Tag: carina damm

Reminder: ‘Strikeforce Challengers Phoenix’ Airs Tonight on Showtime, 11 p.m. ET /PT

("Next time on Extreme Makeover…" / Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)
Program the codes into your DVR machine, because Strikeforce’s femme-tastic Challengers event in Phoenix airs tonight at 11 p.m. (For most of us, at least. C…

Strikeforce MMA women's tournament Akano Miesha Tate Carina Damm Kujala
Strikeforce Rockstar ring girls MMA hot
("Next time on Extreme Makeover…" / Photos courtesy of Esther Lin/Strikeforce.)

Program the codes into your DVR machine, because Strikeforce’s femme-tastic Challengers event in Phoenix airs tonight at 11 p.m. (For most of us, at least. Check your local listings.) Weights have been made, and the first-round tournament match-ups have been set: Miesha Tate will face Maiju Kujala in the semis, while Carina Damm takes on Hitomi Akano. Plus, Ryan Couture makes his pro debut, and Joe Riggs aw who cares. If you’re tuning in, please direct your thoughts to the comment thread below. Let’s have some fun tonight…

One-Night Tournament Sounds Great, But Is It a Relic Better Left in MMA’s Past?

Filed under: StrikeforceFor the old school MMA fans, there’s something about the one-night tournament that we can’t resist. It’s the siren’s song of nostalgia, I suppose. We hear it and immediately go sailing off into the rocky cliffs, even though we r…

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For the old school MMA fans, there’s something about the one-night tournament that we can’t resist. It’s the siren’s song of nostalgia, I suppose. We hear it and immediately go sailing off into the rocky cliffs, even though we really should know better by now.

I’m just as bad as anyone else in this regard. I hear about a night that begins with several fighters and ends with one champion, and suddenly I feel like it’s 1996 and I should be going over to a friend’s house to watch it on VHS while we figure out how to sneak a beer or two out of the fridge without his parents noticing.

That’s not to say I necessarily think that either the one-night tournament or the surreptitious underage drinking (smart parents count those beers, as it turns out) are a good idea. But as I expect Friday night’s women’s 135-pound Strikeforce tournament will prove, every once in a while we need to be reminded why some things in the past didn’t make it into the present.

MMA FightPicker Update: It’s Ladies’ Night at Bellator and Strikeforce Challengers

(Can Miesha Tate smash through two fighters in the same night? Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)
Look, we could talk about Silva and Sonnen all day, but there’s new business to attend to — namely, this is a huge week for women’s MMA. Thursday mar…

Miesha Tate strikeforce photos women's mma
(Can Miesha Tate smash through two fighters in the same night? Photo courtesy of Strikeforce.)

Look, we could talk about Silva and Sonnen all day, but there’s new business to attend to — namely, this is a huge week for women’s MMA. Thursday marks the premiere of Bellator’s third season, which will go down at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. In addition to appearances by Hector Lombard, Eddie Sanchez, and Yves Edwards, Bellator 24 will host two opening-round fights from their 115-pound women’s tournament: Megumi Fujii against late replacement Carla Esparza, and Jessica Aguilar vs. Lynn Alvarez. 

The following night, Strikeforce Challengers comes to the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, featuring Miesha Tate, Carina Damm, Hitomi Akano, and Maiju Kujala in a one-night 135-pound tournament; first-round matchups will be determined at Thursday’s weigh-ins. If you’d like to enter some MMA FightPicker pools, please make it happen by tomorrow at fightpicker.cagepotato.com or apps.facebook.com/fightpicker. The full list of this week’s questions is after the jump…

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Strikeforce Confirms Visa Issues for Carina Damm

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsJust two weeks before its first women’s tournament, Strikeforce might be losing one of its competitors.

There have been reports that Carina Damm, of Brazil, is having a hard time getting her visa secured so she can trave…

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Just two weeks before its first women’s tournament, Strikeforce might be losing one of its competitors.

