Women's MMA - Ending August with a Roar

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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.

Strikeforce Champ Sarah Kaufman

In breaking news, Strikeforce has announced the date and location for Sarah Kaufman's second Strikeforce title defense. Kaufman will face #2 ranked 145 pounder Marloes Coenen in San Jose Oct. 9. This will be the first time Kaufman has been off a Challenger’s card, and the first time Marloes Coenen has ever dropped to 135 pounds.

Coenen’s last match was with tko loss to Strikeforce 145 pound title holder Cyborg Santos back in January. Coenen was expected to have a match for Glory 12 in October, but that card was cancelled. Kaufman’s last match was with Roxanne Modafferi this past July, in which won by tko. The winner of this match will face Meisha Tate.

 

 

It wasn’t her best match, but #3 ranked 125 pounder Zoila Frasto’s first fight at 115 pounds is under her belt with a win in Chicago. Frausto out gunned #5 ranked 115 pounder Jessica Pene, handing Pene her first loss, and moving her to the semi-finals for the Bellator tournament.

For the complete results go to the article here on Women Talk Sports -

http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/652/644530

Frausto will face #7 ranked Jessica Aguilar in the semi-finals, which will likely be Sept. 16, when Bellator will be the first major organization to have a MMA event in Milwaukee.

Thursday in the Bellator tournament, #4 ranked Lisa Ward faces undefeated #5 ranked 125 pounder and Irish fighter Aisling Daly, in Daly’s American debut in Kansas City. The match between Ward and Daly will be televised nationally on Fox Sports Net.

 

In the only other pro-match this week, Tannaya Hantelman defeated Anna Barone by Unanimous Decision at Wreck MMA in Canada.

 

It’s been off and on for years, but finally after waiting all this time, “The Ultimate Women’s Challenge” started full production this week.

The show will feature 16 women in two divisions vying for the Ultimate Women’s Challenge title.

 

Michele “Thundercat” Ould

The 125 pounder include:

• Michelle Ould (4-3) Accomplished grappler 
• Lacey Schukman (5-3) Tuff-n-uff mma vet
• Angela Magana (8-4) #8 ranked 115 pounder
• Kristen Molina (1-1-1) Ken Shamrock’s Lion Den fighter
• Brandi Hainey (2-3) Former Bellator competitor
• Barb Honchak (1-1) 2009 GFight Rising Star Champ at the Hook’n’Shoot 
• Angela Hayes (3-5) Tuff-n-uff mma and World Combat League vet
• Heather Clark (0-1) Greg Jackson trained fighter

Julie “Fireball” Kedzie

The 135 pounders include

• Michelle Vera (1-0) Fighter Brandon Vera’s sister
• Julie Kedzie (14-8) #9 ranked 135 pounder
• Brighton Hutton (0-1)
• Kaitlin Young (4-4) formerly ranked 145 pounder
• Casey Nolan (1-2) accomplished Kickboxer
• Patricia Hall (Vidonic) (0-1) Former amateur mma champ
• Martha Benevides (0-0) Debuting mma fighter
• Coleen Schneider (0-2) Strikeforce Challengers vet

The taping will happen at an “Undisclosed location” somewhere in California. Several of the originally announced cast members are out, including Belllator competitor Jessica Aguilar due to her tournament obligations; Melissa Steele is out due to a broken arm; and Alexis Davis has several upcoming matches under her Raging Wolf contract. Felice Herrig and Christy Tada are also out for undisclosed reason.

The show will be hosted by Joanna Krupa from “Danicng with the Stars” fame and a yet to be named guest host.

The show will start airing in September and can be seen syndicated on several NBC affiliates

Olympian Randi Miller is out of her match with #3 ranked 145 pounder Hiroko Yamanaka at the Shootboxing Girls S-Cup event Aug. 29 in Tokyo. A replacement will be announced shortly. The match is under “Vale Tudo” rules, which is essentially American professional mma rules.

 

 

MMA Fighter Hiroko Yamanaka

Top ranked Hiroko is on a five fight win streak, and her only loss has been to Strikeforce tournament participant #5 ranked 135 pounder Hitomi Akano, a loss she avenged earlier this year. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker stated in an interview with MMARising.com that Hiroko will be getting a shot at Cyborg Santos’s 145 pound title sometime in the near future.

 

JEWELS Japan announced this week they will be holding a tournament to discover new talent in the pro-ranks. The Rough Stone tournament will feature mma fighters in the 106 & 114 weight classes who have just started their careers. The tournament starts Oct. 10 in Tokyo.

 

 

In fights this week -

#8 ranked Alexis Davis faces Elaina Maxwell for Davis’s 135 pound title at Raging Wolf 9 in Niagra Falls, NY

and

Christina Domke faces a yet to be named opponent at WNCC 6 in Wisconsin

 

BJJ Champion Penny Thomas

Fightergirls Fight team member & World BJJ champ Penny Thomas faces Tracey Goodell at the UFC Expo in Boston in grappling superfight this coming Friday. Best of luck to her.

 

That is all for now. Please check out Fightergirls 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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