According to Gilbert Melendez’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, the UFC are in talks to have either former UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn or former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis challenge his charge for his Strikeforce strap next.
“Melendez’s situation is complex right now. We still don’t have an opponent, date or place set. They said he could fight in San Jose but it’ll probably change. They mentioned Josh Thomson but then said it was not going to happen”, Gracie explained.“I spoke to [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva and he told me maybe some UFC fighters will go to Strikeforce. We would really like to see him fighting Pettis or BJ, but we are still not sure about what’s going to happen.”
Given that “Showtime” mentioned yesterday that he is considering dropping down to featherweight to challenge Jose Aldo in the near future, it would seem that the UFC brass are leaning towards “The Prodigy” for the bout. It would make sense since Penn has been uncharacteristically mum about his fighting future since his last fight and likely would have been mulling over the offer to swing over to the UFC’s sister promotion, considering how much less promotion and exposure it gets.
(“No rematch for you, Punk”)
According to Gilbert Melendez’s trainer, Cesar Gracie, the UFC are in talks to have either former UFC lightweight champ BJ Penn or former WEC lightweight champ Anthony Pettis challenge his charge for his Strikeforce strap next.
“Melendez’s situation is complex right now. We still don’t have an opponent, date or place set. They said he could fight in San Jose but it’ll probably change. They mentioned Josh Thomson but then said it was not going to happen”, Gracie explained.“I spoke to [UFC matchmaker] Joe Silva and he told me maybe some UFC fighters will go to Strikeforce. We would really like to see him fighting Pettis or BJ, but we are still not sure about what’s going to happen.”
Given that “Showtime” mentioned yesterday that he is considering dropping down to featherweight to challenge Jose Aldo in the near future, it would seem that the UFC brass are leaning towards “The Prodigy” for the bout. It would make sense since Penn has been uncharacteristically mum about his fighting future since his last fight and likely would have been mulling over the offer to swing over to the UFC’s sister promotion, considering how much less promotion and exposure it gets.
Melendez confirmed in a recent interview that reps from Zuffa indicated that he would no longer be facing Josh Thomson, who was thought to be his next opponent.
Another name that has been mentioned as an opponent for “El Nino” is Tyson Griffin, who was quietly suspended by Zuffa for failing a post-fight drug test for marijuana after his UFC 123 loss to Nick Lentz. Although it would create an interesting storyline since Griffin once trained under Gracie before leaving for Xtreme Couture, it’s unlikely considering he is 1-4 in his last five outings and rumor has it he’s been dropped by the UFC.
We’ll have more news on Melendez’s next opponent as it becomes available.
Last night’s Strikeforce card was a memorable one — even though there were a couple aspects of the show that we’d love to forget. Now that the dust has settled, let’s take a look back at Tate vs. Rousey’s thrilling highlights and awful lowlights…
The Good
– First and foremost, this gif from the weigh ins. Oh, Ronda. [*flexes butt seductively*]
– Ronda Rousey‘s title-winning performance against Miesha Tate. We finally learned what Rousey’s “Plan B” is when she’s unable to armbar you within the first minute — unsurprisingly, it’s another armbar. Rousey kept her head when Miesha stormed out at her in the beginning of the fight, calmly extracted herself from bad positions on the ground, and didn’t get discouraged when her first nasty armbar attempt failed to break Miesha’s elbow. Instead, she relied on the judo expertise that has carried her to a title shot in less than a year of professional MMA competition, and got the inevitable snap/tap at 4:27 of round 1. During her post-fight interview, Rousey proved that her heat-seeking personality doesn’t turn off just because the match is over. (Yes, she holds grudges, and yes, she still thinks Tate sucks.) A meeting with former champ Sarah Kaufman is next, but I can’t be the only one looking ahead to a possible 135-pound superfight against Cris Cyborg.
