Women's MMA - August - a Month of Champions

Welcome to the Fightergirls column on Women Talk Sports brought to you by your source for women’s mma gear and clothing Fightergirls.com. Here is the news for this week.

Top 125 pounder Carina Damm 

In breaking news, #2 ranked 125 pounder Carina Damm will be apart of the Strikeforce 135 pound tournament after all. Earlier this week it was announced that Damm was having trouble obtaining a visa from her native country of Brazil, due to increased demand. Damm and Strikeforce were diligent in getting a visa appointment for Damm Friday, and Strikeforce stated Saturday that Damm was able to obtain to travel to the U.S. in time for the Aug. 13 tournament in Phoenix. If Damm for some reason couldn’t make it, it has been reported by MMA Weekly that #8 ranked Alexis Davis was set to replace her.

Fighter Colleen Schneider

Former Tuff-n-uff competitor Colleen Schneider has confirmed to Fightergirls that she will be one of the alternates for the Strikeforce Phoenix Grand Prix, and will face a yet-to-be-named opponent in the preliminary card. The winner of the fight will replace a competitor if they cannot continue. Strikeforce also said that the matches will be three 3 minute rounds for the tournament.

#3 ranked Shayna Baszler

Freestyle Cage Fighting Grand Prix champion and #3 ranked 135 pounder Shayna Baszler has yet to be signed to Strikeforce, according to Baszler’s manager mma champion Josh Barnett. Via her win at the FCF tournament, Baszler is offered a contract with Strikeforce, but the two parties are still in negotiations. We will let you know more information as it becomes available.

Fighter Erin Toughill

It looks like Erin Toughill will have to find a warm-up match somewhere else. Strikeforce said this week that the possible match between Toughill and #6 ranked 145 pounder Shana Olsen has been scrapped, but Toughill would still be offered a shot at champion Cyborg Santos after she gets a match outside of the organization. Toughill was scheduled for a match earlier this year with Freestyle Cage Fighting, but her opponent wasn’t able to enter the country.

Olsen maybe getting the next shot at Cyborg, but it is also possible that when Toughill is accepted back into the Strikeforce mix that the two could be fighting each other.

Bellator has guaranteed 24 plus shows in 2011, which will possibly feature two more women’s tournaments. They are also saying that there will be no more Fox Sports Network preempting from local affiliates, which means the shows will be live on the west coast. This is on the heels of a UFC lawsuit that claims that Bellator has gotten their hands on confidential documents, which in turn make for unfair business practices. Bellator denies the claim and said that the suit “will wind up being nothing.”

Jewels MMA Japan began their 115 pound tournament last week, which saw formerly #9 ranked Saori Ishioka defeated by Sakura Nomura, and Seo Hee Ham defeats Mai Ichii to make Ham the new #10 ranked fighter in the world. Mika Nagano avenge her loss to Celine Haga via armbar at 2:52 of round 1, and Ayaka Hamazaki defeats Han Sol Lee via Kimura at :48 of R1. In a non tournament match, Britain’s Lisa Newton lost to Misaki Takimoto via rear naked choke at 2:10 of round 1.

In the other pro match this week, Alex Chambers defeats Claire Fryer via TKO at 2:57 of R1, Rize MMA 6: Defiance in Australia.

#1 ranked Sarah Kaufman courtesy Ester Lin/Stikreforce

The August rankings are up, with a shift in the 135 pound division. With her loss to Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman, Roxanne Modafferi drops to #4, as the champ remains at #1. Tara LaRosa moves up a spot to #2 and is again ranked in two different divisions. Shayna Baszler moves up to the #3 spot, while Takayo Hashi remains at #5.

#3 ranked "Hiroko" Yamanaka

With Gina Carano’s inactivity, she has been dropped from the 145 rankings, which moved some fighters up a spot. Cyborg Santos remains at number one in the division, and has kept that spot since the beginning of the Unified rankings. Marloes Coenen remains in the #2 spot, with "Hiroko" Yamanaka moving to third. Cindy Dandois is at #4, with Amanda Nunes round out the top five.

The 125 and 115 divisions remain the same, but expect big movement as the Bellator 115 pound tournament starts this month. The complete list of top ten rankings can be seen in our forums.

Olympic Wrestler Sara McMann

Olympic silver medalist freestlye wrestler and top grappler Sara McMann made her amateur mma debut this weekend, defeating Rachel Dovidio via unanimous decision at the CFP in Jacksonville, NC. McMann is considered on of the top overall wrestler, having competed in grappling competitions with the likes of Shayna Baszler and Miesha Tate.

Olympian Randi Miller Courtesy Life.com

McMann isn’t the only world class grappler to make the move to women’s mma. As reported earlier this year on the podcast, Olympic bronze medalist Randi Miller will be making her mma debut this fall. Miller has been training off and on in mma for the past few years, training at the Matt Hughes’s H.I.T. Squad. Hughes has stated that he doesn’t like to see women in the cage, but it seems his team had made an exception. It has yet to be announced when and where Miller will be making her debut.

Olympian Rhonda Rousey Courtesy Life.com

Another Olympian will also be making her mma debut this weekend. Judo bronze medalist Ronda Rousey is making her amateur debut on August 6th in the Combat Fight League against Hayden Wolf.

Shootboxing has announced the first round fights for their Girls S-Cup tournament to be held August 29. The event, which will be contested under modified Vale Tudo rules, will have some of the best mma fighters in Japan, and will feature American Kate Martinez.

MMA fighter Ashley Weakly Courtesy Ultra Vista/Tuff-n-uff

There are no pro-bouts this week, but Tuff-n-uff continues their amateur tournaments with four semi-final matches in Vegas at the Orleans arena.

In the 135 pound division, Emily Peters-Kagen faces Tsui-Jen Cunanan and Jillian Lybarger faces Ashley Weakley and in the 125 pound semi-finals, it will be Stephanie Eggink facing Katie Klimansky, and Jenn Yum faces Lindsay Jones.

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 for all your mma gear and clothing, now featuring a line of women's and men's shorts. We also carry RevGear, Everlast, and Cleto Reyes boxing and mma gear.

Until next week.

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• Martial Arts, MMA, Olympics, Wrestling, Summer Games