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Of Course Tito Ortiz is The Reason Cyborg Turned Down Rousey Fight at UFC 157

(Related clip: Tito and Cyborg rolling together in June 2011. Skip to 2:30 to see Cyborg lift Tito like a damsel in distress. Anyway, they’re business partners now. / Props: MMA Heat)

A few heads were scratched when the UFC announced yesterday that UFC 157 would be headlined by Ronda Rousey taking on Liz Carmouche. Rousey’s star is certainly on the rise and is as good a bet as any first-time pay-per-view headliner would be, but Carmouche is relatively unknown outside of hardcore Women’s Mixed Martial Arts circles. and WMMA as a PPV entity is unproven on the whole.

It made more sense once it was revealed that several opponents, including currently suspended former 145-pound champion Cristaine “Cyborg” Santos, had turned Rousey down. The potential Rousey/Santos fight is the biggest women’s match out there, as both have held Strikeforce world titles and have a running feud with one another.

According to White, however, his former friend/client/contracted worker/sworn enemy Tito Ortiz is to blame for Rousey vs. Cyborg not taking place at UFC 157. “That’s the fight that should be happening,” White said during yesterday’s UFC on Fox pre-event presser in Seattle. “Tito Ortiz is her manager, and he advised against it.”

Well, of course it’s Tito’s fault. It’s been forever since White was able to complain about and blame something on Tito. All must feel right in the world once more for the Baldfather.

(Related clip: Tito and Cyborg rolling together in June 2011. Skip to 2:30 to see Cyborg lift Tito like a damsel in distress. Anyway, they’re business partners now. / Props: MMA Heat)

According to White, however, his former friend/client/contracted worker/sworn enemy Tito Ortiz is to blame for Rousey vs. Cyborg not taking place at UFC 157. ”That’s the fight that should be happening,” White said during yesterday’s UFC on Fox pre-event presser in Seattle. “Tito Ortiz is her manager, and he advised against it.”

Well, of course it’s Tito’s fault. It’s been forever since White was able to complain about and blame something on Tito. All must feel right in the world once more for the Baldfather.

MMA Junkie reached Ortiz for comment via text message. According to Tito, “Cyborg” will fight Ronda at 145 — her competitive weight, not Rousey’s — at any point, but would want more time to safely cut down to 135 than February and UFC 157.

“That was never said!” Ortiz reportedly texted Junkie. “‘Cyborg’ will fight her anytime, anywhere at 145. Cris said she would kill herself trying to make 135. I won’t allow it, (and) neither should the UFC or Dana. Cris wants the fight, fans want the fight, and so does the UFC.”

Meanwhile, Rousey tore into Santos while speaking with MMA Junkie, and claimed that Miesha Tate and Sara McMann also both turned down title fights with her for UFC 157.

“I know [Cyborg] can make 135, and so does she,” Rousey told Junkie. “It just takes her a little while to realize that this is the only option she has. It took her a little bit longer because I don’t think she’s that bright. Once she does sit down and think about it, we’ll have the only fight that really makes sense.

“I think it’s really funny that when me and Miesha were supposed to fight, she was going on and on about how I didn’t deserve to fight her, and now she doesn’t want to fight me,” Rousey said. “And I also think it’s really funny that Sara was telling all these people that I was running away from her, and then she turns down a fight for the UFC title. I mean, c’mon,” Rousey continued.

MMA Junkie also reached Tate for comment, who claimed that she was never, in fact, offered a fight against Rousey. “I’ve made it pretty clear that I wanted to take some time off since my last fight, and that was back in August, so maybe because of that, the opportunity wasn’t presented to me. But it was never offered to me,” she said.

“The only thing that I can say is when I was down in Brazil, (UFC matchmaker) Sean (Shelby) asked if I might be interested in fighting in February. There was never any mention of an opponent or it being in the UFC. So I said, ‘I still want to take a little more time off and find myself as a fighter and a person. It was never made clear to me at all that it would be such a huge opportunity, that it could be against Ronda or in the UFC. At that point, they hadn’t even announced that women were coming to the UFC. This was back in early October when the UFC was down in Brazil.”