There have been reports that Carina Damm, of Brazil, is having a hard time getting her visa secured so she can travel to Phoenix for the Aug. 13 welterweight (135 pounds) tournament, and Strikeforce spokesman Mike Afromowitz confirmed that speculation on Wednesday night in an e-mail to members of the media.

Damm is scheduled to be one of four participants in the tournament, which will be held at Phoenix’s Dodge Theatre as part of a Strikeforce Challengers event that will air live on Showtime. The main event of the card is a 182-pound catchweight bout between Joe Riggs and Louis Taylor.

Damm (15-3) hasn’t fought outside her native Brazil in more than two years. She has a 10-fight winning streak.

The 9 Greatest Moments in MMA Herstory

(Carano and Cyborg: Godmothers of the game. / Photo courtesy of SI.com)
By CagePotato.com contributor Jim Genia
First there was the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which empowered the women of the United States with the right to vote. The…

Gina Carano Cris Cyborg women's mma photos videos history
(Carano and Cyborg: Godmothers of the game. / Photo courtesy of SI.com)

By CagePotato.com contributor Jim Genia

First there was the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which empowered the women of the United States with the right to vote. The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s followed, providing them with birth control and shifting values, and liberating them from the social constraints of a rigid society. Then came Gina Carano vs. Cris “Cyborg” Santos, which showed that when you put two well-trained ladies in a cage and pay them to fight, they can really beat the crap out of each other (or at least one can thoroughly whoop the other).

Yes, great strides have been made in equality for the fairer sex, and thanks to the likes of Carano and Cyborg, this equality has stretched into the realm of mixed martial arts. Now, there are impending all-female tournaments scheduled for Strikeforce and Bellator, and Sarah Kaufman’s recent violent KO over Roxanne Modafferi made ESPN’s “SportCenter”. Whether you love it or hate it, the female version of limited-rules combat is here to stay. So here’s a look back at some of the greatest moments in MMA herstory. (Get it? “His-story”, “her-story”? Yuk-yuk.)

Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young, EliteXC: “Primetime”

On May 31, 2008, EliteXC broke the live network-television seal with “Primetime”, a CBS-broadcast event that saw Kimbo Slice smash James Thompson’s ear, Robbie Lawler poke Scott Smith in the eye, and an overweight Carano batter a smaller Kaitlin Young. Overweight? That’s right, for the first-ever female bout on free TV, ultra-popular fighter and former American Gladiator Carano failed to make the contracted 140-pound weight limit, coming in instead at 144.5 pounds. This wasn’t the first time the “Face of Women’s MMA” had failed to make weight. In fact, EliteXC had tailor-made the 140-pound division for her because making the standard 135-pound limit would’ve required too much cardio and crystal meth. To ensure that she didn’t miss weight at her next fight, which was a pairing in Miami against Kelly Kobold, Carano stepped on the scale buck naked. Thankfully, the towel held up by her father to conceal her nude form from the crowd only slipped once.

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Strikeforce Announces 135-Pound Women’s Tourney, but Coenen’s Got Next

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsFor a while, it seemed as though the Strikeforce 135-pound women’s division was being overshadowed by the 145-pound weight class and its champion, Cris Cyborg. But all of a sudden, and not to mention on the eve of Strikefo…

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For a while, it seemed as though the Strikeforce 135-pound women’s division was being overshadowed by the 145-pound weight class and its champion, Cris Cyborg. But all of a sudden, and not to mention on the eve of Strikeforce’s 135-pound women’s title fight between champion Sarah Kaufman and Roxanne Modaferri, the welterweight division has become a lot more stable and clear, as the organization announced Thursday a four-woman single elimination tournament, which will crown a new No. 2 contender for that weight class.

Strikeforce also announced that Marloes Coenen, who most recently lost a 145-pound title fight to Cris Cyborg in January, has been named the new No. 1 contender and will face the winner of Modafferi-Kaufman at a later date.

The tournament, which will begin and end on the same night, will take place at the Aug. 13 Strikeforce Challengers event at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz. The three, 3-minute round fights will air on the undercard of the Joe Riggs vs. Louis Taylor main event show.