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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…

(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.

Don’t Like MMA’s Double Standards? Then Do Something About It

Filed under: StrikeforceSarah Kaufman thinks she’s being treated differently than every other Strikeforce champion. She’s right.

She thinks there’s a double standard that’s keeping her pay low and her fights on the lesser-watched Challengers series e…

Filed under: Strikeforce

Sarah Kaufman thinks she’s being treated differently than every other Strikeforce champion. She’s right.

She thinks there’s a double standard that’s keeping her pay low and her fights on the lesser-watched Challengers series events. She’s right.

She thinks – if I may paraphrase her position – that this is some unfair, possibly sexist crap. Again, she’s right.

And yet, I can’t help feeling like we already knew this. Just like I can’t help feeling that we’re all at least partially to blame for it.

Sarah Kaufman Talks ‘Cookies and Man Parts’

Filed under: StrikeforceJust a couple of days before her title defense on Friday night’s Strikeforce: Challengers event, unbeaten Strikeforce 135-pound champ Sarah Kaufman’s mind was on “cookies and man parts.”

Those seemed like the only two things, …

Filed under: Strikeforce

Just a couple of days before her title defense on Friday night’s Strikeforce: Challengers event, unbeaten Strikeforce 135-pound champ Sarah Kaufman‘s mind was on “cookies and man parts.”

Those seemed like the only two things, Kaufman (11-0) wrote in a blog entry on PrettyToughFighter.com, that would get her off the Friday night Challengers shows and onto a main Strikeforce card.

“I am currently the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion…yet I fought for the title on a Challengers Card. Now, I am set to defend said title against Roxanne Modafferi in just a few days – again – on a Challengers Card,” Kaufman wrote.

You Had Your Moment, Rampage — Gina Carano’s ‘Haywire’ to Drop in January 2011

(Seriously, any excuse to run this photo…)
Gina Carano’s upcoming star turn in Steven Soderbergh’s next action flick will reportedly hit theaters in January, and early impressions are very positive. The movie, now titled Haywire instead of Kn…

(Seriously, any excuse to run this photo…)

Gina Carano‘s upcoming star turn in Steven Soderbergh’s next action flick will reportedly hit theaters in January, and early impressions are very positive. The movie, now titled Haywire instead of Knockout, had its first test screening earlier this week, and Hollywood Elsewhere passed along a rundown of the plot and Carano’s surprisingly compelling performance:

Mallory Kane (Carano) is young, tough, beautiful, determined, and a freelance covert operative. She is hired out by her handler, Kenneth (Ewan McGregor), to various global entities, to perform jobs which governments can’t authorize and heads of state would rather not know about.

For all her looks and youth, Mallory is still the best in her field, and her skills are in constant demand. But when one of her operations goes awry, Mallory needs to use all her skills, tricks and abilities to escape an international manhunt, make it back to the United States, protect her family, and exact revenge on those that have betrayed her.