There’s no way of telling for sure where, exactly, the truth sits on this topic, between all this he/she said stuff. We cannot, however, even imagine a world where White would present a story in a particularly subjective way and without full context given, especially ones involving Tito Ortiz or fighters turning down fights.

Update: Now Sara McMann’s manager Monte Cox is also denying that they were offered a fight against Ronda Rousey.

– Elias Cepeda

Sara McMann Draws Liz Carmouche for Strikeforce Debut at ‘Cormier vs. Mir’

(McMann creates the most savage punch-face in women’s MMA history, against Raquel Pa’aluhi at ProElite 1 last August. Yeesh. That is just awful.)

Strikeforce’s latest red-hot female prospect now has a debut date and opponent. According to MMAFighting, undefeated bantamweight (and Olympic silver medalist) Sara McMann will compete on the supporting card of Strikeforce: Cormier vs. Mir, November 3rd in Oklahoma City, against 7-2 U.S. Marine Liz Carmouche.

Carmouche’s last two Strikeforce appearances in 2011 resulted in losses against Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. But this year, she rebounded with back-to-back wins against Ashleigh Curry and Kaitlin Young under the Invicta banner. Carmouche is a great test for McMann, and the fight has the potential to create some heat around McMann with Strikeforce viewers — assuming that Showtime doesn’t bury the fight on the prelims like they did with Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie, which, now that I think about it, they probably will. Damn it.

Still no word on the next opponent for Strikeforce bantamweight champ/franchise star Ronda Rousey, but it’s safe to say that if McMann gets past Carmouche in November, she’ll punch her ticket to a title shot.

(McMann creates the most savage punch-face in women’s MMA history, against Raquel Pa’aluhi at ProElite 1 last August. Yeesh. That is just awful.)

Invicta FC Sends Undefeated 135?er Sara McMann To Strikeforce

(“Great to have you aboard, Sara! Now what size latex bodysuit do you wear?”)

In a press release distributed yesterday, upstart women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC announced that they were sending bantamweight contender Sara McMann to Strikeforce. McMann is a perfect 6-0 in MMA — including wins over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano, and Tonya Evinger — and won a silver medal in women’s freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. McMann was originally slated to fight for Invicta’s bantamweight title in her next appearance, but now that she is in Strikeforce, a title shot against Ronda Rousey seems quite plausible if she can make it through her first fight. Neither the date nor debut opponent for McMann’s Strikeforce debut have been announced yet.

It’s not every day that a fight promotion willingly sends one of its top contenders and budding stars to a competing promotion. However, according to President Shannon Knapp, Invicta’s goals aren’t based on hanging on to specific fighters:

(“Great to have you aboard, Sara! Now what size latex bodysuit do you wear?”)

“Since we established Invicta FC at the beginning of this year, our goal has been to produce the best possible matchups between women mixed martial artists and, to achieve this, we sometimes need to import talent like Sarah Kaufman from elsewhere as well as to send talent like Sara McMann to a place like Strikeforce where there is a healthy amount of championship level professional women’s MMA competition just like there is on our roster.”

Invicta’s mission to positively impact women’s MMA, and the lengths they are willing to go to accomplish that mission, is extraordinarily admirable. But they aren’t fools either; Invicta draws viewers not due to name recognition — yet — but because they put on consistently exciting cards. Losing a big name like McMann doesn’t hurt them because, well, McMann isn’t actually a big name. There are only two big draws in women’s MMA right now, and they’re not in Invicta.

Speaking of one of those big draws, it seems likely that McMann will eventually face off against Strikeforce bantamweight champ “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. Suffice it to say, like any other woman who lacks the testosterone of five men, I don’t like Sara’s chances. McMann does one thing, and does it well; she puts people on their back. That might not be the best strategy against the best grappler in women’s MMA. (Right, Sarah Kaufman?) It’s great that McMann is being recognized for her achievements and is getting this opportunity. But when it comes down to it, it’s unlikely she’ll be able to stop Rousey from adding to her collection of mangled arms.

