MMA-URLS

A few updates on what's been going on in the MMA & UFC Twitterverse HOW RONDA ROUSEY HANDLES EXES... OR WHATEVER YOU CALL THAT "Okay ... Couldn't help tweeting this cause it felt too damn good sending this message to not share it" -Ronda Rousey There's a ton of tweets after the jump, but first, don't forget to follow me on twitter: @antontabuena Oh, and these guys are probably worth following as well: The Official BloodyElbow Twitter Account, Luke Thomas, Kid Nate, Brent Brookhouse, Richard Wade, Chris Barton, Damon O, Scott Broussard, Tim Burke, Matt Bishop, Fraser Coffeen, Dallas Winston, KJ Gould, Ben Thapa, Josh Nason, T.P. Grant. DANA WHITE SITS OUT UFC ON FUEL TV 3... WILL GET SURGERY "first fight I will miss in 11 years and it is KILLING me!!! I have to have surgery in LA 2 morrow or trust me I would be" -Dana White, get well soon. "I'm hoping to be in and out quick. I have no time for this shit but it has to be done... now I have what's called minears disease it's like Vertigo but on steroids! Not fun... " -Dana White "Lol now for the first time ever of sitting my ass at home watchin the fights I HATE not seeing the walk ins!!! Fix that shit @UFC" -Dana White "Hey @chilledt5 we have to show walk ins from now on! This is BS! Everyone blow him up and Yell at @Lorenzofertitta too! I'm a fan 2 nite :) ...@chilledt5 and @lorenzofertitta fix the walk ins!!! We the fans want them!! What the he'll do u people do all day @UFC fix this shit!" -Dana White, gives Lorenzo and the UFC a preview of what he usually deals with during events. TWICTURES "New promo picture for @TeamGaspari !!!" -Ronda Rousey "At the TUF gym in Vegas. Watching @LancePalmer & @chadmendes workout. #Weirdos" -Danny Castillo ‏ "We go to the US！ 行って来まーす(^^)" -Megumi Fujii "My very first Thai boxing coach Lee Smith, sadly lost his life in Moto accident gone to soon never forgotten" -Ross Pearson RANDOM TWIDBITS "Up bright and early in Hawaii gonna get some grub then do some lap swimming in the ocean. Sharks beware of the mouse....squeak!!!!!!!" -Demetrious Johnson ‏ "Tax man, I know its wishful thinking but please spend that money well. I didn't suffer for it so some suit can eat $150 muffins. Thank you." -Dan Hardy ‏ DANA WHITE ON DAVE MELTZER "@danawhite Don't you think bring up Dave losing his job was below the belt? Was irrelevant to the argument.." -Random Fan "yes like his story was. U kick me in the nuts I kick you back... Meltzer is a nice guy and I like him but his story was BS." -Dana White SHANE CARWIN TROLLS HIMSELF "Everyone knows the @UFC buys it's stars amazing cars. Here is what Uncle @DanaWhite got me. Do not be Jelly!" -Shane Carwin ‏ "haters where is the "@DanaWhite got you that car so you would stop running out of gas". Step your game up, I shouldnt be insulting myself." -Shane Carwin ‏

Posted in: ufc, dana, ronda rousey, rousey, rlm

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In case you didn’t already know today is Mother’s Day, and let’s face it – you can’t spell MAMA without MMA. In honor of the holiday I’ve decided to show some love to the ladies whose contributions to the sport have helped make it such an incredibly entertaining endeavor. No, not the ring girls, but rather I’ll be ranking a few of my favorite MMA mothers. Also, if you’re a fighter out there whose beloved mom doesn’t make the cut, keep in mind this list is completely subjective as are all rankings and it’s not a slight on how wonderful she undoubtedly is. 1.) Ronda Rousey / Ann Maria DeMars There is no question Rousey would not be who she is today without the influence of her mother. DeMars is a decorated judoka and fierce female, raising “Rowdy” Ronda as a single-parent for most of her life after the untimely death of her father. She introduced Rousey to judo at an early age, developing both her skills on the mat as well as strengthening her character. Rousey recently recounted a story where she was eleven year old, broke a toe in a match, and was then made to run laps after crying about it. The lesson imparted – “Sometimes you have to fight when you’re injured. You need to know you’re capable of that.” Today Rousey is an arm-snapping, ass-kicking machine whose personality (and genetic blessings) have earned her a spot at the top of the MMA food chain as the face of woman’s MMA. 2.) B.J. Penn / Lorraine Shin I don’t know a lot about Shin but what I do know is that she is a constant presence in the crowd when her baby – Baby Jay more specifically – fights. She also penned a passionate letter to the NSAC after his second bout with Georges St. Pierre, complaining of GSP using a grease-like substance to gain a competitive advantage in the cage. Wrote Shin, “I have and continue to support my four sons who have earned their black belt status in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I have also had the opportunity of attending many Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments as well as MMA fight events in Hawaii, Guam, Japan, England and the U.S. Mainland. I am no stranger to the MMA fight world…During the rounds that followed, I was shocked to see that B.J. appeared to be helpless, as well as defenseless in his attempts to grasp and hold Georges St. Pierre while on the ground. I silently kept screaming and asking myself, ‘What is wrong? Why can’t B.J. defend himself?’ I was horrified with fear. My son was going to be seriously hurt because he could not defend himself…Although still in shock and fearful for my son (in the locker room), it then made sense to me why B.J. couldn’t defend himself. Georges St. Pierre used a greasy substance on his body, therefore giving St. Pierre an unfair advantage over my son, B.J. Penn. “While in the locker room, I couldn’t understand why the fight was not stopped by the UFC’s referee or the Nevada State Athletic Commission for the unfair advantage by St. Pierre and his cornerman after they realized the foul. How could this happen? Why was it allowed?” That, my friends, is a mother’s love. 3.) Carlos Condit / Camille Prevost I have always had a soft spot for Condit’s mother since his days in WEC. She walks him down to the cage and often works in his corner since she’s a registered nurse. There’s something inherently sweet about a mom supporting her son to the point she helps fuel his fire to compete in a sport he loves even if it means he could get hurt. Runner Up – Urijah Faber / Suzanne Faber I’m not fully familiar with Mrs. Faber but as the lone matriarch on the list to have stopped a robbery while wielding a gun she deserves a little recognition from those outside her family. “Happy B-day to my beautiful mom Suzanne today,” posted Faber on his Twitter a few weeks back. “Still feisty, just caught a burgler /w a pellet gun. Held him off till the cops arrived … he thought she was using a real gun … She was house sitting & found this High powered pellet gun. Looks dangerous enough.” Faber may have the Hollywood chin but it sounds like his mom is the real action hero. On that note, stop reading this article and go give your mom a call to tell her how you feel! Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in: mma, ’t, st, mother, rousey

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During every media event leading up to UFC on FOX, I watched fans clubbing each other over the heads with their iPhones to meet Ronda Rousey and snap photos with her. No other athlete/celebrity in attendance got as much attention as she did. Ronda Rousey doesn’t have the luxury of hiding now that the entire world wants to hang out with her. We don’t blame people for wanting to chill with her... We chill with Ronda Rousey all the time… She’s cool. If she gives you the chance to hold her luggage or buy her a latte, we suggest you jump on the opportunity immediately. You could then hop on Facebook and tell all your friends you just did something awesome for Ronda Rousey, and in return, she doesn’t hate you like the dude below. Today, we learn that Ronda has some 'old friends' that have suddenly resumed interest in hanging out with her only because you guys have made her famous. Through the power of her Instagram account, we can learn the importance of calling a woman back.

Posted in: ’t, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, instagram account

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Posted in: interview, rousey, ronda

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Before you watch this video, just take note that I found the next submission Ronda Rousey is going to pull. If you want a sneak preview of it, you can check it out here before you witness it live in her next fight. Once it goes down, don't say I didn't warn you. You can still say I didn't warn you, but my God would you be lying. Over a year ago, we wrote an article about someone out of Santa Monica, CA absolutely clowning chicks with her judo skills on the amateur circuit. We finally grabbed video of her third amateur fight which was in the form of a small highlight on HDNet's Inside MMA. She finished the bout in twenty-four seconds with an armbar. After the fight, I sat in my office and engaged in some highly intellectual thinking. Hours later, I concluded that if Ronda Rousey was related to Goro from Mortal Kombat, humanity would be screwed. No one on this planet would have any arms left. Wu-Tang Clan could never tell people to throw their hands in the air like they just didn't care. Everyone would care if they didn't have any arms, and people across the world would be depressed. Ronda Rousey is just as cool as you think she is. If she wasn't, then why else would she rock Anonymous earrings, showing her appreciation for hackers world wide? LayzieTheSavage caught up with Ronda Rousey to ask her if she read MiddleEasy in the past, and this is what she said.

Posted in: didnt, i didnt, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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"She's like 'Oh, I already had a practice and ran sprints this morning. Ronda, enjoy that belt while you can.' So I was like alright, cool, you wanna play Twitter, bitch? I'm good at this game, I just got a creativity award. BJPenn.com put out Miesha talking about how everything on earth was torn off in her elbow and somebody put with that, 'Don't F- with Ronda Rousey!' So I linked to that and put under it, 'Keep running sprints, that's probably what will help you the most.' She writes back, 'I would rather fight than run,' something really lame and I was like, 'do they give UFC Twitter awards for lamest comeback ever?' She hasn't had a response to that." Fight or flight? Strikeforce Women's 135-pound Champion Ronda Rousey was not impressed with Sarah Kaufman's recent trash talk on Twitter, advising her to keep those legs in motion as they may be the only thing to save her from the former Olympian's dreaded submission game when they hook 'em up for a championship bout this August at a location to be named. After seeing what happened to Miesha Tate back in March, is anyone giving Kaufman a chance in this late summer title fight?

Posted in: twitter, rousey, ronda, kaufman, sprint

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There, I said it. Ronda Rousey should headline the next UFC on FOX. It'd obviously take a lot of give and take between Zuffa, Showtime and FOX, but it's certainly not impossible. Given what we know about the sport (it's star-driven), and what FOX needs (bigger names than they got the last time out), there are a lot of good reasons to put Rousey at the top of the card. Let's be clear: Rousey isn't Gina Carano-popular. At least not yet. But her fame is growing by the day as is the intrigue surrounding her career and personal story. Her moving to the UFC for one fight would create all kinds of media buzz and we know she can personally do the promotional heavy lifting. There are other reasons to do it, but we'll discuss that later. Join me at 1 p.m. ET for our weekly live chat to discuss those matters and more. We'll discuss who Urijah Faber should face next, what the abysmal ratings for UFC on FOX 3 mean for MMA and network television, whether UFC and Showtime should work out a deal to let Ronda Rousey headline a UFC on FOX card and whatever you would like to talk about.

Posted in: ufc, fox, rousey, ronda, zuffa showtime

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Hot on the heels of the announcement that she will be fighting Sarah Kaufman in August, Ronda Rousey comments on a variety of MMA topics to stir some interest for the women's side of the sport. Generating some smack talk between Kaufman and herself via Twitter, Rousey also talks about Marloes Coenen calling her out at the recent Invicta FC 1 in Kansas City. She details how she and Dana White are attempting to make WMMA more popular, and how she has backed up all of her brash talk with legit skills. It

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, kaufman, legit skills, twitter rousey

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Victoria, B.C.'s Sarah Kaufman will challenge (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey for the Strikeforce women's bantamweight championship this summer.

Posted in: summer, ronda rousey, rousey, kaufman, sarah

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [10 comments]

Posted in: belt, mattyblayze, ive, rousey, ronda

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The remarkable Ronda Rousey will return to the ring against Sarah Kaufman as expected though unfortunately it appears the two won’t tussle for Rousey’s Strikeforce championship until August. Rousey won the belt in March by beating Miesha Tate in memorable fashion, twisting her arm awkwardly during an Armbar to earn the submission win. No date/location has been attached to the bout though it will likely take place in the latter half of August given the UFC’s schedule, as the two Zuffa-owned organizations are not likely to book cards on a conflicting date. Strikeforce currently has a show set for July but the featured portion has already been linked to a trio of tilts leaving little room for Rousey-Kaufman. MMAFighting was first to report the bout/month. Rousey has established herself as a legitimate star in the sport despite only having five professional fights. The bantamweight queen has emerged victorious in all of them by way of first-frame submission, adding to her profile by playing up her sex appeal while also speaking her mind regardless of what others think. Rousey Says She’s the Most Dangerous Unarmed Woman on Earth Meanwhile, Kaufman is a seasoned veteran at 15-1 and is on a three-fight winning streak including an exciting clash with Alexis Davis earlier this year. Ten of her victories have involved a strike-based stoppage. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: strikeforce, ronda rousey, rousey, sarah kaufman, rouseykaufman mmafighting

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It looks like fans will have to wait a few more months before Strikeforce bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey returns to the ring to defend the belt she won in highlight-reel fashion by shredding Miesha Tate’s arm with a submission. Though the victory came in March and Rousey escaped the bout injury-free, Strikeforce’s scheduled show in July already has a pair of title-fights attached to it leaving little room for the Olympic medaling judoka’s presence. As such, Rousey will face top contender Sarah Kaufman in August though the event does not have a specific date/location yet. The UFC, also owned by Zuffa, currently has cards lined up for August 4 and August 11 making the second-half of the month the most obvious landing spot for the two talented 135ers’ tilt. News of the match-up was confirmed by MMAFighting while citing sources close to Strikeforce. Kaufman is a former champion whose only career loss involved dropping the strap to Marloes Coenen. The 15-1 Canadian has won three straight since including success against Liz Carmouche and most recently Alexis Davis. By comparison, Rousey is 5-0 with all five of her victories involving an opening round Armbar finish. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, career loss, bantamweight title, rousey, kaufman

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Ariel Helwani from MMA Fighting is reporting that Strikeforce women's Bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey will make her first title defense against Sarah Kaufman in August. No date or location has yet been announced for the event but it is expected to air on Showtime. The 25-year-old Rousey (5-0, 5 submissions) took the title from Miesha Tate at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in March. Former champ Kaufman (15-1, 10 KO's) beat fellow Canadian Alexis Davis on that same card by majority decision. Kaufman has won three straight since losing the belt to Marloes Coenen in October, 2010. The build up to Tate vs. Rousey featured a lot of trash talk from the then-champion to the effect that Rousey was being rushed into a title shot she didn't deserve. Her ligament-snapping performance against Tate should silence that line of attack. Rousey vs Kaufman promises to be a classic grappler vs. striker confrontation that could test Rousey's chin if the former Team USA Judo Olympian is unable to impose her ground game on Kaufman early.