– Ronaldo Souza‘s striking. In the past, Jacare’s occasional tendency to keep fights standing has struck me as a frustrating betrayal of his bread-and-butter. (See also: Demian Maia.) But against Bristol Marunde, Souza’s striking looked just as dangerous as his grappling; his ferocious overhand rights and unconventional kicks brought to mind other Brazilian bangers like Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante and Edson Barboza. Jacare is still evolving as a fighter, and Luke Rockhold should watch his back.
Last night’s Strikeforce card was a memorable one — even though there were a couple aspects of the show that we’d love to forget. Now that the dust has settled, let’s take a look back at Tate vs. Rousey’s thrilling highlights and awful lowlights…
The Good
– First and foremost, this gif from the weigh ins. Oh, Ronda. [*flexes butt seductively*]
– Ronda Rousey‘s title-winning performance against Miesha Tate. We finally learned what Rousey’s “Plan B” is when she’s unable to armbar you within the first minute — unsurprisingly, it’s another armbar. Rousey kept her head when Miesha stormed out at her in the beginning of the fight, calmly extracted herself from bad positions on the ground, and didn’t get discouraged when her first nasty armbar attempt failed to break Miesha’s elbow. Instead, she relied on the judo expertise that has carried her to a title shot in less than a year of professional MMA competition, and got the inevitable snap/tap at 4:27 of round 1. During her post-fight interview, Rousey proved that her heat-seeking personality doesn’t turn off just because the match is over. (Yes, she holds grudges, and yes, she still thinks Tate sucks.) A meeting with former champ Sarah Kaufman is next, but I can’t be the only one looking ahead to a possible 135-pound superfight against Cris Cyborg.
– Ronaldo Souza‘s striking. In the past, Jacare’s occasional tendency to keep fights standing has struck me as a frustrating betrayal of his bread-and-butter. (See also: Demian Maia.) But against Bristol Marunde, Souza’s striking looked just as dangerous as his grappling; his ferocious overhand rights and unconventional kicks brought to mind other Brazilian bangers like Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante and Edson Barboza. Jacare is still evolving as a fighter, and Luke Rockhold should watch his back.
– The Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis fight on the prelims. If you were able to catch it on Showtime Extreme, consider yourself lucky. Kaufman/Davis was the kind of three-round brawl that you don’t often see in women’s MMA, and it went a long way in securing Kaufman as the rightful next-in-line for a bantamweight title shot. Kaufman will surely be a big underdog against Rousey, but her sprawl-and-brawl style is the perfect skillset for a fight against the champ.
The Bad – Scott Smith‘s physique. Judging by his soft midsection, Smith didn’t take preparations for his return to middleweight seriously enough, and it showed in his performance, where he was manhandled and out-grappled by relative newcomer Lumumba Sayers. The fight was over before Smith had a chance to make one of his miraculous comebacks. With four losses in a row, Smith’s time on the big stage might be over.
– The referee in Tate vs. Rousey not stopping the fight until about eight seconds after Tate’s arm had grown a new elbow. Tate showed her warrior heart by not tapping until the pain was overwhelming; the ref showed his ignorance by not stopping the fight until that moment.
– Josh Thomson‘s safety-first performance against KJ Noons, and his graceless analysis of it: “It was shit…My conditioning was shit, so my fight was shit.” Cool story, bro. Thomson made a big show of his anti-Obama t-shirt after the fight, but at least you have to give him credit for not being a creep about his political opinions, unlike some people we know.
The Ugly
– Kazuo Misaki’s face after his decision win over Paul Daley. After suffering a Marvin Eastman-caliber head gash in the third round, he also ended up with a Ryan McGillivray-style broken nose.
