MMA - Fighters' Homecomings

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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.

Marlose Coenen with her Golden Glory teammates in the Netherlands

In breaking news, Strikeforce 135 pound champion Marloes Coenen bowed out of her scheduled match at the Ultimate Glory card in her native Amsterdam this weekend. No reason was given. Coenen was medically cleared by doctors this past week after her fight with former champion Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman was also cleared medically.

Kaufman (left) & Coenen (right) Courtesy Ester Lin/Strikeforce

Coenen received $2000 plus a $1000 fight bonus for winning the 135 pound title in San Jose, while former champion Sarah Kaufman received $20,000 for her loss. Kaufman was the second highest paid on the card in terms of overall fighters. A side note is that these numbers don’t include additional bonus from other sources.

Coenen with fellow Stikeforce champ Allastair Overeem (left center) 

The new Strikeforce champ did get a hero’s welcome in the Neitherlands, and pictures can be seen at the Mixfight website.

Golden Glory, Coenen’s home gym, will be opening a facility in Huntington Beach, CA. There could be a possibility that Coenen could be training, at least part time, in the United States next year.

 Summer White (left) & Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc (right) Courtesy Miesha Tate

In action from this past week – 

Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc defeats Summer White by TKO Rd. 1 in Puerto Rico

Claire Haigh def. Eilleen Forrest via rear naked choke after 2:06 of round three

And

Sun Jiao def. Ella Tang via ground and pound 4:25 of round three at Martial Combat in Singapore

145 pound contender Shana Olsen (left) & Julia Budd (right)

Coming up this Friday, #6 ranked 145 pounder Shana Olsen will face debuting Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers in Fresno.  Olsen, an undefeated 5-0, had an impressive win over formerly ranked Yoko Takahashi this past April,  is looking to get the shot at Cyborg Satnos’s 145 pound title. Budd is making her first venture into mma, but is the only fighter to defeat Gina Carano in Muay Thai. The fight will be live on Showtime.

Olympian Sara McMann 

Silver medalist Sara McMann is one of a number of Olympic athletes that have made the transition to MMA. 2-0 in her amateur career, McMann is set to make her pro debut this Saturday at the Rumble at the Tower in Columbia, SC. 

 Tara LaRosa (left) & Takayo Hashi (right photo courtesy Ester Lin/Strikeforce) 

It was announced this week that #1 ranked 125 pounder Tara LaRosa will be facing #6 ranked 135 pounder Takayo Hashi on Nov 24th at the DaMMAge Fight League’s first ever card at the Trump Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City, NJ. It will be a 5 round affair in the 125 pound division. This will be a rematch of sorts, because both faced each other in the semi-finals of the ADCC World grappling championships in 2007 just down the road in Trenton, NJ. LaRosa would defeat Hashi and take second in the tournament. 

LaRosa is looking to come back from her split decision loss to #4 ranked Roxanne Modafferi back in May. Hashi is looking to make an impression after being criticized for her lack luster performance in her loss to Sarah Kaufman for the 135 pound Strikeforce title back in February. 

Boxing Champ Holly Holm

Top ranked boxer Holly Holm is going to make the jump to mma in 2011. She made the announcement during a press conference to promote her next boxing match Dec. 3 verses top contender Ann Marie Sac-cur-at-o in a rematch for the IBA Junior welterweigtht title at the Route 66 casino in New Mexico.

Holm, considered on the the best pound-for-pound boxers and is the Ring Magazine two time female fighter of the year, is on a 22 fight win streak. She has a background in kickboxing, and has been working with Greg Jackson's gym in New Mexico to make the transition.

Hernandez and Garbatt Courtesy Tom Hernandez

Elsewhere in New Mexico, “Lethal” Lindsay Garbatt (5-3-1, 3KO’s) rematched Melissa “Hurricane” Hernandez, now 13-2-3, 4KO’s in what was undoubtedly the 2010 “Fight of the Year” thus far in women’s boxing according to several critics.  After ten intense action packed rounds the fight ended in a majority draw.  The judge’s scores were 98-92, 95-95 and 95-95.

The fight was apart of the Golden Girl Promotion’s “We Fight for the Cure” boxing card, with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation Against Breast Cancer.

LaTasha Marzolla

Coming up this week

Tuff-n-uff retruns to the Orleans arena with amateur mma fighter Latasha Marzolla returning to the ring, facing Nikki Rae Lowe. Also, Autumn Richardson faces Jessica Martinez. The Tuff-n-uff card will be streaming live for $10 at GoFightLiveTV

MMA Fighter Kim Couture

In the pro ranks -

Chelsea Colarelli faces Amber Powell at the XFL card in Tulsa, OK

Molly Helsel faces Monica Lopez at the Gladiator Challenge: Royal Flush in San Jacinto, CA

and

Kim Couture faces Munah Holland and  Ashley Nee faces Melissa Bopp at Ring Of Combat 32 in Atlantic City, NJ. The fights will be streaming live Saturday on GoFightlive.tv.

That's all for now. Check out Fightergirls - for all your women’s mma news and interviews. You can 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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