Posted in: vs, tate, rousey, sarah kaufman, kaufman

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No arm, no foul. Newly-crowned Strikeforce Women's Champion Ronda Rousey has her first 135-pound title defense lined up for August 2012, where she's expected to face off against former division straphanger Sarah Kaufman at a location to be named, according to a report from MMA Fighting. Sounds like Marloes Coenen's recent call-out fell on deaf ears. While promotion officials were hastily assembling a secret summer showdown between Rousey and Cristiane Santos Justino, one torpedoed by the latter's failed drug test, Kaufman has been calling for another crack at the division crown after proving she was still worthy of the throne by defeating fellow Canadian Alexis Davis at the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event last March in Columbus, Ohio. The same Strikeforce event that saw the "Rowdy" one usurp the belt from fellow Showtime headliner Miesha Tate -- and mangle her arm in the process. The majority decision victory was Kaufman's third win in a row and a strong statement for getting the next shot at the division title; however, it should be noted that in 16 professional fights, Kaufman has just one loss. And it came by armbar. That's a recipe for disaster against Rousey, a former Olympian, who is not only undefeated but also has eight straight armbar submission finishes, dating back to her three amateur fights in 2010-11. Anyone think Kaufman has a chance? Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more updates to Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman, as well as the unnamed Strikeforce event in August, as they become available.

Posted in: strikeforce, strikeforce event, rousey, kaufman, sarah

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Ronda Rousey will defend her Strikeforce bantamweight title for the first time later this summer. According to sources close to Strikeforce, Rousey will meet top contender Sarah Kaufman at a yet-to-be announced Strikeforce card in August. No date or location has been finalized yet. Rousey (5-0) defeated Miesha Tate in March to capture the Strikeforce women's 135-pound belt. The win capped off an impressive year which saw her win her first five fights in a combined time of 7:15. Kaufman (15-1) secured her spot as the No. 1 contender when she defeated Alexis Davis on the same card in March. The Canadian has won three in a row since losing the 135-pound belt to Marloes Coenen in Oct. 2010. The card will air on Showtime. Strikeforce returns on May 19 with an event headlined by Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett and Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh Thomson.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, ronda rousey, rousey, kaufman

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A report has surfaced today that Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey will make her first title defense later this summer against former champ Sarah Kaufman. Tentatively set for August, there is not a confirmed date nor location as of yet. Rousey is of course the most talked-about topic in WMMA currently, utilizing world-class Judo skills to slam her opponents and submit them seemingly at will. The first American woman ever to win an Olympic medal in Judo, Rousey

Posted in: title defense, ronda rousey, rousey, ” rousey, talkedabout topic

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submitted by sewneo [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: photo, palhare, rousey, photo palhares, sewneo

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Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Miesha Tate has finally admitted what many already figured -  Ronda Rousey tore her arm up. Tate has remained pretty silent on the loss to Rousey earlier this year, but those that watched how “Rowdy” bent her arm the wrong way knew “Takedown” was in for some rehab. Since the loss, Tate has gone to the doctor and had plenty of exams done on her arm. She said at the time that the arm was not broken but avoided specifics beyond that single note. While she still isn’t handing out detailed information the 25-year old has shed some more light on her limb. “I basically tore everything. I tore the inner and outer sides of my ligaments attached to the muscles and bone,” said Tate while being interviewed during last weekend’s Invicta FC card. “They actually pulled the bone off with the ligament and then I tore all the muscles around that. So…it was pretty bad, but you know, for me, it wasn’t really that bad.” Tate added that she is scheduled to visit the doctor again and hopes that she will be cleared to return to action in the coming months. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: tate, arm, rousey,   ronda rousey, loss tate

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Former Strikeforce women's champion (135 pounds) Miesha Tate, who suffered a grisly submission loss to Ronda Rousey under the Strikeforce banner back on March 3, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio, is down but not out. "Takedown" was on the scene to help support the debut of female fight league Invicta Fighting Championships, which streamed online last Saturday night (April 28) from the Municipal Hall in Kansas City. During the broadcast, Tate sat down with commentator Mauro Ranallo to update fans on her injured arm: "I haven't got any clearance from the doctors yet. I'm going in for my two month checkup here in a minute. But you know the arm is doing really well. Definitely beating any predictions as far as my recovery. So I'm really anxious to get back in there. I basically tore everything. I tore the inner and outer sides of my ligaments attached to the muscles and bone. They actually pulled the bone off with the ligament and then I tore all the muscles around that. So it was pretty bad, but you know to me it wasn't really that bad. I think that, I have the motto that as long as you get up one more time than you fall down then you are doing something right. So I'll be back stronger than ever." More details on Tate's recovery after the jump. Tate felt she was "probably" winning their championship bout, which was a competitive and back-and-forth affair, before a "mistake" ultimately cost her the belt -- and nearly her left arm. What's more, it's her belief that Rousey is a one-trick armbar pony and that she just happened to fall victim to that one trick, which Tate also described as "phenomenal." Anyone want to see them do it again? For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here. To see a pic of the Tate arm pretzel click here and to hear the "Rowdy" one detail how she did it click here.

Posted in: click, tate, arm, miesha, rousey

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Dana White sat down with the media following the UFC on FOX 3 pre-fight press conference to talk about a variety of topics including Ronda Rousey, King Mo, Gilbert Melendez and more. Video via MMA Fighting

Posted in: melendez, gilbert, king, rousey, ronda

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With the help of our buds over at NeoCell and Throwdown, LayzieTheSavage kidnapped Ronda Rousey and drove her to Stockton, California to train with the Diaz brothers and Gilbert Melendez. Ronda didn't put up much of a fight, since she loves being abducted by guys that have ridiculous three-word names combined into one grammatically incorrect name. Seriously, LayzieTheSavage is a name that should only exist if you were signed to No Limit Records in 1995. LayzieTheSavage creates a cognitive paradox in the sense that it represents two entities that are completely polarized: 'being lazy' and 'being savage.' Perhaps Layzie knew this and wanted to exploit the finer parts of the syntax of grammar, Noam Chomsky style. In reality, Layzie probably thought it was the correct spelling of 'lazy' and just went with it. Either way, he exuded the 'savage' nature of his persona and filmed endless hours of an episodic feature that will be on MiddleEasy appropriately entitled: 'Ronda Rousey's Trip to the 209.' We were going to call 'Road Trippin' with Ronda,' but that's entirely too lame. Check out the teaser for the new show on MiddleEasy and be sure to tune in at some point next week when we release this freshness to the MMA world.

Posted in: name, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, road trippin

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This week on UFC The Ultimate Fighter Live, we were treated to another very entertaining fight in the opening round, albeit one that was somewhat tarnished by some questionable judging. But we'll get to that fight in a minute, because in many ways, the fight took a backseat to this week's guest judge - Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey. It would have been easy for the whole Rousey segment to come off poorly, and at a few moments, it was in danger of getting too weird, with a bit too much drooling and "A woman in the TUF house!" vibe. But ultimately, this was a great segment that really highlighted how TUF can work well. Dominick Cruz brought in Rousey to show his team some throws from her impressive Judo repertoire. And those throws were intense. In her fights, it's clear she has a wide range of techniques, but this footage emphasized just how good she was with these throws. I seriously could watch an hour of just her teaching and demonstrating throws - great stuff. That was cut together with testimonials from the fighters about how badass she is, which, when combined with the training footage, came across as sincere and not pandering. If Strikeforce wants to keep pushing Women's MMA, Rousey is the key, and this was the perfect way to increase her exposure to the larger UFC audience. She came across as likeable, super talented, and a bit scary. A perfect way to use the show to build someone up. Once Rousey left, we focused on Sam Sicilia vs. Chris Saunders. Like I said, this was an entertaining fight, but the judging left many scratching their heads. After the second round, two judges gave Saunders the nod 20-18, while one went 20-18 Sicilia. Dana White post-fight praised the action, but said he saw it even after 2, which is how I had it as well. It's a TUF fight, so I'm not going to get crazy indignant here, but I did find all 3 scores off-base. Giving Saunders round 2 is bizarre - he clearly was getting hit more and fading as it went on. A third round may have gone Sicilia's way. As for round 1, some are arguing that it should go to Sicilia, but I say no based on the big headkick from Saunders. Maybe it's the kickboxing fan in me, but as I see it, one near KO trumps a round of back-and-forth, no matter who had a small advantage in that back-and-forth. I am curious to hear other thoughts here. How did you score it? Other thoughts: Man, Faber loves the shoulder rub after giving his pre-fight pep talk. It was more subtle this week, but he goes for it every time. Speaking of which, the less said about Team Alpha Male squirting oil all over each other while jumping around in their underwear the better. The guys were horribly awkward around Rousey in the house, but that was much better than being horrible douche-y, so props to them. Cruz describes Faber by saying he's nothing but overhand rights and guillotines, which is an interesting idea that I must think about more. I'll be curious to see how next week is structured. Will we get the first two quarter-finals announced? Or will we have to wait until the next week to find out? Sam Sicilia vs. Chris Saunders: Putting aside the judging issue, this was a fun fight, and for the second week, TUF showed the kind of scrappy war you want from the show. Saunders was more technical, but I didn't like how he faded in round 2. That, combined with his win in the prelims, makes me a bit concerned about his ability to pace himself over 3 rounds. The more I think about it, the more I think Sicilia really lost out here. He was definitely gaining momentum through round 2, and a 3rd round could have closed the deal for him. Now, he's in a must win situation for the finale if he hopes to stick around. Mike Rio vs. Andy Ogle: Our last opening round fight, and a tough one for Ogle. Rio's wrestling is good, and I'm not sure that I see a path to an Ogle victory at the moment. I like Ogle, but a Rio win puts us at 4-4 in the quarter-finals, which I kind of prefer. Check back Friday for more details. Poll How did you score Sicilia vs. Saunders after round 2? 20-18 Saunders 20-18 Sicilia 19-19 Draw Other   22 votes | Results

Posted in: fight, round, saunder, rousey, sicilia

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submitted by ufcprimetime [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: marloes coenen, ronda rousey, rousey, marloe, coenen

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As our very own Brian Hemminger broke down in his Invicta FC 1 recap (read it all here) former 135-pound Strikeforce Champion Marloes Coenen made her return to the cage last night (Sat., April 28, 2012) to battle a heavy Romy Ruyssen. Her performance was uneven at best, as she had her moments but clearly had trouble finding her rhythm. No one can blame her, of course, seeing as this was her first bout since losing to Miesha Tate back in July 2011. Ultimately, "Rumina" came away with a unanimous decision win. And, to no one's surprise, she set her sights on the biggest dog in the women's mixed marital arts (MMA) yard: "Ronda Rousey, I'm coming for you." She'll have to get in line. Rousey, of course, took the bantamweight belt from Tate that she won from Coenen. It's expected that "Rowdy's" first defense will come against Sarah Kaufman sometime later this year. If she wins that fight, why not Coenen? After all, the Zuffa dispute with Golden Glory has been settled and, as UFC President Dana White would be quick to tell you, there isn't exactly an overabundance of worthy challengers. Perhaps a Coenen vs. Tate rematch is in order while Rousey settles up against Kaufman. Winners meet in the center of the Strikeforce cage. Sound good to you, Maniacs?

Posted in: marloes coenen, ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate, coenen

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Things got “rowdy” last night on the Ultimate Fighter 15 regarding both the in-ring action and a special guest coach, as competitors Sam Sicilia-Chris Saunders turned in a an exciting, back-and-forth brawl on live TV and Strikeforce bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey stopped by to help Team Cruz with their judo. The episode was full of entertaining moments including an increase of pranks ranging from the mundane (plastic-wrap on the sink and frozen underwear) to downright silly thanks to coach Urijah Faber. “The California Kid” decided to coat Dominick Cruz’s fitness room with sweat, getting some help from his Team Alpha Male crew by putting in a ridiculous workout in the small space while wearing nothing but their under-garments. On the less-disgusting front, Rousey’s presence at the UFC Training Center was welcome by viewers and contestants alike. In addition to teaching a particular style of takedown, Rousey visited the Ultimate Fighter house to take in UFC 145 where she was seemingly ignored by the group of awestricken men. Come fight-time, Sicilia and Saunders put on a show with each absorbing a good deal of damage but pressing through the adversity. In the end Saunders, who was the last pick of the show, came away with a Split Decision win over Sicilia (Cruz’s #2) thanks in large part to the minimally successful grappling he mixed in to an otherwise stand-up heavy tilt. After the bout’s conclusion Faber joked that Cruz could select the next match-up, recalling a moment earlier in the season when he’d been left stumped by Cruz giving him the option to pick, though truly no choice was necessary with there only being one spot left in the season’s quarterfinals. As such, next week’s live fight will feature Mike Rio (Team Cruz) and Andy Ogle (Team Faber). TUF 15 Season Summary: Cruz’s Team: Justin Lawrence, Sam Sicilia, Myles Jury, Mike Rio, James Vick, Vinc Pichel, Chris Tickle, Jeremy Larsen Faber’s Team: Al Iaquinta, Cristiano Marcello, Daron Cruickshank, Joe Proctor, Michael Chiesa, John Cofer, Andy Ogle, Chris Saunders Team Records: Faber 4, Cruz 3 Advancing to Quarterfinal: James Vick, Justin Lawrence, Al Iaquinta, Michael Chiesa, Joe Proctor, Vinc Pichel, Chris Saunders Eliminated: Daron Cruickshank, Cristiano Marcello, Myles Jury, Jeremy Larsen, Chris Tickle, John Cofer, Sam Sicilia PHOTO CREDIT – UFC/STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: team, cruz, faber, saunder, rousey

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

State Senate voted 43-14 Wednesday to again approve legislation to make New York the 46th state to legalize and regulate mixed martial arts.

Posted in: senate, state, bill, rousey, legislation

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

submitted by closernough [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: interview, rousey, ronda, closernough, nerd

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Instead of complaining about everything that’s wrong with colorful signs (and really annoying drums) in front of buildings of people who don’t care what you have to say, Ronda Rousey is encouraging people to set up a cage and have hipsters fight one another for better interest rates in their checking accounts. Banks could sponsor Occupy MMA and have unemployed protesters serve beverages & hand out fliers. They (banks) could ultimately outfit a majority of the protesters with jobs, fixing the entire financial crisis they started! All would be well in lower Manhattan again, and if it happens, we owe it all to this half naked picture of Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, ’t care, interest rates, ’s half

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submitted by apeman-in-a-cave [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: nick, pic, rousey, ronda, apemaninacave

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It has only been about a month since Ronda Rousey mangled the arm of Miesha Tate in the first round of their highly anticipated fight. Rousey has since told MMAWeekly Radio that she will be heading up to Stockton, CA to train with the Diaz brothers.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate, fight rousey, rematch end

Read the full article at Low Kick

Strikeforce Womens Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey tested her journalistic skills in an interview with Alistair Overeem, head of the Dutchman's UFC 146 encounter with Junior dos Santos. Rousey asked Alistair Overeem about his diet, whether he has trouble finding a good seat in movie theatres, and the martial arts fans in Japan. The fight between Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May

Posted in: overeem, alistair overeem, alistair, rousey, movie theatres

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[div class="notice" class2="icon"]The following is from an article on FighterXFashion.com, part of the MiddleEasy Network.[/div] For the guys who love her, and the gals who want to be just like her, here are a few photos to check out from the recent Throwdown Ronda Rousey photoshoot. After watching “Rowdy” Ronda armbar the hell out of Miesha Tate, and take home the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title in the process, Throwdown caught up with the newly crowned champ to snap a few pics. Can’t get enough Ronda Rousey in your life? Check out these three photos featuring the newest face of women’s MMA as she shows off some of the latest styles from the Throwdown fight wear collection, including gloves, compression gear and ladies lifestyle pieces. Ronda.

