Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda ‘Rowdy’ Rousey (6-0) is reportedly bound for the Ultimate Fighting Championship according to a report by TMZ, and confirmed by MMAFighting.com. Rousey will become the first female fighter signed by the UFC and will make her debut soon. Also making headlines is news that the upcoming January 12 Showtime event […]
Ronda Rousey (L) works the armbar submission (R) against Sarah Kaufman – Photo via Facebook.com/Strikeforce
Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda ‘Rowdy’ Rousey (6-0) is reportedly bound for the Ultimate Fighting Championship according to a report by TMZ, and confirmed by MMAFighting.com.
Rousey will become the first female fighter signed by the UFC and will make her debut soon.
Also making headlines is news that the upcoming January 12 Showtime event will be Strikeforce’s last as the promotion will be closing it’s doors forever.
The Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion has fought her final fight for the promotion and is set to make her UFC debut in the near future, TMZ reported Thursday night. The Web site also reported that the recently announced Jan. 12 Strikeforce card in Oklahoma City will be the promotion’s last.
MMAFighting.com confirmed with sources close to the promotion that both news items are in fact true and more information is expected to be released early next week.
Fans have seen the writing on the wall for awhile for the Showtime promotion, with many having already called for the amalgamation of fighters from Strikeforce and the UFC.
UFC president Dana White had always said the field was to small to promote women’s mixed martial arts but has warmed up considerably following the rise in popularity of Rousey.
This is certainly a blessing for the UFC who has seen the “watering down” of events with so many shows scheduled in the year. The boost in talent will help keep cards topped with talent even when fights are cancelled due to injury.
Having earned a decision victory last Friday following a year long layoff, Bellator women’s 115-lbs champion Zoila ‘Warrior Princess’ Gurgel (12-1) is set to return to action on December 7 when she takes on Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye (8-1) at Bellator 83 in a flyweight matchup. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight and has […]
Zoila Gurgel
Having earned a decision victory last Friday following a year long layoff, Bellator women’s 115-lbs champion Zoila ‘Warrior Princess’ Gurgel (12-1) is set to return to action on December 7 when she takes on Jessica ‘Evil’ Eye (8-1) at Bellator 83 in a flyweight matchup.
Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight and has been confirmed by numerous websites including MMAWeekly.com.
Bellator 83 is expected to take place on Dec. 7, 2012 at Caesars Atlantic City in in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Gurgel vs. Eye is expected to appear on the MTV2 broadcasted main card.
Gurgel has spent the year recovering from a knee injury and subsequent surgery. The ‘Warrior Princess’ returned last Friday (Oct. 26) in a flyweight bout at Bellator 78 where she earned a unanimous decision against Casey Noland. It was Gurgel’s second straight match at 125-lbs, a weight she plans on staying in for the future. She is currently riding a seven fight win streak.
Eye has picked up five straight wins herself, all by decision having earned her last victory in August of this year. At a NAAFS event, ‘Evil’ earned a unanimous decision against Angela Magana. The bout with Gurgel marks Eye’s second Bellator appearance, having won a split decision against Casey Noland at Bellator 51 in September 2011.
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White has maintained that he would not bring women inside the Octagon to compete in mixed martial arts because their just wasn’t enough talent to support the sport. After the crowning of Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, White began warming up to the idea and has now come out […]
Ronda Rousey (L) works the armbar submission (R) against Sarah Kaufman – Photo via Facebook.com/Strikeforce
Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White has maintained that he would not bring women inside the Octagon to compete in mixed martial arts because their just wasn’t enough talent to support the sport.
After the crowning of Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, White began warming up to the idea and has now come out saying he is set on supporting the sport with the UFC in an interview with SI.com.
“It’s absolutely going to happen,” White said Tuesday of the women’s division…””could happen tomorrow, it could happen a year from now. The point is I’m committed to this.”
Rousey is 6-0 as a pro with all first round armbar submission finishes. The female champion does not have an opponent for her next fight, but rumors swirl about a catchweight match between her and former women’s featherweight title holder Cristiane ‘Cyborg’.