– The Nazi pedophile on the undercard. In an attempt to add more local flavor to the prelims, Strikeforce booked Ohio native Brandon Saling to fight Roger Bowling. Not-so-fun fact: Saling previously did time in prison on a “gross sexual imposition” charge for raping a 12-year-old girl. And he didn’t generate any sympathy last night when he stepped into the cage rocking white supremacist tattoos, including an ’88′ on his shoulder which is Neo Nazi code for “Heil Hitler.” To make a long story short, he’s a shit-stain on the underwear of humanity, and Strikeforce screwed up royally by not doing a basic background check before booking him on their televised prelim broadcast. This is not who we need representing us, guys.
Welcome, friends, to the most bonerrific highly-anticipated women’s bantamweight fight in MMA history. Seven months after winning the Strikeforce 135-pound strap, Miesha Tate will attempt to make her first title defense against arm-snapping fire-cracker Ronda Rousey. And that’s just the cherry on top of a loaded fight card that also features two former Strikeforce champions (Josh Thomson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza), a pack of crowd-pleasing sluggers (Paul Daley, Scott Smith, KJ Noons), and the return of former PRIDE welterweight grand prix champion Kazuo Misaki.
Handling our liveblog for this evening is Steve Silverman, who will be posting round-by-round results for the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey main card after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please toss your own brilliant opinions and observations into the comments section.
Welcome, friends, to the most bonerrific highly-anticipated women’s bantamweight fight in MMA history. Seven months after winning the Strikeforce 135-pound strap, Miesha Tate will attempt to make her first title defense against arm-snapping fire-cracker Ronda Rousey. And that’s just the cherry on top of a loaded fight card that also features two former Strikeforce champions (Josh Thomson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza), a pack of crowd-pleasing sluggers (Paul Daley, Scott Smith, KJ Noons), and the return of former PRIDE welterweight grand prix champion Kazuo Misaki.
Handling our liveblog for this evening is Steve Silverman, who will be posting round-by-round results for the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey main card after the jump starting at 10 p.m. ET. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and please toss your own brilliant opinions and observations into the comments section.
Mauro Ranallo … what a jive-ass putting on his phony radio voice…. No doubt that Miesha Tat and Ronda Rousey will put on a sterling show…
Tate is a very solid-looking fighter … and a stunning babe… and Rousey may not be ready for her just yet….
Jacare Souza and Bristol Marunde will get the night started….
Steve Silverman here and happy to be bringing the action to you ….
Marunde has won 9 of his last 10 fights….Souza is a take-down artist who will try to put Marunde on his back and punish him.
Souza trains with Anderson Silva, soyou know that makes him a real badass….
Jacare starts with a straight right and he is boxing early. … Marunde looking to switch between righty and southpaw…
Both fighters looking for an opening .. Hard right by Jacare and then a takedown. Marunde working a pyramid….
Short hard right by Jacare that drops Marunde… Jacare has his back… and is getting in knee strikes…Jacare domination in the first round..Marunde does very little damage as first round ends.
Jacare pounding away as Marunde covers up. Uppercuts and pounding punches…Strikes to back of head by Jacare and he breaks them….
Round 2….
Roundhouse right by Marunde misses badly and then lands a short right and then another….
Jacare with two big kicks and Marunde has his face against the cage. Jacare gets his back but Marunder escapes….
Jacare is very patient….and that doesn’t make for a lot of action…but he is in charge.Knee by Jacare to the chin of Marunde
Kick and then left-hand body shot to Jacare. Then another. both are short and powerful…Nice kick by Marunde. Right hand by Jacare…
Two overhand rights by Jacare…and a hard takedown by Jacare….
Round 3…
Jacare takes Marunde down and is on his back. Jacare trying to get his right hand loose…
Marunde is cut high on the forehead. Jacare delivering right hands to Marunde and he is getting hit with lot fo punches….
Jacare getting in his hook and he is punishing Marunde. He can’t get loose and is just a defensive fighter. Then Jacare gets the side-triangle choke and Marunde submits….
Jacare was able to win this fight without taking any real punishment himself. He trapped Marunde’s arm and choked him out….