Posted in: middleeasy networkdiv, throwdown, rousey, ronda, process throwdown

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We showed you former Strikeforce women's champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos taking on a Japanese comedian in an MMA bout on Japanese game show "Honoo No Taiikukai TV" and now here comes current Strikeforce women's 135lb champ Ronda Rousey to one up Cyborg by taking on 3 Japanese comedians in a Judo match on that same show. Rousey, a former member of the Team USA Olympic Judo squad, took the Strikeforce title from Miesha Tate at Strikeforce's March 3 event in Columbus, Ohio. Santos is serving a year's suspension for failing a steroid test after her last defense of her Strikeforce 145lb women's title last fall. She was cut by Zuffa after the test results were announced so it's uncertain whether or not Rousey and Cyborg will ever get to face off. The two are not mutual admirers and there is no doubt that a bout between Rousey and Santos would be the biggest fight in women's MMA since Cyborg defeated Gina Carano in 2009. HT MMA Mania

Posted in: strikeforce, japanese, women, cyborg, rousey

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Great fighters, like great athletes in general, are constantly on the lookout for ways to improve by taking a humble enough approach to their chosen endeavor to accept other people possess knowledge exceeding their own in certain areas. Strikeforce bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey is no different, accepting she still has a lot of room to grow even if she’s unbeaten with five opening round Armbars to her credit. To help foster her evolution as a Mixed Martial Artist it appears Rousey will be enlisting one of the sport’s best next month when she heads to Stockton to train with Cesar Gracie’s camp. Rousey Reflects on Beating Up Group of Guys “I’m going up there from the 3rd to the 16th and it’s going to be the first time ever since I started doing MMA that I’m going to be training for an actual extended period of time away from my core camp, who I’ve always been with,” said Rousey in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio. “When I did judo I used to go around all the time, like every month or so I would go away for a week or two weeks to go train somewhere else.” “For some reason it’s something I never did in MMA, so they invited me to come train up there, and they’re good at a bunch of things that I need to work on so I’m super excited,” the 25-year old continued. “It’s going to be the first time I’m training away from home in a long time.” Rousey spent a brief period working with Gracie’s team, a squad featuring top-level athletes like Nick Diaz and Jake Shields, prior to her title-winning fight with Miesha Tate earlier this month. Now, having seen the benefits of the experience, it appears her visit in April won’t be the last time she soaks up knowledge in Gracie’s gym, as Rousey added that she plans on making it a regular stop in her training from this point forward. No word has surfaced as to when Rousey might see action next though her upcoming opponent seems to be set in stone – Sarah Kaufman. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: time, i ’m, ’m, gracie, rousey

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Bantamweights Bryan Caraway and Mitch Gagnon became the first fighters officially scheduled to compete on July 21 at UFC 149 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. UFC officials announced the match-up on Monday. Featherweight champion Jose Aldo is expected to see action in the main event but does not have an opponet yet. The card will take place inside the Scotiabank Saddledome. Caraway (16-5) made an impact on The Ultimate Fighter 14, advancing to the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Diego Brandao. He then went on to defeat Dustin Neace at the finale to earn his first UFC victory. Recently, Caraway has remained in the news due to issues between his girlfriend, Miesha Tate, and Ronda Rousey. Caraway got himself caught up in the middle of everything going on between Tate and Rousey, even threatening to knock Rousey’s teeth down her throat after she half-kiddingly challenged him to a fight but has since tried to clear the air in subsequent interviews. Gagnon (8-1) will be making his Octagon debut on the show. He has won his last six fights, all by way submission. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, octagon debut, gagnon, rousey, scotiabank saddledome

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

Strikeforce women's 135-pound champion Ronda Rousey has a little message for Brazilian "Cyborg" Cristiane Santos: Anything you can do, I can do better. We recently shared Santos' trip to the "Honoo No Taiikukai TV" game show in Japan, where she battled a male comedian to hilarious results (see it here). Now, Rousey also gets her turn in the spotlight, but instead of just one, she must overcome three men in a Judo showdown. Can she do it? Watch the video above to find out! Prior to her joint-jamming win over Miesha Tate back on March 3 in Columbus, the "Rowdy" one went tit-for-tat with "Cyborg" in a couple of Twitter exchanges. While Santos is out of action for a year following her suspension for steroids, the prospect of these two damsels eventually facing off hasn't seemed to die down. At all. Anyone think we'll ever see "Rousey vs. Cyborg" in a Strikeforce main event?

Posted in: cyborg, rousey, miesha tate, judo showdown, twitter exchanges

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Another lazy spring afternoon passes and we're again left to make our own fun until the MMA schedule picks back up. So while we wait, let's use the contrast of yesterday's and today's odd Japanese game show clips to kickstart a little discussion. Ronda Rousey is unquestionably the queen bee of women's mixed martial arts right now. Her next test will likely be Sarah Kaufman -- a relentless Canadian who poses her own problems -- but for the sake of argument, let's say "Rowdy" does what she does and finishes Kaufman in the first round via armbar, and then offs one more opponent in the same fashion. Around that time, the exiled former queen bee, Cris "Cyborg" Santos, would likely be priming for her return, and she has already made it very clear she intends to cut down to 135 pounds and smash Rousey's face in. Santos, of course, has violently ruled the WMMA throne since 2009, though now that reign is plagued with doubt because of her positive steroid test. Given the dearth of depth in the women's divisions, it isn't that crazy to think "Cyborg" would be immediately thrown into a promoter's dream title fight against Rousey. So what do you think, readers? Would "Cyborg" return with a vengeance and crush the champ? Or would the rowdy one run through a PED-less Santos? Let us know in the comments below. 5 MUST-READ STORIES The MMA Hour. Ariel Helwani and The MMA Hour return with another two-plus hour show that features Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney in studio, as well as interviews with Phil Davis, Miguel Torres, Rory MacDonald, Eddie Alvarez and Tom "Kong" Watson. Cesar Gracie not going to let Nick Diaz quit MMA. The person closest to Nick Diaz, his brother Nate, believes his abrupt retirement is for real. Diaz's trainer Cesar Gracie, however, isn't about to watch that happen. Silva-Sonnen II confirmed for UFC 147. MMA's biggest rematch is finally on the books for UFC 147, as Chael Sonnen will take on Anderson Silva at the 47,000-seat Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 23, 2012. The Ultimate Fighter 15 ratings. The third episode of TUF: Live aired last Friday night and averaged 1.2 million viewers on FX. Top trainer Freddie Roach lists top five boxers in MMA. Legendary boxing trainer Freddie Roach broke down his list of the top five boxers in mixed martial arts. MEDIA STEW Check out the sequel to yesterday's Battle of the Sexes between Cyborg Santos and a Japanese man. This time the champ herself, Ronda Rousey, ups the ante by taking on three Japanese men in a clip from the same bizarre game show. (Big thanks to reader @pegson for the tip.) Has there ever been a UFC commercial that prominently featuring an English-speaking Anderson Silva? Maybe that's why this UFC on FOX promo seems a tad weird. (HT: MMA Mania) Speaking of Anderson Silva, his old buddy Mr. Chael P. Sonnen had some choice words after the champ said Sonnen should stop talking and start training. (HT: Middle Easy) Mark Matheny is known as one of the better refs in MMA, so you'd figure he has reasonably good judgment. But after watching what he does in his spare time, that dream has been thoroughly crushed. Bloody Elbow's Anton Tabuena brought this to our attention and it felt criminal not to share. Fresh from a loss to Johny Hendricks, Jon Fitch set out on a beard conquest of sizable proportions. Several weeks later he showed off the progress via Twitter, and it was impressive: But springtime is coming, so earlier this week Fitch stepped up his facial hair game dramatically, shaving down the all-arounder into a legendary 'stache that would make Sam Elliot proud. Well done, sir. Well done. HUSTLIN' UP NORTH How I make extra money in Montreal. #hustle t.co/qoDZ3YNl — Miguel Angel Torres (@MiguelTorresMMA) March 25, 2012 EVERYDAY PROBLEMS OF PAT BARRY (NSFW) #9youtube.com/watch?v=B7vVg9… — Pat Barry (@HypeOrDie) March 26, 2012 FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS Announced yesterday (Monday, March 26, 2012): - UFC 147: Anderson Silva (31-4) vs. Chael Sonnen (27-11-1) confirmed for June 23, 2012 at Estádio Olímpico João Havelange in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - UFC 147: Wanderlei Silva (34-11-1) vs. Vitor Belfort (21-9) - UFC 149: Bryan Caraway (16-5) vs. Mitch Gagnon (8-1) FANPOST OF THE DAY Today's Fanpost of the Day is compilation of Don Frye magic from MMA Mania's (shonuff): Don Frye 2012: Predator for President? Recently there's been a lot of talk by the MMA media christening Chael Sonnen as the best talker in MMA history. But have they lost their historical perspective? Perhaps they have forgotten the hilarious off-the-cuff rants of former UFC Heavyweight Champ and perennial patriotic tough guy, Don "The Predator" Frye, possessor of not only the craziest fight in MMA History (vs Takayama) but also the most outrageous comments. ... Personally, I think he should throw his hat into the Republican Primary race. Not only would he add spice to the campaign trail, we'd finally have a candidate in this race who says what he really thinks (and then some). Here are a few gems that would make wonderful soundbites on CNN. On improvising new techniques in MMA: "I been studying Buddhism. I'm learnin' to levitate. I'm gonna levitate off the ground about a foot so he can't get that kneebar on me. So when he goes down to the ground, I'll be up here. Then I'll swing round and kick him in the head. Can't miss that head. Thing's gotta be about that big, like a 5-gallon bucket, a 5-gallon bucket full of buttholes. Yeck!" On fighting top competition: "You gotta excuse me, my stomach's upset. I had the Tim Sylvia breakfast special, ham & eggs and a can of tomatoes." Found something perfect for the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we'll include it in tomorrow's post.

Posted in: ufc, mma, silva, sonnen, rousey

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In the second of a two-part interview, Ronda Rousey talks about Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, ring girls and the growth of women's MMA.

Posted in: mma, silva, rousey, lefko, mma rousey

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

Go west, young Judoka. Strikeforce women's 135-pound champion Ronda Rousey, who proved she can not only "talk the talk" but also "walk the walk" by submitting Miesha Tate earlier this month in Ohio, is about to do something she hasn't done since embarking on a career in mixed martial arts (MMA). Take her act on the road. The "Rowdy" one is heading to the 209, to train with Nick and Nate Diaz at the Cesar Gracie Academy in Stockton, California, home to some of the finest combat athletes in the UFC and Strikeforce, including Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez. Rousey lays out her itinerary for MMA Weekly, after the jump. "I’m going up there from the 3rd to the 16th (of April) and it’s going to be the first time ever since I started doing MMA that I’m going to be training for an actual extended period of time away from my core camp, who I’ve always been with. When I did judo I used to go around all the time, like every month or so I would go away for a week or two weeks to go train somewhere else. For some reason it’s something I never did in MMA, so they invited me to come train up there, and they’re good at a bunch of things that I need to work on so I’m super excited. It’s going to be the first time I’m training away from home in a long time." Rousey is the ruler of a very small roost. Despite her talents, the list of title contenders at 135-pounds begins and ends at Sarah Kaufman, herself a former champion, who may have earned a crack at the crown by taking a majority decision from Alexis Davis back on March 3 in Columbus. Unless Tate can somehow get herself an immediate rematch. Either way, it's scary to think what kind of foe either "Takedown" or Kaufman will be facing if Rousey can indeed sharpen her blade on the Diaz stone. Is there anyone in the women's division that can stop her? Calling all "Cyborgs" ...

Posted in: mma, time, train, irsquom, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Strikeforce bantamweight title-holder Ronda Rousey has grown leaps and bounds since turning from judo to a life in MMA. Now, the former Olympian has decided to expand her skills on a regular basis by joining UFC fighters Nick Diaz and Nate Diaz in Stockton. Rousey talked about an upcoming trip to Cesar Gracie‘s camp, where the Diaz brothers amongst others, train, in an interview with MMAWeekly Radio where she said, “I’m going up there from the 3rd to the 16th and it’s going to be the first time ever since I started doing MMA that I’m going to be training for an actual extended period of time away from my core camp, who I’ve always been with.” “When I did judo I used to go around all the time, like every month or so I would go away for a week or two weeks to go train somewhere else. For some reason, it’s something I never did in MMA, so they invited me to come train up there,” added the 25-year old champion, also saying she planned to stop there in the future too while preparing for opponents. Rousey defeated Miesha Tate to secure the belt with an Armbar earlier this month. Her next opponent is likely to be Sarah Kaufman who earned a victory over Alexis Davis on the same show. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: time, mmaweekly radio, camp, rousey, stockton rousey

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

Ronda Rousey has always remained close to her Los Angeles training center when it comes to MMA. However, after doing a little session with Nick Diaz, Rousey has decided to venture to Stockton and train with Nick and Nate Diaz next month, as she told MMA Weekly Radio during a recent appearance on the show. Yeah, I’m going up there from the 3rd to the 16th (of April) and it’s going to be the first time ever since I started doing MMA that I’m going to be training for an actual extended period of time away from my core camp, who I’ve always been with. When I did judo I used to go around all the time, like every month or so I would go away for a week or two weeks to go train somewhere else. For some reason, it’s something I never did in MMA, so they invited me to come train up there. Rousey, who defeated Miesha Tate earlier this month via armbar to secure the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title, is likely headed for a match with Sarah Kaufman. Rousey’s connections with Nick and Nate Diaz, along with her recent decision to partner with Chael Sonnen, will only help promote her name and women’s MMA going forward. Photo credit: Rey Del Rio/FOXSports.com

Posted in: diaz, mma, nate diaz, train, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Strikeforce women's champion Ronda Rousey shares thoughts on a variety of topics in the first of a two-part interview.

Posted in: champion, thought, rousey, lefko, mma rapping

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

The next time Ronda Rousey defends her Strikeforce bantamweight title, she may have developed a new way to mean mug her opponent.

