy of Rousey’s trademark armbar submission which hurt the arm …
Go here for video highlights of the Strikeforce main event featuring Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey.
The proceedings came to an excruciating halt at 4:27 of the opening stanza, courtesy of Rousey’s trademark armbar submission which hurt the arm of “Takedown” Tate, thus handing the 25-year-old “Rowdy” the women’s bantamweight title.
Rousey headed into the bout riding a four-fight win streak and with as many armbar submissions to boot. Furthermore, she had taken all of 2 minutes and 18 seconds to accomplish the aforementioned victories.
However, in this match-up, things were slightly different, as she was locking horns with an experienced MMA practitioner in Tate (12-3 MMA, 5-2 SF) who also possessed good grappling skills, as well as being the reigning 135-pound champion.
The fight itself was explosive from start to finish, with both women gaining the upper hand on several occasions; however, it was Rousey’s overwhelming desire to win, coupled with her judo skill set, that were the overriding factors in this now-legendary throwdown.
The armbar submission was her fifth in her five professional career outings, and with the win over the No. 3 ranked female fighter in the world, Rousey (5-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) must now be mentioned in the same breath as the crème de la crème of female mixed martial artists the world over.
Rousey’s next fight could be a title defense against Sarah Kaufman, who won a majority decision against Alexis Davis in the preliminary-card event.
For now, the brash Californian will bask in the glory of capturing Strikeforce gold.
Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey will metaphorically rip the arm off Meisha “Takedown” Tate in her quest to capture the women’s bantamweight title when the two go head-to-head in the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. The ani…
Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey will metaphorically rip the arm off Meisha “Takedown” Tate in her quest to capture the women’s bantamweight title when the two go head-to-head in the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.
The animosity between these two female combatants is as real as it gets, and because of that, the fanzine are in for one hell of a fight for as long as it lasts, which in Rowdy time translates into under a minute.
The 25-year-old Californian comes into the bout off the back of four professional career submissions (all by way of armbar) which have amounted to a total of just 2:18 minutes.
In her most recent outing and second fight for the San Jose-based promotion, Rousey dislocated the elbow of Julia “The Jewel” Budd’s en route to a 39-second submission of the opening stanza.
In Tate (12-2), Rousey will be up against an experienced campaigner with impressive grappling skills, who, to boot, will be hell-bent on making a first successful defense of her belt.
Furthermore, Tate’s takedown attributes (as her sobriquet implies) have seen her submit five opponents—most notably MarloesCoenen.
However, Rousey’s resolute determination to win will override her lack of experience, that and her modusoperandi of employing her impressive judo to negate any takedown attempts, and in the process almost instantaneously take matters to the ground.
Once there, it’s only a matter of time before she locks in her trademark armbar, forcing Tate to tap out and relinquish her coveted 135-pound title.
This fight is gone in 60 seconds.
Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is scheduled for March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
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Women’s bantamweight champion Meisha Tate and title-contender Ronda Rousey verbally attacked each other at the Strikeforce press conference, which is in conjunction with their main-event title clash this Saturday. Tate drew first blood: I don’t c…
Women’s bantamweight champion Meisha Tate and title-contender Ronda Rousey verbally attacked each other at the Strikeforce press conference, which is in conjunction with their main-event title clash this Saturday.
Tate drew first blood:
I don’t care for Ronda’s personality. I’ve fought people I haven’t liked before but not to this extent. But I’m careful not to be overzealous and let tempers change my game plan. Ronda is a self-righteous person. She cares more about herself than the sport. She talked her way into a title fight. Clearly, she doesn’t deserve it. She’s not the No. 1 contender. She hasn’t even fought at this weight before. I mean, she’s 4-0 and has been moderately impressive, but she hasn’t faced anyone like me.
Rousey responded in kind:
I wasn’t looking to make friends in this sport. I just wanted to make a living so I didn’t have to catch coins. But it doesn’t matter if people don’t like me because it’s mostly current or former champs who think everyone should throw petals at their feet. Honestly, I don’t care if a bunch of girls I don’t know don’t like me. I’m doing this to support myself and not work night shifts at the gym. I don’t have respect for Miesha’s inconsistency. One minute it’s about the sport, the next she is wearing booty shorts on her website, and it’s the entertainment business.
Tate (12-2 MMA), has been plying her trade as a professional mixed martial artist since 2007. It was in November of the same year that she won her first bout—a decision victory over Jan Finney in the BodogFight 2007 women’s bantamweight tourney quarterfinals.
It was also the same night she suffered her first defeat—a first-round KO courtesy of Kaitlin Young in the semi-finals of the aforementioned tournament.
Following that loss, “Takedown” went on a five-fight winning streak whilst capturing the FCF women’s 135-lb title in the process.
However, the 25-year-old Team Alpha Male-trained fighter was upended in her next outing against former Strikeforce bantamweight title-holder Sarah Kaufmann.
With that said, Tate hasn’t tasted defeated since. And in July of 2011, she unseated Marloes Coenen as the bantamweight queenpin.
Conversely, Rousey (4-0 MMA), an Olympic bronze medallist and accomplished judoka, only began participating in the professional ranks as of 2011—a year she also registered four victories, all via armbar submission and all under one minute.
In addition, “Rowdy” has an amateur record of three wins, all of which came by armbar submission. In both her pro and amateur career, it has taken the 25-year-old Californian all of four minutes and one second to end her seven fights.
If there was any doubt about her mental toughness, they were put to rest at Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers.
In her second outing for the San Jose-based promotion, Rousey displayed a ruthless streak—locking in an armbar and dislocating Julia Budd’s elbow in the process
Since Gina “Conviction” Carano, the former face of women’s MMA, decided to take a furlough from the sport to pursue an acting career, her shoes have been left empty.
That could all be about to change when Tate and Rousey contest the championship, as both possess the looks as well as the marketability factor (more so the latter due to her rhetorical skills) to propel them and women’s mixed martial arts to the next phase apropos viewing figures and popularity.
Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is scheduled for Mar. 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
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