(Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen II. Video via FancyMojo420)
As was written so aptly this past weekend on these pages, the women folk on Saturday’s Invicta FC 6 card were some bad mofo’s. Most of the attention was given to the main event title fight (above) rematch between “Cris Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen but we’ve got much love for everyone else on the card as well, especially our very own “Thug” Rose Namajunas.
For the second time in her career, Coenen showed that she can last longer than most women against Santos, but once again, she took a bad beating and a loss at the hands of the “Cyborg.” Namajunas faced the tough Tecia Torres and lost a hard-fought decision that got the main card off to an explosive start.
Both bouts were entertaining and give enough argument on their own that women’s MMA deserves our collective attention. Check out the main event above and Namajunas vs. Torres after the jump and see what we mean.
(Cris Cyborg vs. Marloes Coenen II. Video via FancyMojo420)
As was written so aptly this past weekend on these pages, the women folk on Saturday’s Invicta FC 6 card were some bad mofo’s. Most of the attention was given to the main event title fight (above) rematch between “Cris Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen but we’ve got much love for everyone else on the card as well, especially our very own “Thug” Rose Namajunas.
For the second time in her career, Coenen showed that she can last longer than most women against Santos, but once again, she took a bad beating and a loss at the hands of the “Cyborg.” Namajunas faced the tough Tecia Torres and lost a hard-fought decision that got the main card off to an explosive start.
Both bouts were entertaining and give enough argument on their own that women’s MMA deserves our collective attention. Check out the main event above and Namajunas vs. Torres after the jump and see what we mean.
The accusation inspired BloodyElbow’s Brett Brookhouse to do some deep digging about Atchley’s behavior, and if you have the time, you should read his first two reports here and here. In short, Atchley is accused of being a despicable scumbag by a wide range of female MMA fighters who have had the great displeasure of encountering him. Here are the highlights…
– According to LaRosa, Atchley stole sponsorship money from Maurice Smith, and was once caught on tape at a casino stealing money out of the purse of a woman he was dating, who happened to be the mother of one of Ivan Salaverry’s students. These incidents led to a falling out between Atchley and Salaverry. Atchley responded by sending Salaverry some rather impolite textmessages, in which he promises to blackball all of the female fighters that train at Salaverry’s gym from competing for Invicta or Strikeforce.
– After LaRosa turned down Atchley’s offer to manage her, due to the fact that she was already managed by Monte Cox, Atchley physically accosted LaRosa twice during the weekend of Invicta 3:
The accusation inspired BloodyElbow’s Brett Brookhouse to do some deep digging about Atchley’s behavior, and if you have the time, you should read his first two reports here and here. In short, Atchley is accused of being a despicable scumbag by a wide range of female MMA fighters who have had the great displeasure of encountering him. Here are the highlights…
– According to LaRosa, Atchley stole sponsorship money from Maurice Smith, and was once caught on tape at a casino stealing money out of the purse of a woman he was dating, who happened to be the mother of one of Ivan Salaverry’s students. These incidents led to a falling out between Atchley and Salaverry. Atchley responded by sending Salaverry some rather impolite textmessages, in which he promises to blackball all of the female fighters that train at Salaverry’s gym from competing for Invicta or Strikeforce.
– After LaRosa turned down Atchley’s offer to manage her, due to the fact that she was already managed by Monte Cox, Atchley physically accosted LaRosa twice during the weekend of Invicta 3:
“At Invicta, I was coming down the elevator and into the lobby to go out and cut weight. Everybody was standing around in a group just chatting in the lobby, and I stopped by to say ‘hi’ to everyone. And he grabbed me by the sweater and said ‘What’s this? Where are all your sponsors? How’s that management working out for you?’ and all this rude stuff. And, before I could do anything, Ivan [Salaverry] pulled me away from him. He just looked like an ass, I’m not sure what his intentions were there.”
“Later, when I was flying home, I was flying back to Seattle. I guess Brett was on the same flight as me, I didn’t even realize it. I was walking to my truck and he comes up behind me and beside me, and he grabs my bags, and he tries to carry them or tries to help or whatever. I told him to get away from me and stay away from me, and I pulled my stuff away from him, and he got all belligerent and stupid. I’m sure there’s tape on the Seattle airport security cameras.”
