(She might not have been the best fighter in the division, but Gaff had the best throwing-a-punch face in the biz. Photo via Getty.)
In a move signifying that equality in the octagon has finally been achieved, bantamweight Sheila Gaff has been released from the UFC. Following a pair of first round TKO losses to Sara McMann and Amanda Nunes at UFC 159 and UFC 163, respectively, Gaff’s departure was passed along by the German website GroundandPound.de yesterday.
After the two defeats in the heavily occupied bantamweight class Gaff must now make a fresh start elsewhere.
Disappointments and defeats belong to every fighter in this career, but I will go on,” said Gaff. “Most of all I am sorry that I could not show my fans what I can really do. In the last two weeks the love and uplifting words from many of my fans have helped. Thanks also for the support of sponsors MMA Spirit, Geva and Olimp.
And it is here that we see the dichotomy of the UFC rankings system. The women’s bantamweight division currently consists of just 12 fighters. The men’s flyweight division has 18 fighters. Ian McCall, who went 0-2-1 in his first three UFC contests, was ranked #3 in the flyweight division going into his UFC 163 bout with Illarde Santos. Gaff, on the other hand, was ranked #10 and axed after two losses. There’s not much deeper of a comparison to be made here, but I just thought it was worth noting…
(She might not have been the best fighter in the division, but Gaff had the best throwing-a-punch face in the biz. Photo via Getty.)
In a move signifying that equality in the octagon has finally been achieved, bantamweight Sheila Gaff has been released from the UFC. Following a pair of first round TKO losses to Sara McMann and Amanda Nunes at UFC 159 and UFC 163, respectively, Gaff’s departure was passed along by the German website GroundandPound.de yesterday.
After the two defeats in the heavily occupied bantamweight class Gaff must now make a fresh start elsewhere.
Disappointments and defeats belong to every fighter in this career, but I will go on,” said Gaff. “Most of all I am sorry that I could not show my fans what I can really do. In the last two weeks the love and uplifting words from many of my fans have helped. Thanks also for the support of sponsors MMA Spirit, Geva and Olimp.
And it is here that we see the dichotomy of the UFC rankings system. The women’s bantamweight division currently consists of just 12 fighters. The men’s flyweight division has 18 fighters. Ian McCall, who went 0-2-1 in his first three UFC contests, was ranked #3 in the flyweight division going into his UFC 163 bout with Illarde Santos. Gaff, on the other hand, was ranked #10 and axed after two losses. There’s not much deeper of a comparison to be made here, but I just thought it was worth noting…
It’s been awhile since we’ve familiarized you guys (and ourselves) with the hard-working underlings of an upcoming UFC card, but with so many foreign faces throwing down at UFC 163 this weekend, we decided to dust off an old feature for the sake of education. Don’t worry, this article will contain more knockout videos and fart jokes than it will actual information, as per the CagePotato decree.
Amanda “Lioness” Nunes Experience: 7-3, with notable victories over Julia Budd (see above), Vanessa Porto, and Ediane Gomes. Despite her somewhat modest record, Nunes carries a wealth of experience fighting in top-level promotions such as Strikeforce and Invicta, where she went 2-2. We also hear that her farts smell like Febreeze. Specifically Mediterranean Lavender, which is odd considering she’s Brazilian and all. Will be facing: Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff (10-5, 0-1 UFC) Lowdown: Even having dropped two of her last three, the hard-hitting Nunes is arguably in a better position than her opponent, who is facing a quick turnaround after being dominated by Sara McMann in her own UFC debut at UFC 159. In a perfect world, we will see these two strikers throw caution to the wind and go all Merrill Hess on each another until one of them falls down. Actually, that’s the most likely scenario — three cheers for insanely high expectations based on preconceived notions of inequality!
It’s been awhile since we’ve familiarized you guys (and ourselves) with the hard-working underlings of an upcoming UFC card, but with so many foreign faces throwing down at UFC 163 this weekend, we decided to dust off an old feature for the sake of education. Don’t worry, this article will contain more knockout videos and fart jokes than it will actual information, as per the CagePotato decree.