Still, it would be easy to promote a match between two undefeated fighters who also happen to be Olympic medalists — and if Cyborg can’t deflate down to 135, Rousey vs. McMann could turn out to be the Next Big Fight in women’s MMA.

[VIDEO] Bad Ass Women on The March: McMann, Davis, Carmouche & More Win at Invicta FC 2

2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-women Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.

Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.

With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.

Full results via MMAFighting, as well as video of Liz Carmouche‘s submission win over Kaitlin Young, are after the jump.

2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-woman Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.

Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.

With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.

Full results via MMAFighting, as well as video of Liz Carmouche‘s submission win over Kaitlin Young, are after the jump.

“Sara McMann def. Shayna Baszler via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)

Alexis Davis def. Hitomi Akano via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:41 of round two

Liz Carmouche def. Kaitlin Young via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:34 of round two

Ayaka Hamasaki def. Lacey Schuckman via submission (armbar) at 4:45 of round three

Amanda Nunes def. Raquel Pa’Aluhi via technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:24 of round one

Sarah D’Alelio def. Vanessa Porto via submission (armbar) at 3:16 of round one

Barb Honchak def. Bethany Marshall via TKO (punches) at 1:22 of round two

Julia Budd def. Elina Nilsson via TKO (elbows) at 3:49 of round one

Carla Esparza def. Sarah Schneider via TKO (punches) at 4:28 of round two

Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc def. Angelica Chavez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Raquel Pennington def. Sarah Moras via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Jessamyn Duke def. Suzie Montero via TKO (elbows) at 2:32 of round three

Jocelyn Lybarger def. Cheryl Chan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Liz McCarthy def. Jessica Philippus via TKO (doctor stoppage) at the end of round one”

Liz Carmouche vs. Kaitlin Young Video:

For more Invicta FC fight videos, visit their YouTube channel.

–Elias Cepeda

‘ProElite 3: Grove vs. Minowa’: Simply Put, It Was an Improvement

Brent Schermerhorn vs. Kaleo Gambill, the lone knockout from the main card. All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

When we last checked in on ProElite, the promotion was in the midst of a heavyweight grand prix that had the announcer for the evening tweeting mid-bout that he was falling asleep. Mix in unimpressive victories for Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski, and a disappointing performance from Reagan Penn, and the phrase “rock bottom” comes to mind. Things could have gotten more boring, sure. But if they did, we wouldn’t waste time telling you about it.

Needless to say ProElite’s third installment, which took place last night in Hawaii, was a step in the right direction. While the main event and co-main event were nothing to write home about, the card saw some entertaining fights and quick finishes.

In the evening’s main event, Minowa started out strong, landing leg kicks against Kendall Grove and securing a takedown at the end of the round. However, Grove was able to find his range by the second round, and outpointed Minowa en route to a unanimous decision. We don’t know how much time Minowa spent training against a person sitting on someone else’s shoulders poking at him with sticks in preparation for his American debut, but our guess is “not enough”.

Brent Schermerhorn vs. Kaleo Gambill, the lone knockout from the main card. All videos props to IronForgesIron.com

In the evening’s main event, Minowa was ineffective against Kendall Grove. Minowa’s only significant output was some leg kicks at the beginning of the first round and a takedown at the end of the round. For the rest of the fight, Grove was able to keep him outside and outpointed him en route to a unanimous decision. We don’t know how much time Minowa spent training against a person sitting on someone else’s shoulders poking at him with sticks in preparation for his American debut, but our guess is “not enough”.

The co-main event pitted Olympic wrestler Sara McMann against one-time Cyborg victim Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano. Sara McMann grinded out the unanimous decision victory against her more experienced opponent. The less we say about that one, the better.