Posted in: strikeforce, diaz brothers, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

The Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight division may have a reason to become a little bit more concerned as the champion, Ronda Rousey, is looking to expand her training. The 5-0 Rousey has become known and feared for her brutal armbars, the submission hold she has used to end each of her five professional and three amateur fights, with only one of those fights going past the first minute.  The reason her potential future opponents need to be concerned is the fact that Rousey is going to spend time

Posted in: diaz brothers, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, amateur fights

Read the full article at Low Kick

Further endearing herself to scores of fans everywhere, while possibly scaring the living daylights out of a smaller, shadier portion, Strikeforce bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey recently elaborated on a story that had surfaced in recent months surrounding a physical confrontation she experienced years back while watching a movie. Rousey, while as a guest on ESPN’s Highly Questionable with Dan LeBatard, brought the unsanctioned bout up while addressing earlier comments she’d made about beating up former title-holder Miesha Tate’s boyfriend Bryan Caraway, a 135-pounder on the UFC‘s roster. Highlights from Rousey’s Win Over Tate “I got jumped by a bunch of guys in a movie theater and I beat them up and then everyone clapped. and then I was like, ‘Maybe I should fight in front of people, people tend to like it.’ That was one of my first MMA experiences,” Rousey stated. “They wouldn’t let me leave and they pushed me. So, I was technically in the ‘kidnap situation,’ I learned this from my lawyer, and was fearing for my life, so I had to defend myself. So I did defend myself very well … and so they sued me. Whatever,” she continued in a ho-hum manner. “The good thing was, it was an aisle, so I had them between the seats and the wall, so they couldn’t get around me, so I had them one at a time. So, it was actually a good situation for a multi-person fighting situation.” Perhaps Caraway, who Rousey called “some average to below average MMA guy”, should watch out after all. Check out the full interview below: PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: guy, situation, rousey, movie theater, dan lebatard

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I can’t be the only one to see the visual similarities between Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Julia Stiles? Everyone I’ve asked so far tells me I’m crazy but I’m certain there’s something there. I guess even if they do have a similar look, that’s probably the only thing they have in common. For one, Ronda Rousey reads MiddleEasy and creates fractal art. Ok, so Ronda Rousey and Julia Stiles are different people, that much can be said for certain. What we can’t say for certain is how Rousey would fare in a fight with Miesha Tate’s boyfriend Brian Caraway. Could she beat them both up in the same day as she claimed? I guess we’ll probably never know, unless Brian and Meisha bump into Ronda in a movie theatre, are rude to her, and then challenge her to a fight. That’s not just a hypothetical scenario I’ve created, there’s already precedent for it. Check out the video below where Ronda tells Dan Le Batard about the time that really happened. Turns out an Olympic medal in Judo is pretty useful in real life.

Posted in: i ’m, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, olympic medal

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey appeared on ESPN's "Highly Questionable" with Dan Le Batard, talking about her life as a Mixed Martial Artist. Rousey also spoke about fighting men, revealing that she had an opprtunity to test her martial arts skills during a confrontation with a group of people in a movie theater. Rousey will defend her title for the first time against Sarah Kaufman, in a fight that will take place later this

Posted in: rousey, miesha tate, sarah kaufman, arts skills, artist rousey

Read the full article at Low Kick

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey recently skyrocketed to the heights of fame after defeating Miesha Tate on March 3, 2012, at Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" in Columbus, Ohio. The first round armbar submission marked the fifth time in a row that "Rowdy" has finished the fight in such a violent fashion (see grisly .gif here). But, it isn't just Rousey's fight game that has been garnering her attention. After her win over Tate, Rousey went so far as to say she could also beat up "'Takedown's" boyfriend, Bryan Caraway. Today (March 19, 2012), Rousey appeared on ESPN's "Dan Le Batard Highly Questionable" to defend her statements: "I just said that I could beat up her and boyfriend in the same day, which, he's just some average, to below average MMA guy and I'm, like, the women's world champion. It would be expected that I'd be able to beat the average MMA guy in my weight class, right? Is that such an unbelievable thing to say? No." Rousey was just getting started. Check out what else she had to say after the jump: Le Batard went on to question Rousey about how well she realistically thinks she'd do in a fight with a man. According to her, it wouldn't be the first time she'd found herself in such an encounter: "It's happened to me a couple times. Not in, like, a sanctioned, legal way. But, it was entertaining to everybody that saw it. I got applause afterwards. I got jumped by a bunch of guys in a movie theatre and I beat 'em up and then everyone clapped. and then I was like, 'Maybe I should fight in front of people, 'cuz people tend to like it.' That was one of my first MMA experiences. It was like four couples, four guys and four girls. A couple of them headed me off in the aisle. It was like a thing. Their girlfriend was rude and I told her that she was rude and they tried to act tough in front of their girlfriend. She was like knocking me in the head with her boot and was being -- they were that group of people who were just rude and loud throughout the whole movie. And so, I took her boot off and threw it and told her to go get some manners. and then, her boyfriend didn't like that. And her boyfriend's friends didn't like that. So, they headed me off in the aisle and told me to go get the boot. They wouldn't let me leave and they pushed me. So, I was technically in the 'kidnap situation,' I learned this from my lawyer, and was fearing for my life, so I had to defend myself. So I did defend myself very well...and so they sued me. Whatever. the good thing was, it was an aisle, so I had them between the seats and the wall, so they couldn't get around me, so I had them one at a time. So, it was actually a good situation for a multi-person fighting situation." Rousey continued, discussing the specific strategies she employed to take on the group of disorderlys: "Well, I tried to get through, and I told them that if they didn't let me through, I'd have to do something about it. So, I tried to get through, and the guy pushed me back, and while he was pushing me, I grabbed him by his shirt and I started punching him with one hand. And, his other friend came behind me and got me by the neck and was pulling me backwards. But, I had his friend by the shirt, so I was still punching him. Then, I dropped the one guy, and the other guy had me by the neck, so I threw him over my shoulder. And my cousin and my friend Marina, they went and grabbed the other guys to keep them out of it, and the one girl was trying to get in and rash me in the face. My friend Marina pushed her out of the way. She went face first into the seats. and then they went and told the police that I punched the girl, which I never did. i just beat up the two guys. and then, um, yeah, it just turned into this big thing. And, uh, the funny thing is, my shoe came off, 'cuz I was fighting in flip flops, like ya do, so everyone was just losing shoes. I threw her shoe, I lost my shoe, everyone's looking for shoes. But, um, it was one of those things that most girls go through." Talk about one tough chick. Check out the rest of Rousey's interview with ESPN's Dan Le Batard below:

Posted in: guy, thing, friend, rousey, espns dan

Read the full article at MMA Mania

The result of former Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate’s title-defense against newly crowned division queen Ronda Rousey may not have been ideal for the talented 25-year old but it appears the follow-up on her injured arm has definitely turned out to be a “best case” scenario. While many fans assumed Tate’s limb had been broken or at least suffered severe ligament damage based on the angle Rousey’s fight-wining Armbar left it in, it looks like the resulting issues can be corrected by rest/rehabilitation rather than surgery. “Looks like no surgery!! Doctor was impressed with progress so far,” wrote Tate on her Twitter. She also recently confirmed she hadn’t broken any bones either. Highlights from Rousey vs. Tate Though certainly good news, it remains to be seen how long Tate will be sidelined while recovering meaning it is still unknown when she’ll return to the ring. Tate’s loss to Rousey marked the first tap-out of her career and “Rowdy” Ronda’s fifth consecutive opening round Armbar. Rousey is expected to put her belt on the line against Sarah Kaufman later this year, giving Tate time to heal and take on another opponent before potentially being put in a rematch with the Olympian. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: tate, surgery, rousey, ligament damage, ’ll return

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Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate put on possibly the biggest fight in women's MMA history recently, but is there enough talent for Rousey to establish a legacy?

Posted in: talent, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Posted in: eye, rousey, ronda, laser

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You didn’t have to be a doctor to have deduced that the grotesque angle at which Ronda Rousey bent Miesha Tate’s arm during their Strikeforce title fight was unnatural, and likely resulted in damage. As she’s done with all of her previous MMA opponents, Rousey trapped Tate in an armbar within the first round of their championship bout. A master of that submission, Rousey cranked on Tate’s arm until it bent almost completely in the opposite direction, eventually forcing the stubborn fighter to tap — but not before the apparent damage had been done. Luckily for Tate, it appears that the damage she suffered as the structural integrity of her elbow joint was put to the test was relatively minimal and will not require surgery. Tate revealed via Twitter that a recent visit to the doctor left her with the good news. Looks like no surgery!! Dr was impressed w progress so far! :) Tate also estimated about a two month recovery time before she’s back in action. Rousey and Tate did battle on March 3 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, in the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.

Posted in: tate, ronda rousey, rousey, surgery dr, submission rousey

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Assembly not required. Former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate, whose arm is apparently made of the same elastic material Dan Hardy's is, has managed to avoid surgery on the arm Ronda Rousey twisted up during their Strikeforce title fight this past March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. Tate tweeted the good news earlier today: "Looks like no surgery!! Dr was impressed w progress so far! :)" She also went on to tell fans she hopes to be back within the next few months. Her doctor apparently informed her the healing time for her injury is around three months but she's shooting for two. Tough cookie. Tate's already eying a rematch against Rousey once she is healthy but she'll have to get behind Sarah Kaufman, who fought her way to the top of the pecking order. But hey, at least we know she'll be able if and when that point comes.

Posted in: tate, arm, surgery, rousey, surgery dr

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Sarah Kaufman knows what it takes – and what it feels like – to wear Strikeforce gold, as she is a former champion in the bantamweight division. Now, after earning a hard-fought decision victory over Alexis Davis, Kaufman is poised to face new divisional title-holder and current queen of women’s MMA Ronda Rousey later this year. Rousey, an ex-Olympian, earned the crown on the same card as Kaufman defeated Davis by submitting Miesha Tate with an opening round Armbar, her fifth in five fights as a professional. Kaufman was impressed but still feels like she has what it takes to end Rousey’s reign atop the sport. “You know what Ronda’s going to do. Ronda knows what I’m going to do,” said Kaufman in an interview with MMAWeekly. “It’s going to be who can do it better and I honestly don’t see her doing it better than I’m going to do to her. So I’m looking for that title to come back to Victoria (British Columbia, Canada).” Kaufman sports a career record of 15-1 with her lone loss coming to Marloes Coenen in 2010, by Armbar as chance would have it. “I’m this nice person,” said Kaufman before switching gears. “And in the cage, I’m an animal. That’s what I want. I want people to know me for my fighting.” PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: marloes coenen, rousey, strikeforce gold, sarah kaufman, kaufman

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

The Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title resides with newly crowned champion Ronda Rousey, but former titleholder Sarah Kaufman plans to return the belt to Canada after the two meet later this year. Kaufman seemed poised to take on Miesha Tate in a rematch for the Strikeforce women’s 135-pound title. She holds a win over Tate, but Rousey bypassed Kaufman in line for the title through effective campaigning and creating a buzz around the match-up.

Posted in: title, ronda rousey, rousey, kaufman, year kaufman

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The newly crowned women’s Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey is fast becoming the female version of Chael. P Sonnen, with regards to intriguing soundbites, overt vocalism and outrageous quotes.

Posted in: chael, quote, rousey, ronda, ” rousey

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Former Strikeforce women's bantamweight titleholder Sarah Kaufman plans to return the belt to Canada when she faces champion Ronda Rousey later this year.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, kaufman, sarah

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While it's not quite at the level of mainstream interest of when Gina Carano was on top, women's MMA is experiencing a boom after two great fights on the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card. Both the main event between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey and the undercard fight featuring Alexis Davis against Sarah Kaufman were spectacular fights and with Rousey now the champion, there's a marketable star on top again. While UFC president Dana White has always said that the biggest issue with women's MMA isn't the fights, it's the lack of depth, CEO Lorenzo Fertitta thinks they could create a great WMMA league right now (Via MMA Fighting): "Dana is right. Historically there has been an issue with the depth of talent in the talent pool, but it seems to me like that is starting to change and the one argument I make when we talk about it, and this might sound a little self-serving, but we've never been in the women's game, so we've never had our matchmakers do this. Let Joe Silva and Sean Shelby develop a women's league. I guarantee you they can do it. They're that good." SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: fight, mma, women, womens mma, rousey

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No arm, no foul. Former Strikeforce women's champion (135 pounds) Miesha Tate is getting back to her normal everyday activities less than two weeks after a grisly submission loss to Ronda Rousey under the Strikeforce banner on March 3, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. To see the "before" picture click here. "Takedown" came up short in her bid to defend her hard-earned strap; however, she's already on the road to recovery and hoping to get a chance to avenge her loss somewhere in the very near future. But she may have to get in line behind Sarah Kaufman. More pics of Tate's arm, courtesy of @MieshaTate (follow her by clicking here) after the jump. For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here and for complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. To see a pic of the Tate arm break click here and to hear Rousey detail how she did it click here.

Posted in: click, tate, arm, rousey, ronda

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It appears Strikeforce bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey is as vicious a competitor outside of the ring as she is inside it. After taking out Miesha Tate earlier this month with an opening round submission, Rousey didn’t back off of the former title-holder in post-fight comments, saying she was perfectly fine with having wrung Tate’s arm out like a wet mop given the 25-year old’s decision to delay her decision to tap out. Weeks later it appears the feud between the two talented 135ers is still simmering with Tate recently talking to media about the match-up, expressing her belief that she was actually winning the fight before being locked into an evening-ending Armbar. As might be expected, Rousey had a completely different view of how things unfolded inside the cage and was more than happy to share them in response to Tate’s allegations. “I don’t think there’s any way she could argue that she was winning that fight at all,” explained the understandably offended Rousey in an interview with BloodyElbow. “If you just look at the striking stats, I landed 43 strikes and she landed 11. If you look at the actual damage, she was bruised up on her leg and her face, not to mention her arm. The only point in the fight where she could say she was being the least bit dominant, is the part where she had my back, but she definitely landed fewer strikes from the back, and had zero submission attempts. The one time she tried to do something, she lost her position immediately. That wasn’t a dominant position for her, that was pretty much her holding on for dear life.” “I had more takedowns than her. I had more submission attempts. I had more landed strikes. Even if you just look at it on paper, I had more dominant positions, more strikes…I beat her in every single category,” Rousey continued. “Anyone watching the fight wouldn’t have thought that she was winning at any point. I don’t know what fight she was watching, but it might be a different one than the one I’m looking at. As far as Tate belittling Rousey’s skillset in terms of still being a one-trick pony, “Rowdy” Ronda responded with the stark honesty in part endearing her to MMA fans everywhere since her arrival on the scene. “It just kind of makes her sound dumb,” said the unbeaten judoka. “Everyone knows that I wanted to Armbar her, and there was nothing she could do to stop me, even with months of preparation. I think that proves a lot. It’s like she’s not even looking at the actual situation. I don’t know what match she was watching, to really think that.” Rousey concluded by saying she would be open to a rematch down the road but currently her focus was on Sarah Kaufman who she summed up as being a bigger threat than Tate based purely on overall striking ability. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: fight, tate, strike, rousey, position