Amanda “Lioness” Nunes Experience: 7-3, with notable victories over Julia Budd (see above), Vanessa Porto, and Ediane Gomes. Despite her somewhat modest record, Nunes carries a wealth of experience fighting in top-level promotions such as Strikeforce and Invicta, where she went 2-2. We also hear that her farts smell like Febreeze. Specifically Mediterranean Lavender, which is odd considering she’s Brazilian and all. Will be facing: Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff (10-5, 0-1 UFC) Lowdown: Even having dropped two of her last three, the hard-hitting Nunes is arguably in a better position than her opponent, who is facing a quick turnaround after being dominated by Sara McMann in her own UFC debut at UFC 159. In a perfect world, we will see these two strikers throw caution to the wind and go all Merrill Hess on each another until one of them falls down. Actually, that’s the most likely scenario — three cheers for insanely high expectations based on preconceived notions of inequality!
(Barroso scores a five-second, head kick KO over Abhijeet Petkar at Desert Force 1.)
Francimar “Bodao” Barroso Experience: 15-3, with appearances under the Shooto, Bitetti and Desert Force promotions. Will be facing: Ednaldo “Lula Molusco” Oliveira (13-1-1, 0-1 UFC) Lowdown: Filling in for Robert Drysdale, who was forced to withdraw from his UFC debut due to a staph infection, “Bodao” will be bringing 14 stoppage victories including 12 first round finishes into his octagon debut. Problem is, all three of his losses have come via (T)KO, which could spell trouble for him against the similarly heavy handed Oliveira, who we last saw choked out by Gabriel Gonzaga way back at UFC 142.
(Andrade beats up a child in a basement. Yep, these count as legit MMA fights in Brazil.)
Experience: 14-5 (4 KO, 4 Sub 6 Dec), with the only notable names on his record being defeats to Iuri Alcantara, Leandro Silva and Charles Oliveira. Will be facing: Bristol Marunde (12-8, 0-1 UFC) Lowdown: If the above video is any indication, it’s safe to say that Andrade might suffer a few UFC jitters come Saturday night. I mean, just look at that pathetic excuse for an octagon. Can you even complete a double leg without taking out the ref in that thing? Anyway, the TUF Brazil 2 alum has some killer instinct so we’re not completely writing him off, especially against the woefully inconsistent Marunde.
Experience: 8-1, with multiple appearances under the Spartan MMA and WOCS banners. 4 knockouts, 1 sub, 3 decisions. Will be facing: Cezar “Mutante” Ferreira (5-2, 1-0 UFC) Lowdown: We can’t find much visual evidence on Santos, probably because he is one of approximately 436 Brazilians named Thiago Santos currently competing in MMA. He made it to the TUF Brazil 2 quarterfinals, so there’s that, and he’s filling in for Clint Hester on short notice. And he’s fighting up a weight class. Brave men all, those lost sons of Rio.
(Tome submits Jerry Tolentino at Limo Fight 9….really? The fuck, Brazil?)
Experience: 33-3 (15 TKO, 13 Sub). Again, the only notable opponent on his record is Jussier da Silva, whom he lost to via first round submission back in March of 2008. Will be facing: John Lineker (21-6, 2-1 UFC) Lowdown: Folks, I am going to be blunt. Without even looking at the odds, I am going to ensure you with 100% certainty that Tome will not be walking away from UFC 163 with a victory under his belt. You might say that he has “No Chance.”
How am I so confident? Because this guy is Brazil’s answer to Jason Reindhart (minus the crabs, hopefully), that’s why. Perusing over his record, you will find fake names (Maluinha Maluinha and Everton Everton? Please), more than a handful of 0-1 opponents and less than a handful of winning records. I know you can’t always pick and choose your fights, but fighting a 2-3 guy named “Bulldog” less than a year ago is just pathetic when you boast that kind of record. At least Kramer fought children at his own belt level for Christ’s sake.
Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsTwenty-two-year-old striking sensation Amanda Nunes will return to the cage on June 18, when she takes on veteran Julie Kedzie.
Strikeforce confirmed the matchup will take place on June 18’s Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdu…
Nunes made her U.S. debut on a January Strikeforce Challengers series card, knocking out fellow striker Julia Budd in just 14 seconds. The highlight-reel win opened many eyes and lifted Nunes’ name into the conversation of 145-pound contenders.
Nunes started her career with a submission loss in March 2008, but has since rattled off six straight wins, all via knockout or TKO.
Kedzie will be no easy test for her. The 30-year-old is 16-8 in her career and is riding a four-fight win streak, with her most recent victory coming against Kaitlin Young on April 9.
Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, and also boasts Heavyweight Grand Prix fights with Josh Barnett facing Brett Rogers and Alistair Overeem taking on Fabricio Werdum in the main event.
Filed under: UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, Women’s OverallThese are uncertain times for women’s mixed martial arts. Strikeforce has been the industry leader in female fights, while the UFC has maintained that it has no interest in putting women…
These are uncertain times for women’s mixed martial arts. Strikeforce has been the industry leader in female fights, while the UFC has maintained that it has no interest in putting women in the Octagon. So now that the UFC runs Strikeforce, does that mean women’s MMA is endangered?
Not necessarily. The Strikeforce women were invited to the UFC’s recent fighter summit in Las Vegas, which indicates that Zuffa thinks women have a future within the company, and next month’s return of the sport’s biggest female star, Gina Carano, will result in a publicity boost for women’s MMA.
So as I review the top 10 female fighters in mixed martial arts, I’m confident that it’s a list of fighters whose futures are bright. Even if I’m not sure where and when most of them will fight next.
Several of Strikeforce elite female fighters made their first trip out to The Fight Summit, which is an MMA business conference run by Zuffa. As the promotion now resides under the Zuffa umbrella, Strikeforce fighters including: Miesha Tate, Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes, Sarah Kaufmann, Elaina Maxwell and Marloes Coenen attended the 2 day conference in […]
Miesha Tate.. future UFC fighter?
Several of Strikeforce elite female fighters made their first trip out to The Fight Summit, which is an MMA business conference run by Zuffa. As the promotion now resides under the Zuffa umbrella, Strikeforce fighters including: Miesha Tate, Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes, Sarah Kaufmann, Elaina Maxwell and Marloes Coenen attended the 2 day conference in Las Vegas. Were there discussions of seeing these females sometime in the future fighting under the UFC promotion? That may be very top secret, but we do know that the ladies and all the Strikeforce fighters participated in new photo shoots and videos promos for upcoming Strikeforce broadcasts and advertising.
Filed under: Strikeforce, FanHouse ExclusiveIt was inevitable, once you stop and think about it. An aggressive Brazilian fighter in the Strikeforce 145-pound women’s division comes in and knocks out her opponent in the first round of her Strikeforce d…
It was inevitable, once you stop and think about it. An aggressive Brazilian fighter in the Strikeforce 145-pound women’s division comes in and knocks out her opponent in the first round of her Strikeforce debut, and the questions about (not to mention comparisons to) Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos start up before the cheers even die down.
“I want to fight Cyborg tomorrow, but my manager and trainers feel like I need to gain a little more experience before I fight for the championship,” Nunes told MMA Fighting via email this week. “I’ve only been training MMA for three years and I am still learning every day. The day I step in the cage with Cyborg, I will be 100% prepared.”
Twenty-two-year-old striking sensation 
These are uncertain times for women’s mixed martial arts. Strikeforce has been the industry leader in female fights, while the UFC has maintained that it has no interest in putting women in the Octagon. So now that the UFC runs Strikeforce, does that mean women’s MMA is endangered?
It was inevitable, once you stop and think about it. An aggressive Brazilian fighter in the Strikeforce 145-pound women’s division comes in and knocks out her opponent in the first round of her Strikeforce debut, and the questions about (not to mention comparisons to)