Battles To Be Waged, Wars to Be Won…..Kaline Medeiros vs. Tisha Rodrigues Nov 13?

Written By Fightergirls' Shelley Devine

Photos By Evolve Fights & Cathlin Daley

MMA Fighter Kaline Medeiros

Women’s MMA took a leap forward this past month with Bellator ’s nationally televised Women’s World Championship Tournament giving professional female fighters greater recognition as they battle inside the cage.

But is the pool of fighters too small for female MMA to make it all the way to that so called Holy Grail, The Ultimate Fighter level? Maybe, maybe not.

The number of female MMA fighters does seem to be growing rapidly within the US. But what does it take for a woman to go pro successfully?

Stepping Stones:

As an amateur, stepping stones starts off with foundational development, which includes the training required to gain the skills acquired to become a MMA fighter. Stepping stones also includes gaining cage experience at small local promotions that give fighters a chance to showcase their skills, grow and gain recognition before advancing to larger more recognized promotions such as Bellator.

Seizing Opportunity:

A fighter might have to occasionally step out of her comfort zone and seize the opportunity that a step up in competition represents. Sure, a perfect record looks great, but women need to step in there, take some chances and build the sport of female MMA.

Creating a Brand:

And lastly creating a brand and marketing oneself as a MMA fighter. This is a tough business to establish a name for yourself within the fight arena/community/fan base. And the best way to do this is to fight as often as reasonably possible.

For Women’s MMA that pivotal moment of taking a fight career to the next level is happening now!

So let’s shine a spot light on New England. Two local girls have the potential to build significant professional careers in MMA.

1^st off amateur MMA fighter Kaline Medeiros (Team Gillette), a 31 year-old painter from Joao Pessoa, Brazil, who has been training MMA at Tim Gillett’s since April 2008. She has proven to be a fierce ground competitor in her first year smoking through her entire division in NAGA. Inside the cage she is on record with only 1 loss against Jessica Miele. Her most recent fight was this past Aug 14 for Cage FX where she improved her record to 3-1-0 by brutally beating down Grace Nowak (Team Crush) with vicious punches. Nowak who returned and covered trying numerous attempts for a single leg takedown to no avail eventually succumbed to a referee stoppage in the first round because she turtled to protect her already smashed face while waiting out a barrage of punches delivered by an unstoppable Medeiros.

Tisha Rodrigues kneeing Shannon Harney

Up next is rising starlet, Tisha Rodrigues (Boneyard), a 33 year old fitness model and mother of three from New Bedford, MA, who has been training in MMA for the last three years. Tisha has also proven herself recently at NAGA winning her division and claimed a recent win against Shannon Harney (Dragon Within) at Combat Zone 34 this past Aug 13. Rodrigues, who has become affectionately known as the Lil Bully exchanged punches with Harney and wound up clinching against the fence. Rodrigues, then delivered several vicious knees with one that appeared to be a low blow and threw Harney to the ground. Harney’s corner began shouting “groin shot”. The fight was immediately stopped!  Initially, it was questionable whether it was a knee to the belly, because Harney lost her lunch. The ref allowed Harney to recover. She gained the respect of everyone there by standing up to continue the fight but Rodrigues dominated submitting Harney with less than 2 sec left in the first round by rear naked choke. Rodrigues proved herself as a fierce competitor and improved her record to 2-1!

After taking a few weeks off from training, Tisha Rodrigues has made it publically known that she is looking to take a fight this November and I’m not sure what Kaline Medieros’ future fight plans are.  Shannon Harney has already requested a rematch with Rodrigues and has a fight set with Heather Lambert (Team Kaze) on Combat Zones’ Oct 22 card. Grace Nowak is looking to fight after the first of the year.

A matchup between Medeiros vs. Rodrigues could be well received by fight fans. They both meet the stepping stones and could comfortably match up at 125 lbs., on November 13. As for seizing the opportunity, there are two options for local promotions, Cage FX or Tournament of Champions both on Nov 13. But will they?

There are underlying battles to be waged and wars to be won when considering the overall evolution of women’s MMA. So many female fighters, prior to the new breed of practitioners who are on the rise, have pioneered a place for woman to compete alongside men in a long arduous battle to gain respect and recognition in a sport that is enthusiastically received globally.

So as Kaline & Tisha move to their next level, the future fights they accept will undoubtedly bring tougher competition locally and hopefully nationally. If they choose to dodge each other this November, the question remains “who will be considered a formidable opponent that will challenge them most from an area with a shallow pool of female fighters?” After all a fighter can only be measured by or is only as good as the opponent they compete against.

As a fan, this is a fight I’d like to see, mostly because I see a female version of Stephan Bonner vs Forrest Griffin in my own backyard! Like Gina Carano who opened the door for women into Strikeforce and the women who are now competing in Bellator’s women’s tournament, Kaline and Tisha are in a position to elevate MMA for women in New England by becoming the local heroines. Isn’t that what makes fighters great and inspires fans to follow them?!  

About the writer: Shelley has over 10 year Martial Arts experience. She is also a trainer at Sityodtong.

View MarQFPR's Profile

• Filed Under:  
• Martial Arts, MMA