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

The animosity some fighters have with each other leading up to big fights is often beaten out of them by the time the fight is over. That’s not the case with Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Tate appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday to talk about her loss to Rousey earlier this month and basically suggested that Rousey’s really only great one at one thing and just happened to capitalize on a mistake she made. Otherwise, Tate feels she was winning and wants a rematch to prove she can still beat her. “I, personally, would love the opportunity to have a rematch,” Tate protested. “I think at a high level, it takes one mistake. Anyone can make a mistake at any moment and someone’s able to capitalize on that. “I don’t feel that Ronda proved anything other than what she’s already (proved) — that she has one thing that she’s great at. Really phenomenal at. But everything else, I could beat her. Give me another shot. I think it was competitive. I think for the most part I was probably winning. And I think at a competitive high level, one day one person could beat the one person, and the other day the other person would beat the other person.” Rousey’s response: Miesha sounds dumb. Here’s here more elaborate response from an interview she did with Stephie “Crooklyn” Daniels over at BE: “I don’t think there’s any way she could argue that she was winning that fight at all. If you just look at the striking stats, I landed 43 strikes and she landed 11. If you look at the actual damage, she was bruised up on her leg and her face, not to mention her arm. The only point in the fight where she could say she was being the least bit dominant, is the part where she had my back, but she definitely landed fewer strikes from the back, and had zero submission attempts. The one time she tried to do something, she lost her position immediately. That wasn’t a dominant position for her, that was pretty much her holding on for dear life. Every single takedown was me, I had the majority of the strikes, and I got the win. This all happened in four minutes, and if she assumes that the few seconds that she had my back, that she was the winner…well she wasn’t doing anything productive there anyway, except prolonging the inevitable.” “It just kind of makes her sound dumb. Everyone knows that I wanted to armbar her, and there was nothing she could do to stop me, even with months of preparation. I think that proves a lot. It’s like she’s not even looking at the actual situation. I don’t know what match she was watching, to really think that. One of those pieces of advice that my mom tells me all the time is, ‘Never listen to your own press.’ The second I got out of that cage, my coach was already telling me a million things I did wrong. It just seems tome like she must be surrounded by a bunch of “yes men” all the time, saying stuff like, ‘Oh yeah, you were winning. You were totally dominating.’ If I was her, I would look at that match, look at what I did wrong, and try to fix it next time, and not be like ‘I was totally winning before I lost.’” Despite her strong feelings on how the fight played out, Rousey says she is more than willing to give Tate another shot if that’s what she wants. There’s probably a good chance of that happening down the road given the success of the fight and the general lack of legitimate title contenders in her division, but Tate is going to have to win some fights before that should happen. It was a fun fight with a lot of back-and-forth action, but Tate didn’t do nearly enough to warrant an immediate rematch. Their little grudge that clearly hasn’t been settled is probably going to have to wait for now. Regarding the status of Tate’s arm, she’s still waiting for the MRI results to find out the extent of the damage, but she’s “pretty sure” she has a torn ligament. No broken bones though. Image via Esther Lin for Strikeforce/Showtime

Posted in: fight, time, tate, rousey, person

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Get this: Before having her arm nearly ripped off by Ronda Rousey at Strikeforce this past March 3 in Columbus, Ohio, Miesha Tate thought she was winning the fight. Really. Click here if you don't believe me. After a bitter war of words and a forehead press at the weigh-ins, the two top 135-pound women met up inside the cage to determine who the better fighter really was. And with her first round armbar finish, "Rowdy" Ronda seemingly answered that question. Definitively. "Takedown" Tate doesn't agree. In fact, she believes "for the most part" she was "probably winning." Not only that, but she thinks Rousey didn't really prove anything we didn't already know, which is that she's really good at tearing people's arms off. When informed of all this, the new Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion responded with a shake of her head and these pointed words: "It just kind of makes her sound dumb," Rousey told Bloody Elbow. "Everyone knows that I wanted to armbar her, and there was nothing she could do to stop me, even with months of preparation. I think that proves a lot. It's like she's not even looking at the actual situation. I don't know what match she was watching, to really think that. One of those pieces of advice that my mom tells me all the time is, 'Never listen to your own press.' The second I got out of that cage, my coach was already telling me a million things I did wrong. It just seems tome like she must be surrounded by a bunch of "yes men" all the time, saying stuff like, 'Oh yeah, you were winning. You were totally dominating.' If I was her, I would look at that match, look at what I did wrong, and try to fix it next time, and not be like 'I was totally winning before I lost.'" It is quite amazing, when you think about it. Rousey literally told Tate she was going to finish her in the first round by armbar and she went out and did just that. What does that prove? Quite a bit, actually. And with Tate's assertion that wrestling trumps judo nine times out of 10, it would seem clear she was either way wrong or Rousey caught her on the right day to get that one win. Thankfully, "Rowdy" is open to a rematch saying "If she wants Rousey vs. Tate 2, then I'll be happy to oblige her." Anyone up for watching these two lethal ladies go at it again?

Posted in: time, tate, armbar, rousey, ronda

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’Loading Player...MMAScroll LeftScroll RightGeorges St. Pierre's Road to Recovery, March 9Jon Jones: Believe Your Eyes VideoVideo: Ben Henderson Signature MovesVideo: The World According To Forrest GriffinVideo: Pat Curran KO's Joe Warren At Bellator 60 Watch the Official Trailer for ‘Fightville’ Documentary Featuring UFC Featherweight Dustin PoirierUFC Analyst Joe Rogan Looks Back on Best Coaching Moments in TUF History St. Pierre: MMA Needs A Guy Like Nick DiazVIDEO: Chael Sonnen Issues Apology to UFC Champ Anderson Silva ... Sort OfUFC Lightweight George Sotiropoulos Talks Recent Surgery and Timetable for ReturnDaniel Pineda UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewGSP: I Don't Think Marijuana Is A Performance EnhancerAndrew Craig UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewTJ Waldburger UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewConstantinos Philippou UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewJames Te Huna UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewChad Mendes Talks About Training Partner Joseph Benavidez at UFC on FXThiago Alves UFC on FX Post-Fight Video InterviewStrikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Post-Fight Press Conference Highlights VideoStrikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Preliminary Card Post-Fight Video InterviewsJosh Thomson Strikeforce Post-Fight Video InterviewLumumba Sayers Strikeforce Post-Fight Video InterviewStrikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Highlights Recap VideoStrikeforce Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza Post-Fight Video Interview

Posted in: ufc, fx, video, postfight, rousey

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Former Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate is still recovering from the Armbar she suffered against Ronda Rousey costing her the title. However, as convincing as Rousey’s finish was, “Takedown” Tate believes she deserves a rematch when he gets back to full health. The 25-year old also feels like she was winning the bout with Rousey before becoming yet another victim of the talented judoka’s submission attack. When the two squared off earlier this month the opening minute saw Rousey nearly lock in an Armbar, but Tate fought out of it and took the former Olympian’s back shortly thereafter. “I, personally, would love the opportunity to have a rematch,” said Tate in an interview MMAFighting. “I think for the most part I was probably winning (the fight). I think at a competitive level, one day one person could beat the one person, and the other day, the other person would beat the other person.” Tate reminded fans she did not suffer a broken arm but ligament damage and possible surgery appear to be in her future. As such, she will likely ber out long enough to give Sarah Kaufman the next shot at Rousey before discussion of an actual second shot will be fielded by her bosses at Strikeforce. As far as why Tate didn’t tap out right away, possibly saving an extended recovery period by doing so, the 12-3 Tate explained, “I felt my arm go in, and I was like, ‘You know, I don’t want to tap.’ And I didn’t.” Still, her toughness was quickly tested, as she elaborated, “So I felt my hand touch the back of her thigh and I knew everything was really bad. I just didn’t know at that point. I didn’t feel there was a way out of it. I had no idea how much longer there was on the clock and it just felt like things were getting worse and worse. And I was like, ‘I just don’t know how much of this my arm can take.’ I think that’s when common sense started to settle in, rather than pure stubbornness.” PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: tate, arm, ronda rousey, rousey, person

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

On any given Sunday, any NFL football team can beat any other squad. And as the iconic John Madden would bark, "it's why they play the game." Mixed martial arts (MMA) is apparently no different, especially at the highest level of the sport. At least that's how former Strikeforce 135-pound champion Miesha Tate now feels after her tendon-tearing armbar submission loss to Ronda Rousey at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, earlier this month. With about 10 days to reflect on the jaw-dropping, arm-snapping loss, "Takedown" today (March 12, 2012) talked to MMAFighting.com about her current physical condition (her arm is still not broken, but could require surgery) and her desire to run it back against "Rowdy" in the near future. In fact, Tate felt that she was winning the championship bout before a "mistake" ultimately cost her the belt and nearly her left arm. What's more, it's her belief that Rousey is a one-trick armbar pony and that she just happened to fall victim to that one trick, which Tate described as "phenomenal." "I, personally, would love the opportunity to have a rematch. I think at a high level, it takes one mistake. Anyone can make a mistake at any moment and someone's able to capitalize on that. I don't feel that Ronda proved anything other than what she's already (proved) -- that she has one thing that she's great at. Really phenomenal at. But everything else, I could beat her. Give me another shot. I think it was competitive. I think for the most part I was probably winning. And I think at a competitive high level, one day one person could beat the one person, and the other day the other person would beat the other person." Since making the transition to full-time professional MMA one year ago, Rousey -- an Olympic-level judo practitioner who took home a bronze medal in the 2008 games in Beijing, China -- has competed five times, winning them all via first round armbar submission. However, none were more meaningful or significant than her most recent over Tate. It's a sensational finish that will likely endure forever on highlight reels and MMA forums everywhere. For now, it appears that Sarah Kaufman has the inside track as Rousey's next opponent. The good news is that with Cristiane Santos mired in a steroids scandal and Gina Carano clomping around another Hollywood movie set, the list of viable contenders to challenge Rousey at the moment is short and sweet. Indeed, Tate will likely get her rematch very soon. And the visions of her arm being twisted like a pretzel will be omnipresent and inescapable. Make no mistake, the footage (see it here) will certainly be used as a marketing tool if and when Tate is healthy and fit to step back inside the cage. A gruesome scene that likely plays out all too often from her memory, putting her at a psychological disadvantage if and when the rematch is booked. Rousey would most certainly be the odds-on favorite on fight night for perhaps many reasons, but certainly that one adds the most weight. But, hey, it's why they play the game. Crazy cats. For everything else you need to know about the bout between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey check out our complete fight archive right here.

Posted in: rematch, tate, mistake, rousey, ronda

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No fighter plans on becoming a fixture on someone else's highlight reel, especially in the smoldering fog of a grudge match. So when former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate found herself befalling the same fate as seven other women before her, trapped underneath Ronda Rousey with her left arm dangerously close to snapping in two, the thought of tapping seemed somewhat ludicrous. Only when there was no other option did finally she relent, handing Rousey the victory and the belt. Tate's mangled limb was a shocking image for viewers witnessing from home -- the footage is so grisly, weeks later her family members still refuse to watch it -- but would Tate have called it quits sooner if it was anyone else on the planet wrenching her arm from its socket? "It's possible," Tate admitted on Monday's episode of The MMA Hour. "Obviously I knew (the risk) going into that. It didn't catch me by surprise. A lot of people say, like Bryan (Caraway), ‘you're crazy. How did you not tap to that?' I think because I was prepared for that mentally. Not that I was ever planning on being there, but I knew that if I got into that position, I just knew it was a realistic possibility, and so I was prepared. "I felt my arm go in, and I was like, ‘you know, I don't want to tap.' And I didn't. So I felt my hand touch the back of her thigh and I knew everything was really bad. I just didn't know at that point. I didn't feel there was a way out of it. I had idea how much longer there was on the clock and it just felt like things were getting worse and worse. And I was like, ‘I just don't know how much of this my arm can take.' I think that's when common sense started to settle in, rather than pure stubbornness." Tate was lucky to have come to that realization when she did. The extent of the damage done to her is arm is still in question, but despite the gruesomeness of the contortion, x-rays have shown there to be no broken bones. Tate is currently waiting on MRI results to determine if surgery is required, but she did say she was "pretty sure" she has torn ligament towards the inner side of her elbow. Though if you saw her walking around, beside some slight swelling and bruising, it'd be hard to tell the difference. As for the question of if she would handle the finish differently in hindsight, Tate was noncommittal. However, the former champion made it exceptionally clear that she wouldn't fall for the same trick twice if given the chance. "I, personally, would love the opportunity to have a rematch," Tate protested. "I think at a high level, it takes one mistake. Anyone can make a mistake at any moment and someone's able to capitalize on that. "I don't feel that Ronda proved anything other than what she's already (proved) -- that she has one thing that she's great at. Really phenomenal at. But everything else, I could beat her. Give me another shot. I think it was competitive. I think for the most part I was probably winning. And I think at a competitive high level, one day one person could beat the one person, and the other day the other person would beat the other person." While the bad blood between both women clearly still lingers in the air, Tate did offer a salute of respect to her rival, acknowledging that what Rousey had done in a short amount of time was relatively remarkable. Surprisingly, Tate also picked Rousey to defeat Sarah Kaufman in her upcoming title defense, explaining that Kaufman's style plays right in Rousey's strengths. Ultimately, however, Tate understands that despite their differences, both she and Rousey are in the same boat, fighting the frustrating uphill battle to gain respect for women's MMA. And in that regard, with reports of 506,000 viewers tuning in to watch the most heavily-hyped women's match since 2009, Tate believes they succeeded. "I wanted to go out there and I wanted to make a very bold statement," she concluded. "I'm not just a cute girl. I'm not here to be cute for the camera. I wanted to show that women's MMA is legit. We come out there and we fight very, very hard. "We can definitely carry the main event. We can definitely draw the numbers. We can definitely entertain, and we're also really skilled. And I think that, in the big picture, we accomplished that."