Sayers brings a record of 5-2 into this fight while Smith comes in with a record of 18-9 and 1 no contest…He has lost three in a row…
Smith’s a little chubby around the middle; Sayers with a 3-inch reach advantage…
Sayers with a straight right hand… another right hand and then throws Smith on his back. H e sinks in a hook and starts punishing….
Great throw down by Sayers…. gets in guillotine choke and it’s over… Smith wins big….
CORRECTION… SAYERS WINS BIG….
Smith got thrown down and couldn’t react… Sayers started pounding and then got in his guillotine. Another first-round win by Sayers… All his fights are one-rounders, six wins and two losses…1:34 is the official time.
Smith looks absolutely done as he suffers his fourth straight loss. He offered no resistance…
Kazuo Miskai vs. Paul Daleyy coming up next….
Misaki is 24-11-2 and is from Tokyo….
Misaki has a big right hand but he likes to use takedowns…. Incredible cauliflower left ear…
Daley, from London, has won two fights in a row….However, he has problems with wrestlers and grapplers, so Misaki could give him a problem…
Daley tries a right roundhouse kick.. Daley with jabs, but thy are not landing…Misaki with overhand right….
Misaki drives through with takedown…Misaki lets him get back up. Right kick to midsection…
Misaki to body and then to head… Daley looks slow and wwkwrd. yo cna tll he’s strong but slow. Misaki hits him hard to jaw… Misaki taking charge….
Daley takes Misaki down but Misaki gets his legs around him and he is controlling from bottom. Daley gets in a couple of bombs at end of the round…
Round 2….
Jab and body kick by Misaki.. Knee by Misaki.
Daley having a hard time gtting his punches in. Misaki is a little quicker and making himself hard to hit…. Misaki getting better of exchanges… Daley takes down Misaki but Misaki is comfortable….
Daley trying to work over the ribs… ref calls for more action… wild left by Daley but it misses. Misaki gives up his back.
Misaki flips positions and he is on top in last minute..ref breaks them because action is nil..Misaki with overhand right and then a kick.
Round 3
Daley needs a big round to win this fight… right kick by Misaki…Left jab by Daley, good counter by Misaki….
Daley with a couple of left jabs and then throws Misaki down….elbow by Daley and Misaki is cut badly…
Bad cut over Misaki’s left eye but doctor allows fight to continue… Complete bloodbath…
Daley looks tired. He has a target in that cut to go after but Misaki is coming back after Daley. Misaki also has a broken nose but he is not backing down going into final minute.
Daley gets takedown but Misaki gets right up. Daley looks so tired but he tris to rally with takedown and he doesn’t get it….
It’s over and it will go to scorecards….
Daley did so much damage with a big elbow. He ripped a big cut and also broke Misaki’s nose. Misaki seemed to get in most of the other damaging blows…
Misaki will need stitches to get that cut closed… waiting on decision….
stats are all in favor of Misaki…and Misaki gets the decision….
It is a split decision … Misaki controlled much of the fight … except for getting cut badly. But Misaki wins….
Next fight….
Josh Thomson (18-3-1) vs K.J. Noons (10-3)
Thomson is a great grappler while Noons wants to stay on his feet…
Ronda Rousey looked she wanted to hammer Heidi Androl during interview… Rousey looks like she means business….Does she have enough to throw at Tate?
Noons and Thomson are good friends outside the ring….
Just about ready to go…
Round 1 coming….
Thomson with a front kick to the jaw….Thomson a bit quicker….
Thomson push kicks are dangerous… Thomson looking for a takedown…Noons measuring him and trying to get in his jab….
Thomson gets the takedown and he is working to keep control…Noons trying to get back to his feet…
Noons looks comfortable sitting and ref may break them up for lack of action. Noons trapped on side of cage….