While the heavyweight grand prix yielded some unspeakably boring fights the first time around, the heavyweights put on a much better show this time around. In tournament action, Jake Heun started out strong against Richard Odoms, slamming the heavier opponent and attempting submissions. Heun got the better of Odoms throughout the fight, but gassed out in the second round, allowing Odoms to secure the fight ending choke. Richard Odoms will meet Ryan Martinez, who outpointed Cody Griffin on his way to a unanimous decision victory.

Main Card Results:

Kendall Grove def. Ikuhisa Minowa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sara McMann def. Hitomi Akano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Richard Odoms def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:56 – Odoms advances to heavyweight grand prix final
Ryan Martinez def. Cody Griffin via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) – Martinez advances to heavyweight grand prix final
Patrick Cummins def. Tasi Edwards via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:01
Brant Schermerhorn def. Kaleo Gambill via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 0:45

Griffin vs. Martinez

Heun vs. Odoms

Grove vs. Minowa

Women’s MMA News and Notes: McMann vs. Akano, Fujii Returns, Carano’s Future

Filed under: DREAM, Strikeforce, Bellator, NewsDespite a shortage of talent, the interest in women’s MMA seems to be stronger than ever, thanks in large part to Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Still, there are other talented women making hea…

Filed under: DREAM, Strikeforce, Bellator, News

Despite a shortage of talent, the interest in women’s MMA seems to be stronger than ever, thanks in large part to Cris Cyborg, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. Still, there are other talented women making headlines out there, and they deserve some of our attention too.

Below is a roundup of news and notes from the world of women’s MMA.

* ProElite has signed an intriguing 135-pound fight for its upcoming card on Jan. 21 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sara McMann, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist who has compiled a 4-0 MMA record thus far, will meet top-ranked Hitomi Akano on the undercard of the event headlined Kendall Grove vs. Ikuhisa Minowa. The 31-year-old McMann defeated Raquel Pa’aluhi via third-round submission in the first ProElite show back in August. Akano, who famously lost to an overweight Cris Cyborg in an Aug. 2009 Strikeforce bout, enters the fight with an 18-8 record and riding a two-fight winning streak. She recently defeated Roxanne Modaferri via unanimous decision in July.

* Megumi Fujii (pictured), one of the best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world, has agreed to meet Karla Benitez in the first-ever DREAM women’s bout. The fight will take place on the promotion’s New Year’s Eve show, which is being dubbed “DREAM – Fight for Japan: Genki Desu Ka! New Year! 2011.” Fujii (24-1) is 2-0 since suffering the first and only loss of her career to Zoila Gurgel at Bellator 34 last October. Benitez (6-1) will enter the bout looking to get back on track after losing her first pro MMA fight in her most recent bout in October.

* Speaking of Gurgel, the Bellator 115-pound champion, who underwent knee surgery to repair a torn ACL several weeks ago, tweeted recently that she is healing “ahead of schedule,” and if things keep up this way, she could be back in action in approximately five months.

* “Haywire,” starring Gina Carano, will be released in theaters on Jan. 20, so that means expect to see a whole lot more of Carano in the coming weeks. Which leads us to …

* Carano is featured in the latest edition GQ Magazine. More on that here. Now, if you’re wondering whether Carano will ever fight again, we asked Stephen Espinoza, the new EVP and GM of Showtime Sports, who also used to be Carano’s a lawyer, that very question on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour.

“I’ve actually been trading calls with Gina,” he said. “She’s really, really focused on the film, on ‘Haywire.’ She just smiles and winks. You know her well enough. She’s got that sort of mysterious wink once in a while when she sort of says, I don’t know, but will sort of wink and you kind of feel like there’s something else there. But I know she is, in her heart, a fighter and always has that urge, just like any boxer does or anyone that is really committed to the sport. So if there is any opportunity to do so, I think you could see her [fight again] pretty quickly.”

* It feels like Rousey, who is still pushing for a fight against Miesha Tate at 135 pounds instead of Cris Cyborg at 145, continues to break barriers everyday. For example, she was a guest on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” on Wednesday, which most MMA fighters can’t say, let alone any women’s MMA fighters. You can watch/listen to the show here.

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