Posted in: tate, women, arm, didnt, rousey

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To get an armbar, a fighter usually has to bring the fight to the ground. Ronda Rousey excels at this, not only because of her judo background, but because Rousey has trained her athleticism to perhaps being the best in women's mixed martial arts and developed her understanding of leverage to a much higher degree than that of her opponents. With that double blessing already in place, Rousey managed to overcome a severe experience deficiency against Miesha Tate and gave us one of the most compelling finishes combat sports followers have seen in a while. An armbar is a lever. In most cases, the fulcrum is the hips of the fighter applying the armbar. The lever action is used to hyperextend the elbow joint, which usually does not lead to broken bones, but rather damaged ligaments, tendons or muscles. Most fighters make clear their submission by tapping physically or verbally before the armbars actually break the elbow joints. Occasionally, a referee will step in if a fighter is being recklessly stubborn and stop the battle before such breaks occur. On other occasions, the action is too quick, the fighters in awkward positions or the referee hangs back too long and we get a snapped arm. Ronda Rousey is perhaps the MMA queen of applying armbars in lightning quick fashion, so her opponents have at times received damaged arms during their bouts. In this Judo Chop, both armbars that Rousey applied in the Strikeforce championship fight will be examined. Miesha Tate escaped the first one with a great display of smarts and toughness and threatened to turn the tide her way afterwards. The second and final armbar came about after Rousey brought Tate back down to the ground and isolated the left arm in stunningly efficient fashion. Grapplers of all shapes, sizes and experience levels can learn from the performances both women gave us in that cage on March 3, 2012. Hit the jump for the Judo Chop technical breakdown The lengthy wait between fight and this breakdown let me stuff this with enough GIFs to stun some browsers. Grappo's GIFs mostly come from the Fightlinker post he created and he graciously made the Iatskevitch roll one to special order. First, I asked Patrick Tenney, the esteemed leader of the Bloody Elbow Grappling Team, a few questions about the armbars Ronda applied in the one round battle: Ben: A couple questions to bounce at you for the Judo Chop - Why is it okay for Ronda to open her knees and cross her feet with that armbar? Wouldn't that give Tate more opportunity to escape? Patrick: So this came up a few times actually in discussion. That was completely fine. The reasoning behind this is that experienced grapplers typically have the wherewithal to keep their knees squeezed while crossing the ankles. The reason inexperienced grapplers are taught the other mechanic is that by crossing your ankles your knees naturally open out unless you actively keep them together (so for a lower level grappler it helps to have one less thing to worry about). She could also have been crossing her ankles in order to prepare different grip breaks utilizing her lower body if her upper body strength couldn't separate the arms. Ben: What other grip breaks are you thinking of? Patrick: Dipping the shin inside the elbow pit of the opposing arm, the pull in using her ankle cross to bring the opposite elbow in to loosen the strength of the grip etc etc. Ben: So in order to escape that type of armbar, what did Tate want to do? We saw her try and roll away from Ronda for a moment there and then seemingly struggle to get her elbow below Ronda's hips. Patrick: They call the roll away a hitchhikers escape because the person escaping points their thumb out (like a hitchhiker) and then rolls out and around the arm. Ronda stopped this by having correct pressure on the legs and perfect arm control. What Miesha needed to do in order to roll out that way, was to roll out with her wrist not controlled. You can actually SEE Ronda check the thumb position to make sure the elbow is in the correct direction.When Ronda bent the arm past her own hips it was already over, that arm was gone. That was just Miesha being too stubborn for her own good; that was past the degree of bend that normal elbows allow. By the way, Ronda, in spreading her knees initially, was trying to apply a little more pressure on the hips and head of Miesha to prevent the initial roll overs, or at least that's what it appears to look like. A video explanation of the hitchhiker's escape (which has many other names, like the "answering the phone" escape and so on) from Dean Lister, a world-renowned grappler and one-time UFC fighter: Look at how Dean insists that the roll over the shoulder begin as the hand is in a certain position and as arm is going down - NOT as it is fully extended and controlled by the opponent. Alright, now to the armbars: After trying to shake free of Rousey for a beat or two, Tate goes for an inside trip from the clinch. Rousey steps back the right foot to use as a pivot to counter-toss Tate to the mat, while keeping that fierce head/arm clinch. As they land, Tate maintains the half guard by clamping down on the right leg of Rousey. While keeping the clinch, Ronda goes for the guard break. She balances precariously for a moment to bring the left foot up onto Tate's clamping thigh and shoves that down and away. The momentary tipsiness of the position is offset a bit by having a grip on the far side of Miesha and having the shoulders flat. Miesha cannot really get up on her side and toss Ronda over. This combination gives Rousey the space to get drive the right knee down to the mat on the same side as the rest of Ronda's body and then the rest of the leg is brought firmly out. The same far-side grip, near-side knee slide principles apply in gi or no-gi submission grappling with the passes that Rodolfo Vieira and so many others have employed to great success. After working to mount again, Ronda sets up the first armbar. She whips the right leg across the face and hugs that arm to her core. That exteded leg is what will keep Miesha down and the hugging allows her to use her entire body's strength against the arm. The left leg is jammed up against the ribs to help immobilize the arm. Note how Tate's elbow is not quite on top of Rousey's crotch. Miesha has managed to get it down just enough and work onto her side in order to eventually escape the armbar. The arm still bends beyond the normal range of motion, yet the subsequent back take and control Miesha exerted on Ronda showed no visible signs of damage or injury to the arm. The nice escape of the first armbar. Rousey tries to turn this now-failed armbar into an ompolota, by rotating to her side and bringing the left leg over the shoulder, but it is too late. Miesha is already coming around the backside and into a far, far better position. The spin backwards prevents the armbar from being re-applied and essentially eliminates the omoplota or triangle alternatives that most submission grapplers like to go for in that sort of situation. Tate obviously spent quite some time figuring out the usual counters to armbars and related attacks during her training camp. From this scramble, Tate would threaten to take Rousey's back for quite some time and it took some creative maneuvering for Ronda to get out. Tate threatened a rear mount for quite a while before Ronda worked her way out with impressive athleticism. Once, the scramble ended, both fighters regained their feet for a brief moment of stand-up. Tate barged forwards with the intent of rearranging Rousey's face. The problem with that head-on attack is that when you do that to a judoka, you will usually get thrown. Yoshihiro Akiyama did a similar thing to Jake Shields at UFC 144. Ronda uses a plain ol' clinch'n'hip toss. If it ain't broke, don't mess with it. Or go ahead and add onto it your own flourishes like completely leaving your feet as to make your opponent take the impact of both bodies landing on the canvas in full. Nastily delicious piece of work. The fall leaves Ronda in a kesa gatame position, which means that there is a brief opportunity for Tate to scramble out, if Ronda does not bring up that left leg. Ronda makes that possibility academic and then swiftly passes guard into a more typical side control position. The Gracie Breakdown by Ryron and Rener does a great job of explaining the guard pass. As the Gracie Breakdown showed briefly, Ronda attacked Miesha's turtle defense in a manner that swiftly and efficiently broke it wide open. There is much more to the technique than they show though. Some graplers know the technique Ronda used as an Iatskevitch roll (named after the very good Russian judoka, Alexander Iatskevitch) and KJ Gould pointed me towards this brilliant breakdown from The Difficult Way blog. As you can see in the beginning of the GIF, Rousey has decided to skip the usual mount position entirely and shoved her leg across Tate's stomach in a position most people recognize as a precursor to a body triangle. However, Rousey comes from a judo background where pinning the opponent and/or getting the armbar is more prioritized and rewarded than getting BJJ or MMA-style control of the back. The foot of the left leg is clamped onto the thigh initially, as Rousey shifts to the side, while balancing on her left arm and head, and shoots her right arm deep into the crook of Tate's left arm. The left leg of Rousey is correctly on top of Tate's head, preventing any sudden movements upwards or outwards. At this point, Ronda wants to roll Miesha onto her back, so she grabs Tate's left leg behind the knee and rolls over her side, dragging Tate's leg over her head. The direction of the drag is important, as the Difficult Way breakdown of the Iatskevitch roll above shows, because otherwise, brute force is needed to flip the opponent completely over their own head. That method can lead to a strong, smart opponent resisting the flip or straightening out their body. Miesha appears to try straightening out a bit in the GIF, perhaps looking to resist the flip. Rousey is strong, yet doing the Iatskevitch roll by dragging Miesha's leg over her own head is much easier and less risky. As the flip occurs, Ronda's right leg slips into place over Miesha's face and when the flip is done, Ronda is in perfect position to pop upright and work for an armbar. The armbar is not immediately available, as Miesha has a grip upon the trapped arm with her other hand and arm. Ronda has to rip the arm free of the double grip and then recline for the armbar. First she gets a truly solid grip on the wrist by putting it in the crook of her own right arm and using the other hand to clinch even more. Rousey sweeps to the right in her fall backwards, which better isolates the arm, by rotating the direction in which Tate's opposing grip muscles need to pull and resist. Once the sweep to the right gets to a certain point, the arm truly pops free and Ronda pulls her legs in, starts to elevate her hips and continues hugging that wrist to her chest in a near-death grip. Miesha reacts a beat too late to start the hitchhiker escape, as the time to do it was when the arm was not fully extended. Miesha wants that hitchhiker escape, which is not happening with the arm fully extended like that. The GIF exaggerates how much time there is to react, but Tate missed the opportunity to get that escape and shifts back in to try in desperation to free her elbow once more. The GIF shows that the elbow is already bent and damaged though. The fight should have been stopped at this point. Once that elbow pops, the fight is over. Unfortunately, neither Tate - hyped up to the gills with adrenaline and competitive fire - nor the referee - completely disregarding his obligation to maintaining fighter safety - stops the fight. Ronda has no choice but to put the exclamation point on the finish by pushing the arm down towards the legs. In most armbar situations, pushing the arm towards the legs allows the usage of the upper thigh/hip corner as a fulcrum to get some sideways leverage on the elbow joint. Most times, the opponent taps before the arm actually wraps around the leg. Once that arm wraps around the leg, Tate finally taps and only then does Mark Matheny, the referee, move in to stop the fight. Take a look at the fine open leg armbar technique displayed by Rousey: Miesha's upper body is immobilized, the wrist is firmly controlled, the hips are elevated and she does nothing more than what is required to have that fight stopped. Another theoretically possible defense for Miesha would have been to take the Vinny Magalhaes approach to the armbar Fabricio Werdum applied upon him in the 2011 ADCC heavyweight final. Basically, Vinny got up on his side - which allows his larger frame to relieve the pressure somewhat - and then employed mystical grappling magic to allow him to tough out a super-gnarly submission being applied by one of the very best grapplers on the planet for several minutes. This "Vinny defense" is not advised for anyone who does not have the high level grappling background that Magalhaes possesses or has not made peace with the possibility of the arm being broken like what happened to Miesha Tate. Seriously, I have no idea how Vinny stayed in that for so long or eventually got out of it. Werdum did not do anything immediately and obviously wrong. That is Benson Henderson level Gumby stuff. Remember, Ronda gives the Look of Doom to anyone in her way. Think the Vinny defense would successfully work on this new champion?

Posted in: tate, arm, armbar, rousey, ronda

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In just her fifth pro fight, Olympic bronze medalist "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey ascended to the top of MMA's most competitive women's division Rousey used her signature armbar to submit former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha "Takedown" Tate earlier this month at "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey." In our latest Women's MMA Report, MMAjunkie.com's Robert Sargent discusses that bout, a likely next fight with ex-champ Sarah Kaufman, and other news and notes from across the globe.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, women, rousey, signature armbar

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In an interview with complex.com, Strikeforce Women's champion Ronda Rousey talked about a myriad of interesting topics. One of the funny anecdotes the Judo expert brought up was how she used to hustle people and made money off armbar-ing random dudes: I remember when I was in high school, me and my friend Jackie would go to Palisades Park [Santa Monica, Calif.], and we would bet guys that we could beat them up for $5 or $10. I would throw them down and arm bar them until they would say, "I give up, I give up!" We’d take the money and go buy frappuccinos. That’s the kind of thing you wouldn’t expect in Santa Monica, right? Two girls picking fights, getting the prize money, and getting a frappuccino. [Laughs.] Another interesting tidbit that people might not know about the very colorful life of Rousey, is her apparent interest in making art from mathematical equations: I make fractals. They’re like mathematical pictures. My step-dad is actually a rocket scientist, so in his free time, he gave me a fractal program for fun. He showed me how to use it when I was about nine or 10, and I made thousands of fractals. You know how you make a graph, and you see the line on the graph of an equation? If you take that same equation through every single point, it will make a picture. You’re pretty much seeing pictures of different equations that you mesh into each other. You see fractals in nature all the time like nautical shells and stuff like that. They are those things that people look at when they’re tripping on acid, and they’re like, "Oh my God, it’s infinite," because you can zoom in forever and you an zoom out forever, because it’s a number. It’s infinite. It’s really cool, you can play with the colors and everything. If you go to fractaldomains.com you can go to the galleries and see "Ronda’s galleries". Those are a bunch of the fractals that I made when I was younger. I still make them. It’s different. I’m a closet nerd. Here's one of those "Fractals" that she mentioned, which she interestingly named as "Asma Says It's Cool": Rousey is obviously a great athlete and a tremendous fighter, but I think it's pretty cool to see much more details and fun facts from her very colorful personality. Check out more of these awesome fractal art after the jump. "Jellyfish": "Crown": "The Inside of My Knee": "Altered": "Green Swirl 2" "Flare": You can click the images to view a larger version of them, and you can check out the entire gallery here. HT: MiddleEasy

Posted in: rousey, itrsquo, fractal, equation, fractal art

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The recent Strikeforce bantamweight title-bout between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey was a pivotal night for female fighters across the globe. For the first time since Gina Carano was defeated by Cristiane Santos back in 2009, the female side of the sport once again became water-cooler conversation despite the critics. Prior to the fight, a large portion of the audience criticized Rousey for using her good looks and witty mouth to fast track her way into a championship fight with Tate so early in her MMA career. The consensus among many in the MMA community was that the only reason Tate and Rousey were the main event of a major Strikeforce card was because of their sex appeal with the male audience. Come showtime, both women proved they were much more than eye candy, delivering one of the most action-packed and technical rounds in the history of WMMA. The doubters may have begun to take note but there are still individuals out there that will overlook the talent of these women in favor of their physical appearance. Fighters.com recently had the opportunity to speak to a woman who knows a thing or two about being a female in a profession dominated by men, none other than perhaps the most famous WWE Diva in all time and an icon in the world of professional wrestling, Trish Stratus. A former fitness model, seven-time WWE Women’s champion, actress, and martial arts practitioner herself, Stratus definitely took note of the Rousey-Tate rivalry even she wasn’t able to catch the broadcast. “I did not watch (Tate-Rousey) but I’ve been very keen on Strikeforce. That fight did catch my attention and those girls are hot. That is going to be the key to people sticking around and watching because there’s no doubt about it that sex sells,” Stratus said. “I hate to say it but you have to use whatever can bring you to the dance. With me, I started as a fitness model and made my transition into wrestling and I dealt with the same thing. People would say that I was just the hot chick but that is what caught their attention.” Stratus debuted in the WWE in 2000 as a valet for the tag team known as T and A with heavyweight superstars known as Test and Prince Albert. Fans viewed her as eye candy for the first twelve months of her career before they witnessed her incredible ability in the ring following a series of great matches and her first title win in 2001. “Once I had their attention I was able to showcase my talents and as long as you can back up your looks with your talent, as both (Tate/Rousey) have proven, that is the key. The fact that these women went out there and proved themselves is awesome,” Stratus glowed proudly of her fellow female athletes. “We had the same thing in wrestling where we’d have the crowd chanting “puppies” but once we brought it and delivered some solid action in the ring those chants stopped and fans began chanting for us and what we were doing in the ring,” Stratus continued. “WWE Productions noticed that and ended up giving us more time and more devotion to our storylines and character development.” Obviously professional wrestling and MMA are two different entities but there are similarities between the two in terms of drawing an audience. When Stratus was on the top of her game in the WWE, women’s wrestling was often the highlight of many WWE cards. Female fighters such as Rousey and Tate could absolutely follow a similar route in MMA. With Rousey’s marketing ability and niche for creating pre-fight hype, we may very well see more female fights in the main event on many cards in the near future. PHOTO CREDIT – WWE Tweet