– Jessamyn Duke, a former client of Atchley’s, claims that Atchley was constantly drunk, and once shoved her mother. HER MOTHER, YOU GUYS:
“He actually physically shoved my mom once when they were having an argument. For some reason, he approached my mom when they were in the lobby of the hotel and they started having this argument, and he started telling her that he made me, and I’ve changed and all this stuff. And my mom being…well, my mom, she didn’t take too kindly to that. And she was trying to leave and get out of the way, and he actually shoved her trying to talk to my sister. It was insane and HIGHLY unacceptable to put your hands on a woman like that and move her physically. That was one of my first serious red flags where it was like ‘this is not okay.’”
– Duke also says that Atchley once pulled a Caraway (allegedly) and assaulted one of her opponents before a fight, grabbing and shoving her.
– Duke says that Atchley sexually harassed a close friend of hers.
– According to Duke, Atchley illegally sent Alexis Davis’s confidential UFC contract to Duke, in an effort to dissuade her from trying out for The Ultimate Fighter.
– When Duke tried to cut ties with Atchley, Atchley started sending her bills for “stupid stuff” like the printing costs of her sponsorship banners, and threatened her with a lawsuit after she asked that her name be removed from his website.
– According to two different sources, Atchley once ran up a bar tab for a couple hundred dollars at a hotel bar, ran out without paying, and left a relative of Alexis Davis’s to pick up the tab.
– According to an Invicta and Strikeforce fighter who chose to remain anonymous, Atchley was constantly drunk, shared other fighters’ confidential contract details with her, and lied about how much money other fighters were making.
– According to Sarah Maloy, Atchley made physical advances on her and “implied that he would get me [an Invicta] contract without hiring him as a manager under inappropriate circumstances.”
– Amateur fighter Alyssa Vasquez claims Atchley sent her sexually aggressive text messages, and forced a kiss on her during a creepy encounter at a bar.
Brett Brookhouse promises lots more updates to come, as female fighters continue to speak out against Atchley, who should probably be banned from the sport, if even half of this stuff is true. (It should come as no surprise that Atchley has offered a general denial of all this stuff.) In the meantime, enjoy this incredible quote from Tara LaRosa:
“I’m not afraid of this guy. He’s an idiot…Yeah, he threatens to sue you for slander, defamation of character, libel, whatever. He can go fuck himself. He is not gonna sue shit. I’ve been around for a long ass time. This guy is nobody. He’s not going to ruin my career, and I’m not going to let this guy do the same shit to other people…I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. It’s weird. It’s like some Harry Potter situation. Like everybody’s afraid to say Voldemort’s name. What the hell? He’s Brett Atchley! He’s fuckin’ nobody! What’s he gonna do to you? Cast a spell?“
I won’t go into more than has been written on this site on the subject of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter, who was born a man and then underwent (and continues to undergo) hormone treatments and surgery to change her sex, but you definitely need to watch the video above.
AXS TV Fights recently interviewed Fox. During that conversation, Fox was asked if she felt she had an advantage over her opponents in Women’s MMA who were, you know, born women. Fallon went further than saying that she and her opponents were equally matched — she assured that she was, in fact, at a disadvantage.
If I know anything about the CagePotato audience, you probably stopped reading right there, so I will see you and your outrage in the comments section.
No, really. She said that.
I won’t go into more than has been written on this site on the subject of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter, who was born a man and then underwent (and continues to undergo) hormone treatments and surgery to change her sex, but you definitely need to watch the video above.
AXS TV Fights recently interviewed Fox. During that conversation, Fox was asked if she felt she had an advantage over her opponents in Women’s MMA who were, you know, born women. Fallon went further than saying that she and her opponents were equally matched — she assured that she was, in fact, at a disadvantage.
If I know anything about the CagePotato audience, you probably stopped reading right there, so I will see you and your outrage in the comments section.
Should you decide to keep reading, however, you should know that that claim wasn’t specifically followed up on or supported, per se, but AXS did bring a medical doctor on the show to discuss Fox and others that undergo similar treatments and surgeries. It is fascinating to learn that at least some medical minds maintain with absolute certainty that someone like Fox not only will have about the same or less amount of testosterone in her system than the women she fights, but also that her very bone structure and muscle mass should also be about the same as theirs.
Things like bone density and muscle mass have been some of the main criticisms of Fox being allowed to compete against fighters born as women so it is noteworthy that critics’ taken-for-granted “facts” are at least quite open to debate.
What do you think, Nation? Is Fox pushing it a bit saying that she’s at a disadvantage? OR HAS THE WHOLE WORLD GONE CRAZY?!
