The 135 Pound Picture Comes in Focus

(Jan Finney defeats A. J. Jenkins - Photo Courtesy FCF)

The finals are now set for the Freestyle Cage Fighting Grand Prix, with the winner of the tournament getting a Strikeforce contract.

In semi-final matches in Shawnee, OK, Jan Finney upset A.J. Jenkins by very close split decision, and what has been characterized as a war in the cage, #3 ranked 135 pounder Shayna Baszler def. #10 ranked Alexis Davis by unanimous decision.

The finals match between Finney and Baszler will happen at FCF 43 on June 12th in Oklahoma. The fights will be available for viewing at the Freestyle Cage fighting website this week.

The Upcoming Glory tournament also happened this past weekend with the winners being seeded in the Strikeforce 135 and 145 tournaments.

135 pounder Titiana van Polanen Petel and 145 pounder Romy Ruyssen received byes into the finals.

In the 135 semi-final, Maiju Kujala def. Akvile Vitkauskaite by second round choke and in the 145 semi-final, Sheila Gaff def. Lena Buytendijk via first round armlock.

(Maiju Kujala wins Striekforce contract - courtesy Mixfight.nl)

In the 135 pound final, Maiju Kujala def. Titiana van Polanen Petel by decision, and in the 145 final Romy Ruyssen def. Sheila Gaff by first round armlock.

The matches will be available to watch this week on the Kickboxtv website.

The Strikeforce tournament is rumored to be happening later this summer.

In more results from this past weekend, Melissa Moore beat Avery Vilche split decision at the "IFC Warriors Challenge 27" in Oroville, CA, and Kim Couture defeats Rosa Viscara at 1:20 in the first round via referee stoppage due to a broken nose at the Xteme Fighters in Senora, Mexico.

(Tate vs. Frausto - Photo Courtesy Strikeforce/Ester Lin)

The war of words came to a close as Miesha Tate defeated Zoila Frausto at this past Friday at Strikeforce Challengers via an armbar in the second round. Tate dominated the ground, but Frausto proved she wasn’t that easy to submit. Frausto fought the armbar for a good thirty seconds before tapping out. Both women hugged after the fight, with Tate giving Frausto some kudos post match.

(Tate defeats Frausto - Photo Courtesy Strikefore/Ester Lin)

“She came to fight, she’s a tough girl,” Tate said. “I don’t think she was willing to go to the ground with me, but I made her. She kept moving around very well, but I had her winded. She wouldn’t give up in that armbar, but she had to after a while.”

“I left myself open too much on the ground,” Frausto said. “I tried to find a way out, but she was too tough. I tried to keep it standing up, but I was a little too stubborn. I wanted to test my ground game against her and I should have stuck to standing up. I guess that’s how you learn.”

Frausto is set to fight in May in California. Tate may get a shot at Strikeforce 135 pound champion Sarah Kaufman sometime this year.

New York took a huge step in getting MMA legalized this week. The New York state senate passed Governor Patterson’s budget, which carried a provision for legalizing MMA in the state.

However, the budget is stalled in the State assembly. We will have an update next week to see if it passes.

According to the Frankp316 blog, legendary Japanese women’s mma pioneer Yuuki Kondo is set to make a return to the ring in the next few months. The now 35 year old Kondo is 11-5-2 in her career, with a notable draw with #7 ranked 145 pounder Yoko Takahashi. She retired after consecutive losses Amanda Buckner and #3 ranked 145 pounder Marloes Conenen in 2005. Kondo would beat Coenen in the ADCC grappling tournament a month later.

She would grapple with #1 ranked Megumi Fujii in an exhibition before leave completion all together to raise a family. An announcement should come shortly as to when and who Kondo will be fighting.

Fightergirls found out this week that Olympic Bronze medalist Randi Miller is training with Matt Hughes for mma. The 2008 bronze medalist in freestyle wrestling at 63 kilos is currently training at The Hit Squad in Granite City, IL, just outside St. Louis. She is expected to have her first match at the catch weight of 140 sometime in the next few months.

That is all for now. Please check out Fightergirls.com for all your women’s mma news and interviews. Plus follow us on twitter @Fightergirls with the most up to the minute breaking news stories in women’s mma.

Also check out the Fightergirls store of all your mma gear and clothing, now featuring a great selection of shorts for men as well. We also carry RevGear, Everlast, and Cleto Reyes boxing and mma gear.

See you next week.

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