Last week was a pretty busy week for womens mma with not one but two tournaments taking place in a 2 day span. This post will focus on the Strikeforce one night tournament since it was a one and done affair as opposed to the proper 3 month tournament that Bellator is putting on.

The 3 fights that took place were Miesha Tate vs Maiju Kujala – Good old fashioned striker vs grappler, but with 3 mins rounds which turned it into desperate takedown vs desperate takedown defense. Tate used her wrestling to neutralize the kickboxer Kujala and spent the majority of the two poor excuses for rounds pinned against the cage before being taken down by Tate. Granted Kujala was able to stifle Tate by threatening her with a guillotine. But with only 180 seconds nothing happened and Meisha Tate got the unanimous decision.

Next up – Hitomi Akano vs Carina Damm

A spirited back and forth fight between the only woman to get popped for steroids in Carina Damm and Hitomi Akano whose last fight for Strikeforce had her auditioning for Cris Cyborgs new punching bag (she failed). But Akano seemed to be a different fighter when her opponent shows up on weight and in her natural weight class of 135 lbs. With spinning back fist and crazy ground transitions this was yet another fight diluted of its potential awesomeness because of 3 minute rounds. That being said Akano was still able to reverse a bad position on the gournd to get a second round submission finish.

Tournament Final – Meisha Tate vs. Hitomi Akano

This fight reaffirmed what we have known about the state of modern mma: If you can’t wrestle, you can’t compete at the highest level. Being the finals, the opponent were given a whopping 9 minutes (a third 3 minute round) to duke it out for the shot at the title. Tate being a wrestler implemented her winning gameplan of taking the fight to the ground and doing work. Akano attempted to derail this by attempting judo throws but only succeeded in giving up her back. Even still Akano was able to threaten a toe hold/leg lock submission for the latter half of the 1st round but that was the majority of her offense for the rest of the fight.

Tate took advantage of Akano’s failed judo throw and transitions and maintained back mount for the rest of the fight. Going as far as to threaten with a rear naked choke in the final frame along with some ground and pound. Meish Tate took another lopsided decision to win the tournament and earned her title shot with the winner of Sara Kaufman vs Marloes Coenen.

Crappy round structure aside which in all fairness was due to the Arizona athletic commission not being a fan of the one tournament to begin with, it was entertaining night of fights.

Not much to say here other than HOLY MOTHER OF GOD THAT WAS A BRUTAL FINISH!!!

The shove after the knee was a stroke of genius, I wonder why more fighters don’t push stunned opponents down. Since Sexton was only taking this as a tune up fight and was supposed to compete in season 3 115lb tournament. I wonder what Bellator is going to do about her medical suspension? And where does Zoila go from here seeing as the tournament taking place is 2 weight classes down from her usual division of 135.

Darn fighters and their desire to win and the highly random nature of the fight game.

UPDATE:

As mentioned in the comment sections and now MMA Junkie not only is Ms. Frausto a 125lb fighter.

Frausto, who fights at 125 pounds out of Fresno, Calif.’s Team Buhawe, met Sexton at 120 pounds and pulled off the upset with a knee strike and punches that knocked the English fighter senseless at the bout’s two-minute mark.

She is now being considered to take Sextons place in the 115lb tournament, as soon as Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney hammers out the details/logistics with the other fighters he had waiting in the wings for the opportunity to be an alternate/back up fighter.

“I think the plan with Rosi is let her get back into training (and) bring her back not in the tournament, but bring her back for a fight,” Rebney said.

While Frausto’s performance certainly puts her in line to replace Sexton, Rebney said there is no guarantee that she’ll get the job.

“The only thing that’s standing in the way is that we had women who were positioned and we had talked to as the No. 9, 10 and 11,” he said. “The matter is clearing our heads and looking at the situation and saying, ‘Does that warrant her leapfrogging ahead of people who we had otherwise recruited and talked to for that spot?’”

As for Frausto, she said she’d have no trouble making weight.

“When they call me, I will make [115 pounds],” she today told MMAjunkie.com. “I made 120 (pounds) easy, and that was a little bit of a shock to everybody and myself. … I can make that.

“I’ve been doing this to fight the best, and I just beat one of the best. So hell yeah, I want that spot.”

Rebney is making good on his word on letting fighters control their destiny. Hopefully Zoila can compete and Sexton when she is medically cleared can also return to Bellator later this year.

Good news from MMA Junkie,

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Strikeforce Challengers 9 could feature recently crowned Strikeforce women’s welterweight champion Sarah Kaufman (11-0 MMA, 3-0 SF) against fellow 135-pounder Roxanne Modafferi (15-5 MMA, 0-1 SF).

And before anyone freaks out over being 0-1 in the organization, lets put it in perspective.

Modafferi, meanwhile, would fight for Strikeforce for the second time. Serving as a late replacement for Erin Toughill, the Japanese-based American moved up a weight class and ultimately suffered a first-round submission loss to notable Marloes Coenen.

Since that loss, Modafferi scored a submission win over Molly Helsel at a King of the Cage event, and on May 21, she edged female standout Tara LaRosa (18-1 at the time) via split decision in a heavily praised “Moosin: God of Martial Arts” pay-per-view bout. Modafferi has now won eight of her past nine fights.

It will suck for me personally being a fan of both fighters, but this fight has to happen. Roxy has been performing like a woman possesed and is a more than worthy challenger for Kaufmans title. But with a little over a month to prepare and this being Roxy’s 3rd fight of the year. I can’t help but wonder if this fight isn’t coming off a bit rushed.

From MMA Fighting,

The pound-for-pound best female fighter in the world, Megumi Fujii will fight on the June 10 Bellator event, CEO Bjorn Rebney announced Friday.

Her opponent is yet to be named but Fujii is also likely to compete in the rumored 115-pound tournament to be held in Bellator’s third season which starts in August. Other rumored tournament participants include Rosi Sexton and Elena Reid.

Since Strikeforces proposed April 8 woman tournament has yet to come to fruition and no new developments on the Womens Grand Prix promoted by FCF that featured the likes of Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins vs Jan Finney and Shayna Baszler. And with the unofficial face of female mma Gina Carano off making movies with no return to mma in sight, maybe Bellator can pick up where Gina and Strikeforce left off.