Thomson in control but not getting in many shots…fans booing because there’s not enough action…
Round 2 is coming and the fans did not like Round 1…slight advantage for Thomson…
Superman punch by Noons but it doesn’t do much damage… Thomson slips, Noons on top but reversal by Thomson…
Throw down by Thomson and that means that he is on top… but no real action…Thomson now trying to throw elbows and Noons trying to do the same from the bottom….
Thomson with a right hand and needs to throw more punches… end of round two…
Referee stands them up. because the action is lacking. Noons letting go with uppercuts…Noons is cut over left eye….
Noons gets in a right hand but Thomson takes him down with about a minute to go in round.
Noons bleeding from left eye but he doesn’t seem hurt badly.
Round Three coming….
Good takedown by Thomson… choke triangle by Thomson.. it’s in deep…..
Noons gets loose for a second, but Thomson get the choke and is in control….Noons just trying to survive. He’s not fighting back….
Thomson with elbows and hammer fists. Noons is tired and in pain….
Now Thomson is in charge, delivering aggressive forearms and elbows…less than a minute to go. Thomson with ground and pound. Noons is shut down…
Noons a couple of weak punches and Thomson with a knee to close….
Waiting for the decision. Thomson should get unanimous decision….
AND HERE’S THE DECISION… THOMSON WINS AND IT’S UNANIMOUS…
It was kind of boring… Thomson tells Ranallo that his performance tonight was “shit.” Conditioning was shit and so was fight. It was a boring fight….
TATE VS. ROUSEY COMING UP!!!
Just about ready for the main event….
Both fighters are top grapplers, but Rousey lacks experience. She is very aggressive. Tate can win on the ground or if she keeps it standing….
Rousey has four wins in 138 seconds of total action….Tate wants to make Rousey “bleed her own blood….
Both of these fighters are red-hot and sexy dolls….I love these good-looking hard-asses…
Rousey seems totally confident despite lack of experience….
Tate is angry because Rousey said she could beat up Tate and Tate’s boyfriend….
Tate may hit harder than Gina Carano — another babe….
Round 1 coming up….
Look for this to be a short fight… 1 or 2 rounds….
Here we go….
Misha Tate with flurry and Rousey takes her down. RRousey has her
Tate gets loose and escapes. Rousey had her arm bar….but Tate got away…
Tate looking choke. Rousey escapes and hit her with left. Rousey looking for throw and she brings down Tte.
Rousey tosses Tate and she looks like she is stronger. Ground and pound for Rousey….
Rousey gets the arm bar and she wins the fight. She may have broken Tate’s arm….
Rousey is some angry fighter. Great strength and technique to go long with killer instinct. Tate did not want to quit and she paid a big price…..
Rousey used her hips to throw Tate a couple of times. Big night for Rousey. Experience didn’t matter because Rousey was too powerful and tough….
4;27 of first Round… Rousey is new champion… She’s all smiles now….
Strikeforce returns with an action-packed night of fights on Saturday, live from Columbus, Ohio, and the time for the talking is now officially over.Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate contests her gold against the undefeat…
Strikeforce returns with an action-packed night of fights on Saturday, live from Columbus, Ohio, and the time for the talking is now officially over.
Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate contests her gold against the undefeated 4-0 record of undefeated Judoka and No. 1 challenger “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, with a co-headliner of KJ Noons vs. Josh Thomson in what will likely result in the winner challenging Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.
Also in action are Paul “Semtex” Daley and Kazuo Misaki, both of whom have their eye on Strikeforce welterweight gold, as well as former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza’s welcoming of Bristol Marunde into the Strikeforce cage, Lumumba Sayers taking on Scott Smith and an undercard topped off by a women’s bantamweight title eliminator between Alexis Davis and former champion Sarah Kaufman.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, without further interruptions, Bleacher Report MMA presents its live and unfiltered coverage of Strikeforce 39: Tate vs. Rousey and Noons vs. Thomson. Updates will be added below as things develop.
Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, the last man to beat current champion Gilbert Melendez, is making his return to fighting after a 15-month hiatus due to injury.Thomson took some time out of his schedule to talk to Bleach…
Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, the last man to beat current champion Gilbert Melendez, is making his return to fighting after a 15-month hiatus due to injury.
Thomson took some time out of his schedule to talk to Bleacher Report about his layoff, Gilbert Melendez’ position in the lightweight division, former teammate Josh Koscheck‘s departure from American Kickboxing Academy and much more.
Thomson, a veteran of the sport, has beaten some of the top fighters the lightweight division has to offer. Over the years, though, he has had to deal with some adversity, mainly trying to stay healthy enough to compete.
“It’s been about 15 months now, it’s nothing new coming off of being injured,” Thomson told Bleacher Report.
Being injured all the time isn’t good for a person who relies on his health to make a living and because of that Thomson’s tried tweaking some things in training camp to help keep his body from breaking down.
He felt that he was flat in his last few fights, and his training regimen may have been part of the reason.
“I’ve been over training since I was in the UFC, but the issue with over training is that when you are younger it doesn’t catch up to you as much, and now being older I’ve certainly noticed a difference,” Thomson said.
“Every year you have to alter training a little bit, which I never did. I kept it the same and pushed it as hard as I could and thought I could do the same things I was doing when I was 22 years old.”
“This camp, I’ve really learned how to taper back a little bit,” Thomson said.
This is the first time Thomson really changed up his training camp in preparation for a fight, but he isn’t getting a tune up fight to feel things out as he is slated to face a dangerous fighter in KJ Noons this Saturday at Strikeforce 39.
Noons has notable wins over former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz and UFC lightweight Yves Edwards to name a few.
He went on a bit of a skid, losing two straight to Diaz and Jorge Masvidal before winning his last fight against Billy Evangelista. Despite the two losses, Thomson thinks Noons will be at his best.
“With the Masvidal fight, it made him really take into consideration he needs to change his game from just boxing,” Thomson said.
“I think that’s why in the Billy Evangelista fight, you saw a different fighter. He came out, he was throwing head kicks, kicking more to the legs and he even shot a couple takedowns and got some takedowns.”
“There’s no secret, he’s been working on his wrestling for this game, he’s been working on his kickboxing for this game and it showed in his last fight and I don’t think he’ll get away from that. He is trying to make himself a more well-rounded fighter,” Thomson said. “I’m prepared for that, so it is just a matter of me going out there and implementing my game plan.”
Noons has a background in boxing and kickboxing, but Thomson feels that he maybe becomes a little sloppy in MMA.
“KJ tends to get a little sloppy with his stand up,” Thomson said. “Even though he is a good boxer, he relies on his good chin.”
“I don’t look at myself as being quite as technical as Masvidal on the feet, but I will throw hard and I am pretty good defensively. I just got to keep my chin down and my hands up and I should be good to go. I predict that it’s going to be an action-packed fight.”
Thomson hasn’t fought in 15 months, but he is widely considered one of the top lightweights in Strikeforce and is 1-1 against the current champion Melendez. The last two fights between these two were pretty epic battles, so the tie-breaker would only make sense.
In order for that to happen, Thomson must beat Noons this Saturday and even then, the former champ isn’t getting too hung up on the potential fight with Melendez.
“Obviously, yeah, everyone wants to fight the champion, you know; you don’t want to just sit there and say no, I don’t want to fight him or no, I’m not ready,” Thomson said.
“I mean honestly the great thing about this whole thing is those types of things aren’t in my hands. I just worry about fighting and winning and letting the promotion handle the rest.”
Melendez is UFC material, there has been talk across the Internet and in the media of getting him into the UFC, but so far that isn’t happening and Thomson isn’t surprised.
“I’m not surprised at all; if they are going to keep Strikeforce, they couldn’t keep taking all the talent,” Thomson said. “Even though Gill talks about it like he’s beaten a lot of guys and redeemed his lone loss, but we are 1-1 [Thomson and Melendez] and there are still people here for him to fight.”