Posted in: mma, wwe, women, rousey, stratu

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By now you’ve likely seen the Ronda Rousey-Miesha Tate fight. Failing that, you’ve read or heard about the result. Once again, Rousey found herself the victor, in the first round, by Armbar. She moved her record to 5-0 and became one of the quickest fighters in the sport to attain a major championship, particularly in the modern era. One of the major narratives coming out of the fight is obviously Rousey’s dominance and her place as perhaps the biggest star in the history of Women’s MMA (no offense Gina Carano fans). However, something I find interesting and mildly disconcerting coming out of the fight is the celebration of Tate’s “toughness” in regards to her unwillingness to tap to the second Armbar Rousey had her in. As much as I hate to reference Twitter in any journalistic sense, it’s quite apparent that MMA has a disproportionate presence on the medium. Fellow fighters, fans and even some media were lauding the former champion for her “warrior spirit,” “fighting to the bitter end,” and the like. This is the part that I don’t understand. Had Tate tapped out to the first Rousey armbar, which looked like it too caused some damage to her right arm, I don’t suspect that anyone would have batted an eye. When Miesha survived that hold however, she had already earned the respect of myself and most others watching the fight. My personal expectations of Tate in the fight had been exceeded. Of course, her expectations heading into the fight and mine were two vastly different things. I’m sure she intended on retaining her belt, however unrealistic that was, and was willing to do whatever it took to do so. Where that crosses the line from being admirable and turns foolish is the issue. The second time Rousey caught her foe in an Armbar; Tate was completed flattened out with no chance to escape. Flail about as she might, it was clear that the fight was over at that point. Yet rather than tap, Miesha decided to show her “toughness” and “warrior spirit” allowing Rousey to snap her arm like a twig and then ply it in the most grotesque angles possible. Let’s sum this up, the end result of the fight – where Tate eventually tapped anyways – was that she still lost, but instead of simply losing a very spirited affair and heading back to the training room she has the unenviable task of going through what is certain to be a long, arduous recovery from a gruesome arm injury that may require surgery (if it doesn’t, I’ll be absolutely shocked). While we don’t know the exact details of the injury at this point, the likelihood of Tate fighting again in 2012 seems slim. Tate Says Arm is Not Broken but Needs MRI for Ligament Damage My question is: Why celebrate this? The former champion did herself absolutely no good at the end of the match. Her refusal to tap defies logic, and has only set back her career. Yet this is something we see regularly in MMA. The mentality from both fighters and fans that submitting is a sign of weakness, and those who would rather ‘Face the Pain’ (har har) get treated as heroes has long been one of the more perverse realities of the sport. In some cases, this toughness works out well for a fighter, with Seth Baczynski against Tim McKenzie being the most notable and emphatic example. More often than not though, when a fighter refuses to tap they simply end up with an injury, not a victory. Even if we look at another example of “toughness” from recent shows, we see that this phenomenon isn’t strictly confined to tapping out to a submission. On the UFC on FX 2 card, Kyle Noke – fresh off a knee injury sustained against Ed Herman – reportedly blew out his knee in the first round against Andrew Craig, yet fought through to a Unanimous Decision loss. Noke, like Tate, was celebrated for his toughness, but the question that I have is how much additional damage he did to his knee, and how much longer he will be out of action as a result. On the flip side, you look at a fighter like Brian Bowles who bowed out of his bantamweight title contest with Dominick Cruz due to a plethora of injuries and how he was reviled as a quitter long after. To me, Bowles did the smart thing. He knew he couldn’t perform to his utmost potential given the injuries he had, and decided to fight another day. When you’re dealing with fighters at the highest levels of the sport, winning and losing come down to such fine details that it is hard to fault anyone for wanting to be as close to their best as possible. This is a mindset that won’t go away without some change on behalf of guilty parties, as in every pre-fight interview, or every new season of The Ultimate Fighter, we’re graced with lines like “I’ll never tap out. They’ll have to break something or choke me out,” or “I’m ready to go [through hell]/[to the death].” Even just looking back to the last season of the show, there was no greater moment to me than watching when Akira Corassani – who was definitely guilty of such braggadocio – was in fact choked out by Dennis Bermudez. Still, I am in the minority, many fans saw Corassani as one of their favourite fighters on the show, and appreciated his mentality and willingness to follow through on it. I understand that fighters are there to entertain us, but at the same time these are people who make a living with their bodies. By encouraging the sort of behaviour that results in fighters sustaining unnecessary injuries and exacerbating existing ones, we are doing no one any good. Fighters need to be healthy to collect a paycheck, and there is nothing about having your arm snapped, knee shredded, or brain deprived of oxygen that helps that become a reality. Both fighters and fans need to grow up just a bit, and realize there is no shame in submitting. That said, I love both the fact that Rousey was more than willing to snap her opponent’s arm if she wasn’t going to tap, and that she had no remorse about it. If you’re going to be indifferent about what happens to your body inside the cage or ring, you might just get what you deserve. Just don’t expect me to feel bad, or applaud you for your stupidity… and enjoy your stint in rehab. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: fight, fighter, ’t, tate, rousey

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I'm so bad at math that I was horrified to write this article. I passed algebra by putting a pencil in my hand and writing as many numbers that would fit in the corner of a page. I made it so complex that my teachers would just give me partial credit as an awkward 'Yeah, you got it wrong, but here's a pat on the back' gesture. It worked. By some grace of mathematical improbability, I passed every math course I've enrolled in. I still can't fully understand it, however I cheated like my permanent record depended on it. Remember those things? Permanent records exists to make you believe the rest of the world is real. Just think about that. If I attended school with Ronda Rousey, my desk would be strategically placed next to hers in order to make my homework life much easier. I would also give her my T1-83 calculator so she can install Asteroids and Drug Wars on my device. Our generation ruled school with an iron fist. Complex Magazine caught up with Ronda Rousey a few days ago to see what she does when she's not collecting human arms. Apparently Ronda Rousey digs math so much that she makes fractals in her spare time. I make fractals. They’re like mathematical pictures. My stepdad is actually a rocket scientist, so in his free time, he gave me a fractal program for fun. He showed me how to use it when I was about nine or 10, and I made thousands of fractals. You know how you make a graph, and you see the line on the graph of an equation? If you take that same equation through every single point, it will make a picture. You’re pretty much seeing pictures of different equations that you mesh into each other. You see fractals in nature all the time like nautical shells and stuff like that. They are those things that people look at when they’re tripping on acid, and they’re like, “Oh my God, it’s infinite,” because you can zoom in forever and you an zoom out forever, because it’s a number. It’s infinite. It’s really cool, you can play with the colors and everything. If you go to fractaldomains.com you can go to the galleries and see Ronda’s galleries. Those are a bunch of the fractals that I made when I was younger. I still make them. It’s different. I’m a closet nerd. If you're wondering what skills Ronda Rosey has in the field of the mathematically infinite, then check out these fractals Ronda Rousey created. Yes, Ronda Rousey created all of that stuff. If you feel like zoning out to more of Ronda Rousey's work, check out her page of Fractal Domains. Props to Arkain2K for the find.

Posted in: ’re, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, fractal

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TUF: Cruz vs FaberFIGHT DAY! Tune into @FXNetworks tonight at 9 to watch 16 explosive fights! #TeamFaber  -Urijah Faber ‏This is a must this season. @ufc #TUFLIVE #TeamFaber pic.twitter.com/cWZtcsBr  -Tito Ortiz ‏ New season of TUF live Friday 9pm on FX, should be good http://t.co/QPO4PYc7  http://t.co/RJqfVRCi  -Forrest Griffin ‏ .@UrijahFaber should try taking one of those goofy sandals he's always wearing n slap himself wit em! lockerz.com/s/190753674   -Dominick Cruz ‏ The old T-shirt under the Tank top look...interesting. Trying to 1 up me already. Doubling up on clothing @TheDomin8r  pic.twitter.com/ywKRoeQF  -Urijah Faber ‏ You’re Milking it, Joe. Okay, That was Cheesy. I love dairy.   -Joseph Benavidez ‏ How it’s Done on the Mean Streets of West LinnYou don't choose if we fight, you just choose if it's in the Octagon. You and me, we can step outside and see, who's the winner. -Chael Sonnen ‏ Barry and Miocic vs. Jorgensen? @smiocic stay outta trouble! Ima take care a @HypeOrDie first then ur my 2nd fight at hvy.  -Scott jorgensen ‏ @Scottjorgensen haha sounds good, you do the same! You think I get in trouble? Haha  -Stipe Miocic ‏ @Scottjorgensen BUT IF @smiocic PICS ME UP YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO REACH ME UNLESS U CRAWL UP HIS LEG LIKE A ROACH!!!  -Pat Barry ‏ New Champ Ronda Rousey Impresses and IntimidatesAgreed...RT @dethrone: If Ronda Rousey ever even glances at my arm I'm going to run...  -Benson Henderson ‏ Both @MieshaTate n @RondaRousey r freakn GANGSTER!  -Duane Ludwig OOOOOOMMMMMGGGGG RONDA ROUSEY IS SSSIIIIIICK......ANOTHER ARM TAKIN  -Stephen ThompsonWow!! Great fight ladies!! @MieshaTate @RondaRousey  -Joseph Benavidez ‏ Wow just watched it well done @RondaRousey really well done  -Michael ‏ BispingCongrats to Ronda Rousey  -Nick Diaz ‏ Ronda is the honorary Diaz sister. Great fight  -Cesar Gracie ‏thank you for all the support everybody, I really appreciate it :)  -Ronda Rousey ‏ Right Again, Dana!Flyweights are F-ING awesome!!!  -Dana White ‏ Thanks to all my fans and @ufc i will be back better and stronger and looking forward to the rematch can't wait to get home to seattle!!  -Demetrious Johnson ‏ What a crazy roller coaster of emotions. Thank you to all the people who helped me I love you all. FOTN bonus helps take the sting off a bit  -Ian McCall ‏

Posted in: fight, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, fotn bonus

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Despite a big win over UFC veteran Scott Smith at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, Lumumba Sayers isn't being fooled into believing that his ship has come in.

Posted in: doesn ’t, lumumba sayers, rousey, lumumba, sayer

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Ronda Rousey is the best female mixed martial artist in the world. Does that sound crazy? It might, less than a year after her first professional fight. But the reality is that in less than a year Rousey has fought five times, won them all, finished everyone in the first round and, on Saturday, defeated a high-level opponent in Miesha Tate and done it in convincing, impressive fashion. The other reality is that the other fighters who have a case to be No. 1 woman in the world -- Cris Cyborg, Zoila Gurgel and Megumi Fujii -- all have pretty significant strikes against them. We'll get to that after we get past Rousey. And so Rousey is at the top of our list of the best women in the world, which is below. Top 10 pound-for-pound women in MMA (Editor's note: The ranking from the last time we ranked women are in parentheses) 1. Ronda Rousey (5): Tate is a very strong, very experienced fighter who entered Saturday night with a 12-2 record, having never been submitted in her career. And Tate is also a smart fighter who knows how to execute a game plan. But Rousey is so good at what she does -- using a judo throw to get on top in side control and then locking in an arm bar -- that it didn't matter. You could make the case that Rousey is a one-trick pony who doesn't do anything other than rely on her judo and lock in arm bars, but that's a little like saying that Mike Tyson circa 1988 was a one-trick pony who didn't do anything other than knock his opponents out. 2. Cris Cyborg (1): What do we do with Cyborg now that she's suspended for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs? Some would say she doesn't deserve to be ranked at all, but I don't want to ignore the fact that she spent the last few years as the greatest force women's MMA has ever seen. If you think Cyborg was just a steroid-fueled monster who won't win if drug tests force her to get clean, well, that's a valid opinion. But I believe Cyborg is a skilled and talented fighter who will be prepared for big things when her suspension ends. 3. Zoila Gurgel (2): Gurgel is a phenomenal fighter. She's 11-1, her only loss is to Tate in a fight in which she was fighting above her natural weight class, and she's the only person to beat Megumi Fujii. Unfortunately, she's fought only once since beating Fujii and is currently nursing a torn ACL. There's no word on when she'll return. 4. Sarah Kaufman (7): Kaufman put together an outstanding striking display in her victory over Alexis Davis, and she's going to be a tough opponent for Rousey. Kaufman is 15-1 in her career, she has a win over Tate on her record and her MMA experience and striking accumen go far beyond Rousey's. If she can execute an evasive game plan that keeps the fight standing and avoids Rousey's clinch, Kaufman has a chance of winning that fight. 5. Megumi Fujii (4): Fujii is now a whopping 25-1 after her first-round submission win over Karla Benitez on New Year's Eve. Bellator should book her for a rematch with Gurgel. 6. Miesha Tate (3): An elbow injury from Rousey's arm bar may keep her on the shelf for a while, but Tate will be back. She's an impressive fighter who just ran into a force of nature in Rousey. 7. Marloes Coenen (6): Coenen lost her spot in Strikeforce because she was a casualty of the battle between Zuffa and Golden Glory, but I'm hopeful she'll return. She could be a very good matchup for Rousey in the future, but up next she has a fight with Romy Ruyssen on April 28. 8. Jessica Aguilar (8): After beating Patricia Vidonic last month, Aguilar is now on a four-fight winning streak since her split decision loss to Gurgel in 2010. 9. Tara LaRosa (9): Once considered the best female fighter in the world, LaRosa has been inactive for a year and has been largely forgotten while fighting in smaller promotions. I'd love to see her step into the cage in Strikeforce or Bellator. 10. Alexis Davis (10): Davis put together a very game effort against Kaufman, fighting through an ugly cut and putting Kaufman in trouble on the ground at the end of the third round. She'd be a logical future opponent for Tate.

Posted in: fighter, tate, rousey, she, kaufman

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Roger Bowling wasn't all that pleased with his performance at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, but he's already got plans to shake things up in 2012 and gun for the title.

Posted in: roger, thing, performance, rousey, bowling

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Podcast Powered By Podbean Topics covered in this episode- Why fans were robbed of an eight man UFC flyweight tournament bracket-Who is the number one 125 pound fighter in MMA?- Is Ronda Rousey great for women's MMA or the best thing for women's MMA?- What is next for Rousey?

Posted in: mma, ronda rousey, womens mma, rousey, podbean topics

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It could be better, and it could be worse. That's a pretty vague statement, but almost everything about Strikeforce is hard to pin down these days and their ratings are no different. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey averaged 431,000 viewers on Showtime, and peaked at 506,000 for the start of the main event between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. The numbers are a definite improvement over the first SF show of 2012, Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine on January 7th, which averaged just 344,000 viewers. And that was on a free preview weekend. Is this a good thing for women's MMA? It could be. The downside is that 431,000 lower than the average of the eight regular SF shows in 2011, and it remains unclear if Strikeforce still has the starpower to maintain high ratings after the contract extension. The ratings for the undercard on Showtime Extreme aren't available at this time. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, rating, tate, rousey

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After appearing in the cage for 4:27 in her championship win against Miesha Tate this past Saturday, Ronda Rousey now has been in the cage for 8 minutes and 29 seconds during her amateur and professional mixed martial arts career. But given her personality both inside and outside of the cage, she is certainly not nearing the end of her 15 minutes of fame. Prior to earning a title shot against then-champion Miesha Tate, Rousey had yet to even appear on a regular Strikeforce card. She had two Strikeforce Challengers wins to her name, but her MMA career still did not lengthen her resume by much. Rousey, a bronze medalist in Judo at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, was the first American woman to ever earn a medal in Judo at the Olympics. But it did not take her long to realize that there was not much money to be earned if she continued her current career. She then set her sights on a career in MMA, making her amateur debut just two years after earning the Olympic medal. With her strong pedigree and Judo background, Rousey quickly acclimated to the new art, as she defeated all three of her opponents during her amateur career in under a minute. That continued as she transitioned to fighting as a professional, defeating her first four opponents in a combined 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Following her win in November against Julia Budd, Rousey began to become more vocal, immediately calling out Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate. The champion was quick to dismiss Rousey, touting her as inexperienced and not worthy of fighting for the title. But that did not deter Rousey, as she continued to state her case why she should fight for the title. She agreed that she lacked experience, but that the division needed a kick in the ass. She was here to provide that, and Strikeforce agreed. After Gina Carano left MMA, women’s MMA has suffered in popularity and in marquee fights. Cris “Cyborg” Santos was dominant as champion, but never appealed to fans anywhere near as much as Carano. Other champions like Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman suffered from the same ordeal. While Miesha Tate brought more notoriety than any of those fighters, Rousey has brought more than any of those women combined. Rousey brings a bravado and attitude that has been sorely lacking over the last few years. Carano never had the sense of confidence that Rousey displays, instead appealing fans with her looks. Rousey certainly is appealing in that way, but the always reliable ‘it’ factor applies to her as well. Women’s MMA has needed a spokeswoman to take over. No one had stepped up to give you a reason to watch the women fight. More importantly, Rousey is demanding you watch, and it is a mistake if you do not. But just as important with her attitude outside of the cage, her demeanor carries inside to the cage, as well. She had Tate in an armbar within the first minute, but was unable to force her to tap. Once the fight was standing again, Rousey was tagged a few times by Tate. But she stood her ground and was able to pull her into her game again, and finished yet another fight with an armbar submission. Now women’s MMA, and just as importantly, Strikeforce, has a model fighter to build the organization around. As the marquee organization that holds women’s fights, Strikeforce has an opportunity to take advantage of this. As long as they continue to develop challengers for Rousey, the story will only continue to grow. As Rousey grows as a fighter, she will only grow as a spokeswoman, as well.