(Julie Kedzie steals the show at the EliteXC: Destiny weigh-ins, while some creepy chick named Gina lurks in the background. / Photo via George Ruiz)
What the hell, guys…it’s like the UFC is actually assembling a real women’s bantamweight division, with contenders and prospects and even gatekeepers. Color us impressed. The UFC’s latest female fight-booking is veteran Jackson’s MMA product Julie Kedzie vs. Dutch kickboxer Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie, both of whom spent time in Strikeforce before that organization’s collapse. As first revealed by FOX Sports, the two fighters will meet at UFC on FOX 8, July 27th in Seattle.
A decorated practitioner of the “Fuck This” fighting style (seriously), Kedzie has unfortunately lost her last two contests against Miesha Tate and Alexis Davis, which dropped her career record to 16-11. Since then, she’s kept busy as a member of the Invicta FC broadcast team, and according to Wikipedia, Kedzie is also Greg Jackson’s personal assistant.*
(Julie Kedzie steals the show at the EliteXC: Destiny weigh-ins, while some creepy chick named Gina lurks in the background. / Photo via George Ruiz)
What the hell, guys…it’s like the UFC is actually assembling a real women’s bantamweight division, with contenders and prospects and even gatekeepers. Color us impressed. The UFC’s latest female fight-booking is veteran Jackson’s MMA product Julie Kedzie vs. Dutch kickboxer Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie, both of whom spent time in Strikeforce before that organization’s collapse. As first revealed by FOX Sports, the two fighters will meet at UFC on FOX 8, July 27th in Seattle.
A decorated practitioner of the “Fuck This” fighting style (seriously), Kedzie has unfortunately lost her last two contests against Miesha Tate and Alexis Davis, which dropped her career record to 16-11. Since then, she’s kept busy as a member of the Invicta FC broadcast team, and according to Wikipedia, Kedzie is also Greg Jackson’s personal assistant.*
A former WIKBA World Muay Thai Champion, Germaine de Randamie is just 3-2 overall in MMA, going 2-1 under the Strikeforce banner in 2011-2012. She most recently defeated Hiroko Yamanaka by decision last August. Kedzie and de Randamie were originally supposed to meet at a Strikeforce Challengers event in September 2011, but Kedzie was forced to withdraw due to injury. Wild guess: The winner of this fight will take on the female winner of TUF 18. Random thought: So is Liz Carmouche coming back any time soon or what?
* “Goooooood job, Julie. This is exactly how I want my coffee. Now listen, a little more coffee grounds in the filter next time, and a little less water in the pot. We’re increasing intensity, just like we visualized yesterday. Hey, coffee’s ready Don-Ald-Suh-Ro-Nay.” — made-up quote from Greg Jackson
At the The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale last night, Cat Zingano earned a shot at Ronda Rousey’s UFC bantamweight belt as well as an opposing coach slot on The Ultimate Fighter 18 with her beastly TKO over Miesha Tate. At the post-event press conference her and Rousey posed for photos and Rousey spoke with MMA Junkie about, among other things, the tight ship she plans on keeping as a TUF 18 coach.
Presumably for the same reason that TUF producers have been quick to stock and re-stock at fighter requests the TUF House liquor cabinet in direct opposition to what is good for training, fighting and fighters, the TUF 18 House will be co-ed, occupied by both female and male contestants on the competition. That is, the idea that setting up as many extra curricular, dangerous roadblocks for fighters can make for tragic lost opportunities but also, and more important, great, drama-riddled television.
If anyone wonders what type of sexual tension and (network executive fingers crossed oh so tight) actual activity might be spurred on among male and female fighters locked in a mansion for months without access to their family or friends back home, television, radio, newspapers or reading material of any sort outside of the Bible (the Matt Hughes special dispensation), then it is likely you’ve gotten the precise point of why the UFC and Fox are doing this way. Rousey was clear, however, that she’ll tell her female team members what types of consequences will be in store for those who can’t keep it in their pants.
“If they’re the chick that was screwing around the house, for the rest of their career they’re going to be known as the chick that was screwing around the house. Sponsors are going to be looking at that. Everybody’s going to be looking at that,” she told MMA Junkie.
“If you think it’s $100,000 worth of that lay [ed. note – she talkin ’bout boning], then go for it, but I’m just going to remind them that there’s a lot of very permanent consequences to how they carry themselves in the house,” Rousey went on.
At the The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale last night, Cat Zingano earned a shot at Ronda Rousey’s UFC bantamweight belt as well as an opposing coach slot on The Ultimate Fighter 18 with her beastly TKO over Miesha Tate. At the post-event press conference her and Rousey posed for photos and Rousey spoke with MMA Junkie about, among other things, the tight ship she plans on keeping as a TUF 18 coach.