Thomson is happy staying in Strikeforce for now because he sees Melendez as being the No. 1 lightweight out there right now.
“I wouldn’t want to leave knowing that I’m leaving to fight lesser competition given that he’s the No. 1-ranked lightweight in the world in my own promotion,” Thomson told Bleacher Report. “If Ben [Benson Henderson] beats Frankie [Edgar], then I would definitely put Gill at No. 1, probably Ben at No. 2 and Frankie at No. 3 or 4.”
Henderson did beat Edgar this past weekend in what many thought was a controversial decision. Talks about an immediate rematch between the two are in the air right now, but there are some guys, namely Melendez, Thomson, Noons and Masvidal from Strikeforce’s lightweight division who could definitely mix it up with the top of the UFC lightweight division.
Keeping its champions like Melendez around is one the only ways Strikeforce will be able to stay relevant, but not the only way. Strikeforce has embraced women’s MMA and is one of the few professional promotions giving women the visibility required for them to thrive.
“I think as more women see what kind of athletes they are and what kind of recognition they are getting, I think they will see a big difference in the amount of women that jump in to this sport,” Thomson said.
“The question is whether there will be a promotion for them to fight in, the deal with Strikeforce is only for another year or two years and Dana [White] has said numerous times that they won’t be in the UFC, that being said there are a lot of women out there banking on Strikeforce surviving.”
At Strikeforce 39, the card Thomson is fighting Noons on, the main event is a women’s title fight between current 135-pound champion Miesha Tate and former Olympic bronze medalist Judoka Ronda Rousey.
Thomson feels the high-level Judokas like Rousey will dominate women’s MMA in the near future because they have a bit of the submission game built into their style already. Even though Rousey is pretty new, he likes her chances.
“Honestly, I haven’t really had enough opportunity to watch Ronda fight, I just know that she has the capability of beating Miesha, I think Miesha has obviously the more experience, but it really doesn’t make a difference,” Thomson said.
“These younger guys are the ones that are coming up that the veterans are showing them all the tricks of the trade. They’ve cut the corner off the learning curve.”
American Kickboxing Academy is the camp where Thomson has built himself up as a fighter and taught himself some of the tricks of the trade.
AKA at one point had the heavyweight champion of the world in Cain Velasquez and the top two welterweight contenders in Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch.
Of late, the team has gone through some struggles.
Velasquez was knocked out in 64 seconds by Junior Dos Santos on Fox, Fitch was knocked out in the opening seconds of his fight with Johny Hendricks and most recently, Koscheck has chosen to leave AKA to train in Fresno.
“Koscheck has been with our team for the longest time. The team has talked about it over and over again, realistically what it is, Koscheck lives in Fresno, he owns two gyms down there and fighters like to sleep in their own bed, they’re tired of commuting, it’s a two-hour drive for him to San Jose,” Thomson said.
“There are also a lot of other underlying reasons, but as a team he is always more then welcome to come back, we’ve already made that clear, Koscheck is always welcome in the gym as if nothing ever happened. If he has other issues with whoever in the gym, that’s up to him; he is a grown-ass man he knows how to express himself and talk about it.”
Despite the tough times, Thomson feels the team is back on track, and a win for him this weekend would definitely solidify that stance.
“We’ve got a great team now, built back up, we were on a stagnant little stage there for a little, but I think the team itself is coming back together.”
Fans can catch Thomson vs. Noons this Saturday at 10:00 P.M. EST on Showtime. If you want to see what Thomson is up to, check out his Facebook page, or better yet, follow him on Twitter @THEREALPUNK
Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report and is part of the B/R MMA interview team,Follow @Leon_Horne
Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, the last man to beat current champion Gilbert Melendez, is making his return to fighting after a 15-month hiatus due to injury.
