Strikeforce continues to promote
their female fighters but the UFC’s Dana White questions the talent available
in the women’s ranks. Here’s what we
think.
**07/25/2011 Update**
Having taken a beating from Santos, Marloes Coenen has dropped weight and on the 30th of July she will defend her 135-pound Championship against Meisha Tate and you can read the full break down and pick right here.
**Original Article**
When we
think about women fighting, images of fingernail scratching, hair pulling and
patty-cake punches fill our thoughts. It’s not exactly how men want to view their women. We’d prefer a couple of buxom blondes in
bikinis venting their angerin a tub of hot oil while we drink a few cold ones,
hoping they’d kiss and make up at the end.
Men want women to do many things but fighting is generally not one of
them. However, there are some very
skilled women in mixed martial arts and here are our thoughts on the top 5
exclusive of weight division.
Cristiane
“Cyborg” Santos (10-1) - There are two female fighters who have broken the mold
and while they may not be household names, they are certainly well known to
most MMA fans. Let’s talk about the most
lethal woman in MMA and that is undeniably Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.
The woman is positively ripped and she’s
downright scary. At 145 pounds she has
about as much body fat as a brick wall. She is not only the Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight champion but she is
also the 2011 World
Jiu-Jitsu Heavyweight Purple Belt Gold Medalist. In the world of women’s mixed martial arts,
she has no peer.
At only 25 years of age
she has already reached the pinnacle of her sport and her relentless attacking
style in the cage effortlessly blends a devastating brand of Muay Thai to
accompany her highly skilled ground game.
Ironically, her first fight proved to be her only loss thus far. That occurred over 6 years ago and since then
she has reeled off 10 consecutive wins and has 8 KO’s to her credit. She has simply gotten better with each
passing year and the best is yet to come.
Gina Carano
(7-1) - Arguably, the second best female fighter in the world is undeniably the
most popular. Gina Carano is a bodacious
banger with a big punch but even bigger…dimples. Boys, she is a knockout in more ways than one
and though she may be a bit thicker than your average drop dead gorgeous
athletic model, her world class Muay Thai skills separate her from all the
other pretty faces.
Clearly Gina Carano
transcends MMA as she has been on television, in movies and was voted #16 on
Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 List. Her last foray into the ring was the widely
anticipated fight between her and the Brazilian destroyer, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos. Carano could not dominate Cyborg the way she had dominated her previous
opponents.
At 4:59 of Round 1, Cyborg
was declared the winner by TKO and Gina’s undefeated record had its first
blemish. She has not fought in the cage
since that evening in August of 2009. Carano was supposed to have made her long awaited return on Strikeforce’s
June 18th card but she had to pull out due to failing her pre-fight
medical exam.
However, a subsequent
story by Loretta Hunt of SI.com stated that she had indeed passed her physical
and this was confirmed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Sounds a bit funky to us but rest assured, Gina Carano will
be back in a cage near you.
Dana White had shown interest on signing Gina to the UFC, but after the strange medical situation it remains unclear when we will see her name on a UFC betting ticket.
Zoila
(Frausto) Gurgel (11-1) – The Warrior Princess has claimed the 115 pound
Bellator championship but it appears she will be fighting, if at least for the
foreseeable future, at her more natural weight of 125 pounds. She is responsible for tainting the pristine
record that Megumi Fujii took into the cage when the two met back in October of
last year. It was a hotly contested
match but Gurgel was declared the winner by split decision.
She followed up that monumental victory with
a unanimous decision over Karina Hallinan in March. Perhaps the only knock against Gurgel is her
inability to put her opponents away. She
has only 1 knockout and 2 submissions to her credit but the bottom line is, she
wins.
Megumi Fujii
(24-1) – At 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighing only 113 pounds, this delicate
Japanese flower is sheer poison once the fight hits the mat. Holding a black belt in BJJ and Judo, it’s
not surprising that 18 of her 24 victories have come via submission. Her only loss was a controversial decision to
Zoila (Frausto) Gurgel in October of 2010. Since that time she has remained active with two consecutive unanimous
decisions in her favor and is itching to avenge her only defeat to Gurgel.
Amanda Nunes
(6-1) – This young Lioness of the Ring is a 23 year old Brazilian who may be
the only fighter capable of going toe to toe with fellow Brazilian Christiana
“Cyborg” Santos. Though she lost her
debut, she has since exploded through her division by demolishing her next 6
opponents by TKO or knockout.
She blends
a lethal concoction of Muay Thai, BJJ and Judo into her arsenal and there is
nothing subtle about her devastating hands. Nunes’ last fight in January of this year was illustrative of her power
when she sent Canadian Julia Budd to sleep with only 14 seconds gone in Round
1. Cyborg better watch out because
there’s a lioness stalking her every move.
If you think
you might have the appetite to sample some women’s MMA action then look no
further than Strikeforce’s Fedor vs. Henderson card on July 30th at
the Sears Centre outside of Chicago. For
those looking to make a wager on that event, Bodog.com has hung a betting
line favoring Fedor “The Last Emperor”
Emelianenko at -225 and Dan “Hendo” Henderson currently the underdog at
+185. Look for MMA betting on the same
card with matches between Robbie Lawler vs. Tim Kennedy, Paul Daley vs. Tyron
Woodley, and Scott “Hands of Stone” Smith vs. Tarec Saffiedine.
In addition
to the traditional men’s matches, there will be a women’s match featured on the
main card. That’s right move over boys,
Marloes Coenen (19-4) will take on Miesha Tate (11-2) in the 135 pound
division. There will be plenty of
opportunity for MMA betting and betting lines will be hung on many of the
matches and perhaps even the two female preliminary fights on the card. Ronda Rousey (2-0) takes on Sarah D’Alelio
(4-1) and Julie Kedzie (16-8) will square off against Alexis Davis (9-4).
Scott Coker,
the CEO of the UFC’s most recent acquisition Strikeforce, has been fostering
women’s MMA since 2006 and has no plans to retreat despite the UFC’s stance
that they promote only ring girls not girls in the ring (or cage as the case
may be). Coker stated recently, "Strikeforce is going to run just like it has
been. We're going to move forward with
women's MMA now and in future years from now."
Personally,
I would prefer to watch superbly conditioned women dance rather than
fight. It’s just not my cup of tea. Call me old fashioned but I like to think of
myself as the protector even if I don’t do it nearly as well as many of these
supremely skilled ladies. I’ve been
raised to believe men are strong and women are sugar and spice and everything
nice. After watching some of these girls
do battle, I may just be wrong.