Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann has officially begun her journey with Strikeforce.
McMann, who earned that silver medal in freestyle wrestling in the 2004 Olympics, has a great background in grappling.
This may be the fighter, in my eyes, to challenge Ronda Rousey.
As reported by MMAweekly.com, McMann will likely make her debut on a card dated November 3. This signing will keep McMann from competing in Invicta FC, an all-women’s promotion where she would have likely challenged for the title.
Notably, McMann has earned victories over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano and Tonya Evinger. Her wrestling will be second-to-none, something that many women fighters lack in their respective arsenals.
As stated previously, I believe McMann may be the biggest threat, outside of Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, to Ronda Rousey’s crown. Rousey relies on a spectacular submission game and superior grappling to take out opponents.
McMann may be challenged in that grappling category. McMann’s top game is stifling and she has a submission game of her own (of her six wins, two are by submission).
She has good weight cutting abilities and should be a big, strong bantamweight in the women’s division. That is one thing that Rousey also possesses, meaning this could be a great chess match.
Likely, McMann will have a tune-up fight before even being considered for a title shot. If she is impressive in that fight, there is a good chance she could earn a title shot due to the shallowness of women’s MMA.
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