It will be interesting to see where this goes, I’m sure Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp is seeing dollar signs as she has most of the top female talent signed to the all-female promotion.
The hits keep coming for the Strikeforce promotion. Undefeated fighter, and former Olympic women’s freestyle wrestling silver medalist, Sara McMann (6-0) has had to withdraw from her upcoming Strikeforce debut versus former women’s bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche due to injury. News of the injury was first posted by MMAWeekly.com, with no injury details provided. […]
Sara McMann
The hits keep coming for the Strikeforce promotion.
Undefeated fighter, and former Olympic women’s freestyle wrestling silver medalist, Sara McMann (6-0) has had to withdraw from her upcoming Strikeforce debut versus former women’s bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche due to injury.
News of the injury was first posted by MMAWeekly.com, with no injury details provided.
This injury follows on the heels of another injury announcement earlier today, as Strikeforce middleweight champ Luke Rockhold was forced out of his title defense with Lorenz Larkin as part of the same Strikeforce event.
The card is expected to take place on November 3, 2012 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The event has already seen the loss of heavyweight headliners Daniel Cormier vs. Frank Mir after Mir withdrew due to injury.
The McMann vs. Carmouche bout was likely a No. 1 contender bout, and with the loss of this match, could see Showtime/Strikeforce consider cancelling a second straight event.
Female atomweight fighter Jessica Penne squared off against Jewel champion Naho Sugiyama in the main event of Saturday nights Invicta FC 3 event in Kansas City, Kansas. The Reign gym fighter, Penne, managed to score a second round submission victory to claim the first Invicta championship title.
Press Release – KANSAS CITY, KAN. (Oct. 6, 2012) –Atomweight (105 pounds) superstar Jessica Penne (10-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. was crowned the first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships world champion after submitting previously undefeated Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (8-1) of Kyoto, Japan with a triangle choke in the second round (2:20) of the main event at […]
Jessica Penne – image via InvictaFC.com
Press Release – KANSAS CITY, KAN. (Oct. 6, 2012) –Atomweight (105 pounds) superstar Jessica Penne (10-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. was crowned the first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships world champion after submitting previously undefeated Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (8-1) of Kyoto, Japan with a triangle choke in the second round (2:20) of the main event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City on Saturday night, live on InvictaFC.com
In bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event action, Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (15-7) of Sioux Falls, S.D. used a brilliant ground game to find an opening and submit rising star Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (6-3) of San Jose, Calif. with a rear-naked choke in the second round (:37) of action.
The much-anticipated bantamweight rematch between Leslie Smith (4-2-1) of Pleasant Hill, Calif. and Kaitlin Young (7-7-1) of St. Louis Park, Minn. played to a far different tempo as the two rivals took their fight to the mat this time around, rather than exchanging flurries of strikes as they did during the first go-around at the inaugural Invicta FC card in April. In the second round, Smith scrambled to top position off a missed kneebar attempt, and from mount position, unloaded punches until the referee stopped the contest at the 2:19 mark of the round.
In other main card action, Cat Zingano (7-0) of Broomfield, Colo.and Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (10-3) of Albuquerque, N.M. notched their first wins under the Invicta FC banner. Zingano submitted Raquel “Rocky” Pennington (3-2) of Colorado Springs, Colo. with a rear-naked choke in the second round (3:32) of their matchup while Waterson, a protégé of MMA guru Greg Jackson, earned a majority decision over Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman.
In the opening main card bout, Julia “The Jewel” Budd (4-2) of Port Moody, CA. notched her second Invicta FC victory by scoring a TKO on Danielle “The Honey Badger” West (4-4-1) of London, U.K. in the first round (2:32) of action.
Complete Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama Results:
Jessamyn Duke def. Marciea Allen via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:42
Stephanie Frausto def. Amy Davis via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, :48
Joanne Calderwood def. Ashley Cummins via KO (knee) – Round 1, 3:13
Carla Esparza def. Lynn Alvarez via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:53
About Invicta Fighting Championships:
Invicta Fighting Championships (www.InvictaFC.com) is a world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp and sports aficionado Janet Martin, Invicta is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible matchups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport.