Presumably for the same reason that TUF producers have been quick to stock and re-stock at fighter requests the TUF House liquor cabinet in direct opposition to what is good for training, fighting and fighters, the TUF 18 House will be co-ed, occupied by both female and male contestants on the competition. That is, the idea that setting up as many extra curricular, dangerous roadblocks for fighters can make for tragic lost opportunities but also, and more important, great, drama-riddled television.
If anyone wonders what type of sexual tension and (network executive fingers crossed oh so tight) actual activity might be spurred on among male and female fighters locked in a mansion for months without access to their family or friends back home, television, radio, newspapers or reading material of any sort outside of the Bible (the Matt Hughes special dispensation), then it is likely you’ve gotten the precise point of why the UFC and Fox are doing this way. Rousey was clear, however, that she’ll tell her female team members what types of consequences will be in store for those who can’t keep it in their pants.
“If they’re the chick that was screwing around the house, for the rest of their career they’re going to be known as the chick that was screwing around the house. Sponsors are going to be looking at that. Everybody’s going to be looking at that,” she told MMA Junkie.
“If you think it’s $100,000 worth of that lay [ed. note – she talkin ’bout boning], then go for it, but I’m just going to remind them that there’s a lot of very permanent consequences to how they carry themselves in the house,” Rousey went on.
Ronda has always struck this writer as normal, authentic and healthy in the way she balances the fact that she ain’t bad to look at with the fact that she’s also a deadly-serious elite professional athlete. So her above statements initially seem just like sage advice for female fighters on the reality of the unfair up-hill battles they face as pioneers in the sport (although it is not clear whether having sex has been or will be officially ‘banned’ on TUF like fighting outside of the ring and leaving the house without permission, for example).
Then again, we seem to remember Ronda telling Showtime that having sex as much as possible before fights is good for her as a fighter because it elevates testosterone levels. Could it be that Ms. Rousey is trying to keep away one of her training secrets from future challengers?
We can’t say for sure whether that stupid, not-seriously offered theory is true or not (it isn’t), but it did give us the opportunity to post the above video of Rousey talking about sex with world-class creep Jim Rome, so there. The UFC and television networks are not the only ones that get to attract more visitors and viewers with cheap tricks and mentioning sex, are they? We should say not.
(Wait, another female Olympic medalist who could take us down without breaking a sweat? WTF, UFC? You’re really making us feel insecure in our manhood over here)
MMA Junkie is reporting that this April’s UFC 159 card, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Really? Can’t We Just Have Jones vs. Silva Already?, now has an intriguing women’s fight. Yup. Don’t forget, the UFC now has chick fighters that are bringing it and making bank for the company (to the tune of 400k pay per view buys).
2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann will take on young, German KO artist Sheila Gaff in New Jersey, April 27th. If McMann wins, the UFC will have another undefeated Olympic medalist to pit against champion Ronda Rousey, herself a 2008 Olympic Judo bronze medalist, in what hard core fans have thought of as the real potential women’s MMA super fight for the last year or so.
If Gaff manages to keep McMann off her and get the win, the UFC could have a new international challenger with bona-fide stopping power – who has been fighting professionally since she was, like, sixteen freaking years old – that could claim to be a threat to Rousey’s belt. Seems like a win-win for the UFC and its brand new 135 pound women’s division.
After the jump, check out video footage of both McMann and Gaff doing their thang. Taters in the know – who you got in this match up and why?
(Wait, another female Olympic medalist who could take us down without breaking a sweat? WTF, UFC? You’re really making us feel insecure in our manhood over here)
MMA Junkie is reporting that this April’s UFC 159 card, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen: Really? Can’t We Just Have Jones vs. Silva Already?, now has an intriguing women’s fight. Yup. Don’t forget, the UFC now has chick fighters that are bringing it and making bank for the company (to the tune of 400k pay per view buys).
2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann will take on young, German KO artist Sheila Gaff in New Jersey, April 27th. If McMann wins, the UFC will have another undefeated Olympic medalist to pit against champion Ronda Rousey, herself a 2008 Olympic Judo bronze medalist, in what hard core fans have thought of as the real potential women’s MMA super fight for the last year or so.
If Gaff manages to keep McMann off her and get the win, the UFC could have a new international challenger with bona-fide stopping power – who has been fighting professionally since she was, like, sixteen freaking years old – that could claim to be a threat to Rousey’s belt. Seems like a win-win for the UFC and its brand new 135 pound women’s division.
After the jump, check out video footage of both McMann and Gaff doing their thang. Taters in the know – who you got in this match up and why?