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, tate, women, rousey

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After appearing in the cage for 4:27 in her championship win against Miesha Tate this past Saturday, Ronda Rousey now has been in the cage for 8 minutes and 29 seconds during her amateur and professional mixed martial arts career. But given her personality both inside and outside of the cage, she is certainly not nearing the end of her 15 minutes of fame. Prior to earning a title shot against then-champion Miesha Tate, Rousey had yet to even appear on a regular Strikeforce card. She had two Strikeforce Challengers wins to her name, but her MMA career still did not lengthen her resume by much. Rousey, a bronze medalist in Judo at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, was the first American woman to ever earn a medal in Judo at the Olympics. But it did not take her long to realize that there was not much money to be earned if she continued her current career. She then set her sights on a career in MMA, making her amateur debut just two years after earning the Olympic medal. With her strong pedigree and Judo background, Rousey quickly acclimated to the new art, as she defeated all three of her opponents during her amateur career in under a minute. That continued as she transitioned to fighting as a professional, defeating her first four opponents in a combined 2 minutes and 18 seconds. Following her win in November against Julia Budd, Rousey began to become more vocal, immediately calling out Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate. The champion was quick to dismiss Rousey, touting her as inexperienced and not worthy of fighting for the title. But that did not deter Rousey, as she continued to state her case why she should fight for the title. She agreed that she lacked experience, but that the division needed a kick in the ass. She was here to provide that, and Strikeforce agreed. After Gina Carano left MMA, women’s MMA has suffered in popularity and in marquee fights. Cris “Cyborg” Santos was dominant as champion, but never appealed to fans anywhere near as much as Carano. Other champions like Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman suffered from the same ordeal. While Miesha Tate brought more notoriety than any of those fighters, Rousey has brought more than any of those women combined. Rousey brings a bravado and attitude that has been sorely lacking over the last few years. Carano never had the sense of confidence that Rousey displays, instead appealing fans with her looks. Rousey certainly is appealing in that way, but the always reliable ‘it’ factor applies to her as well. Women’s MMA has needed a spokeswoman to take over. No one had stepped up to give you a reason to watch the women fight. More importantly, Rousey is demanding you watch, and it is a mistake if you do not. But just as important with her attitude outside of the cage, her demeanor carries inside to the cage, as well. She had Tate in an armbar within the first minute, but was unable to force her to tap. Once the fight was standing again, Rousey was tagged a few times by Tate. But she stood her ground and was able to pull her into her game again, and finished yet another fight with an armbar submission. Now women’s MMA, and just as importantly, Strikeforce, has a model fighter to build the organization around. As the marquee organization that holds women’s fights, Strikeforce has an opportunity to take advantage of this. As long as they continue to develop challengers for Rousey, the story will only continue to grow. As Rousey grows as a fighter, she will only grow as a spokeswoman, as well.

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, tate, women, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Frenzy

Strikeforce promised us big things for its main event on Saturday night – things like thrills and action and the kind of unbridled intensity that melts flat-screen TVs right off of walls – and what we got when Ronda Rousey clashed with Miesha Tate was all that and more.  Beforehand, we wondered if Rousey could work her seemingly-unstoppable mojo on the champ, her wicked ultra-violence, and we debated if Tate could be the one to derail the barreling freight train.  Then there was a mad four-and-a-half minute scramble, an arm so mangled it redefined the word “yikes!” and we had our answers.  Not since Gina Carano versus Cris “Cyborg” Santos did we give as much of a crap about female MMA, and now we have both a budding superstar and life breathed into a flagging area of the sport.  We have Ronda to thank for that. If God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, it was a humerus that went into making Ronda, and the judoka isn’t done paying Him back in the arm-bone currency she feels she owes.  Which is just fine.  Because if you’re a scrub and not worthy of being in the same cage as her, she’ll rip your arm off in under a minute, just as she did to all before her championship turn, and if you’re good – elite even, perhaps one of the best 135-pound femme fatales the sport has to offer – then it’s more about how long you can last before the inevitable, painful dislocation.  It’s that payoff that matters, and thus far we’ve gotten it every cringe-inducing time.  So much so, in fact, that it’s now what makes female MMA so morbidly compelling.  Do you think Deadspin would be devoting digital ink to members of the fairer sex fighting in a cage if it weren’t for those endings, those horrific yet amazingly technical things Ronda does to opponents’ limbs?  No freakin’ way.  But she does so they do, and the sport is better for it. And what of the future of woman’s MMA?  If Rousey is indeed the new standard bearer, who out there is left to legitimately challenge her?  When Cyborg beat Carano from the cage, and ultimately from the sport, there was no one else for the Brazilian, no one else to threaten her or unseat her or even force her to break a sweat (which ushered in the “Great Female MMA Dry Spell”, when a women’s bout on a card moved the needle not at all).  Will the same thing happen again now that Queen Ronda has ascended the throne?  It’s possible.  It’s possible that top contender Sarah Kaufman stands not even a snowball’s chance in Hell against the unstoppable grappling and undeniable armbar that surely awaits.  But the beauty of it all is that with Rousey and her Olympic-level combative skills comes something priceless to the sport in general, something so momentous and historic that, years from now, when we look back upon this time, we’ll be calling this the “Ronda Era” – this being the exact point in time when the bar for a female fighter’s necessary skill level was raised to where it was suddenly became conceivable that, yes, that lady could mess other ladies up, and maybe even mess up a lot of guys too (Bryan Caraway, I’m looking at you).  Just as an athlete from UFC 3 couldn’t hang with those in the mix today, Rousey’s skill, and appurtenant success, means that at a minimum, a fighter will have to a be at least fantastic at fighting now, whether it’s for challenging the champ or even just entertaining us. With that said, maybe the next true challenge to Rousey’s reign will take the form of another Olympian, like Sara McMann, who earned a silver medal in freestyle wrestling and has amassed a spotless 5-0 MMA record.  Or maybe the Strikeforce champ’s nemesis is still competing at the highest levels in judo, or jiu-jitsu, or whatever, and has yet to cross over to mixed martial arts.  Regardless, because of one of the best main events on a Showtime card in a long time, the bar is now higher than it’s ever been.  For that – and the attention and rejuvenation she’s brought – we owe Ronda thanks.  And if you want to keep your arm, I suggest you give it to her.

Posted in: mma, sport, thing, rousey, ronda

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Nine fighters were issued medical suspensions after Saturday's Strikeforce card in Ohio, including main event former champ Miesha Tate, who is out indefinitely after tapping to an armbar from new...

Posted in: strikeforce, fighter, suspension, tate, rousey

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Going to be? I think considering the state of women's mixed martial arts (MMA), she's already there. But far be it from me to correct the President of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), who had time to reflect on Ronda Rousey's joint-jamming win over Miesha Tate in the main event of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" last Saturday night (March 3, 2012) in Columbus. Unfortunately, the brightest stars often burn out the quickest. That's not to suggest the "Rowdy" one doesn't have the skills to keep herself atop the 135-pound division for years to come, but with Cristiane Santos serving a steroid suspension, the only thing that stands between her and an empty nest is an eager little beaver named Sarah Kaufman. The Canadian contender (and former champion) is a fierce competitor in her own right, but it could be difficult to generate enough interest in a Rousey vs. Kaufman fight to give it "star" status. White comments on the future of women's MMA at today's UFC on FOX 3 press conference, after the jump. "I've been saying for a long time about the women's division. There aren't enough good women to create an entire division but every once in awhile you're gonna have these one-off fights between two women who are very, very good and that happened last weekend. It was a great fight, it was a big fight for women's mixed martial arts and I think Ronda Rousey's gonna be a big star." Rousey is 5-0 in her professional career, with all five wins coming by way of first-round armbar submission. Her Olympic background, along with her ability to snap elbows, has given combat sports fans plenty to talk about. But for how long? For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here and for complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. To see a pic of the Tate submission click here and to here Rousey detail how she did it click here. The latest status on "Takedown's" dislocated elbow here.

Posted in: fight, tate, women, rousey, ronda

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Posted in: mma, hour, episode, rousey, ronda

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submitted by Zapatista77 [link] [comment]

Posted in: payout, tate, salary, rousey, zapatista

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So who was the star of the weekend? Was it Martin Kampmann and his third-round comeback guillotine win? Was it the UFC's flyweights debuting in style? Did Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate bring the house down?Whatever your opinion, last weekend brought a slew of great fights and intriguing personalities as Zuffa gave us two major events in two days. That means we have plenty to get to in this special, double edition of The Forward Roll. Let's make like Rousey and get cranking… Martin KapmmannThe Dane became one of the latest fighters to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the third round of his bout with Thiago Alves. Kampmann had been out-struck in all three rounds and seemed on his way to defeat when Alves tried a takedown that ended with Kampmann snatching his neck in a guillotine. The win puts Kampmann among the UFC's top 10, but there's certainly a logjam there with several fights scheduled, the uncertainty of champ Georges St-Pierre's return timeframe, and interim champ Carlos Condit likely to wait. What does that leave Kampmann?Prediction: He faces the winner of April's Rory MacDonald vs. Che Mills fightThiago AlvesThe result had to be devastating for Alves, who finally showed signs of the old "Pitbull" in his last win over Papy Abedi, and seemed to be building on that against Alves until committing a crucial mistake. He's now just 2-4 in his last six fights and in danger of being considered an also-ran at the age of 28. It's hard to believe he's done as an elite talent at such a young age, but he's going to have to show something very soon.Prediction: He faces the loser of April's Paulo Thiago vs. Siyar Bahadurzada fightFlyweightsWe'll lump these guys in together since we already know that Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall will have to rematch following a scorecard error that led to the match being incorrectly ruled a draw. That means Joseph Benavidez is forced to the sidelines, where he'll be able to work on his craft while McCall and Johnson figure out their end of the bracket. I picked McCall to upset Johnson the first time around, and after McCall gained experience in the cage against him, I see their future bout the same way.Prediction: McCall beats Johnson in the semis, but Benavidez takes the tournamentJames Te HunaThis man has some scary power, the type of bone-ratting punches that we usually only see in cartoons. His last seven wins have all come by knockout, but if there's one knock on Te Huna, it's been his ground game, as he's tapped out four times in his career. He's now 30 years old, so it's time to see if he's made the necessary changes to rise up the light-heavyweight ladder. That should mean his next bout comes against someone with legitimate ground skills.Prediction: He faces Brandon VeraT.J. WaldburgerThe 23-year-old is one of the game's top upcoming submission artists, but he's struggled with strikers. Given his age, there's no reason to rush him along just yet, so I've got an interesting matchup in mind for him.Prediction: He faces Carlos Eduardo Rocha, the Brazilian sub fighter who hasn't fought in a year due to injuries. He's recently been cleared to fight and a bout with Waldburger would be a grappler's delight.Ronda RouseyA star-making turn for Rousey, who not only won but kept her string of first-round armbar submissions intact. From before the fight, we had a good idea that the winner of the Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis bout would likely be next for the winner. There's no better option out there right now. If Cris Cyborg hadn't been suspended, that fight would have drawn major interest, but for now, Rousey will stay in her new division and face the top contender.Prediction: She faces KaufmanMiesha TateThere's no questioning Tate's heart after her escape from one armbar attempt and near-refusal to tap to another despite her arm being contorted like Stretch Armstrong in the hands of a toddler. Hopefully any injury sustained during the fight is relatively minor and she can get back in the cage quickly, because a possible Rousey-Tate rematch would no doubt generate attention. But first things first, and Tate will have to win at least once to make that happen.Prediction: She faces Alexis DavisJosh ThomsonThomson candidly and publicly disparaged his own performance in his fight with KJ Noons, explaining that he had changed his approach in training in order to stay healthy. The result was a lackluster effort that was low on excitement but at least resulted in a win. The trick now would be for Strikeforce to spin that into a performance worthy of a top contender spot, making him a challenger for Gilbert Melendez. Do you think that's possible? I don't. Prediction: He faces Ryan CouturePat HealyWith a win on Saturday, Caros Fodor probably would have vaulted himself into a bigtime matchup, but instead, it was the veteran Healy playing spoiler again. He's now won 7 of his last 8 including four in a row. That should be enough to project him into a title match. Sure, he lacks the name recognition of some others, but results are results, so he deserves his chance.Prediction: He faces Gilbert MelendezRonaldo "Jacare" SouzaMany thought "Jacare" would get an immediate rematch after losing the Strikeforce middleweight title in a close fight with Luke Rockhold last September. That didn't happen, so Souza went out and thumped Bristol Marunde. In a perfect world, Souza would rematch Tim Kennedy for the right to face Rockhold, but Strikeforce doesn't have the time to do that. Prediction: He challenges Rockhold for the belt.

Posted in: fight, bout, mccall, he, rousey

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Ronda Rousey had not only gotten in Miesha Tate's head heading into their Strikeforce women's title fight this past Saturday, she had gotten in the head of Tate's boyfriend Bryan Caraway. Caraway took to Twitter on Friday night, having a meltdown about beating up Rousey for challenging her and saying that he would break her arm and "knock her teeth down her throat." Caraway ended up deleting the tweet after significant backlash which saw him say he only meant it "in sports" not that he wanted to beat up a woman. Of course, that didn't exactly make sense with him saying earlier in his meltdown that he doesn't hit women, but Rousey isn't a woman. ...get it? After taking Tate's title (along with her arm), Rousey is now doing the press rounds and while on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Ronda addressed Caraway's tweets: "It's a free country, you can say whatever you want," Rousey said. "He's probably not that smart. I mean, what a way to make yourself look like a retard, to say women can't compete with men on the same level in any sport, and to say he wanted to knock my teeth down my throat. I don't think he needs to be reprimanded because I think anyone that saw that has reprimanded him enough. He's done enough harm on his own making himself look like an idiot that I don't think anyone else needs to step in." Asked about the sentiment behind Caraway's tweet, that she could not compete with a man, Rousey laughed. "Of course I can, dude," she said. "Who is he? You never heard of him if it wasn't for Miesha. He's just some dude. He's not even like a legit fighter. He's just some random guy that likes fighting." Video after the jump... SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey MMA Hour video:

Posted in: tate, he, rousey, ronda, meltdown

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The growth of women’s MMA is still a work in progress but with fighters like Ronda Rousey leading the charge it appears things should continue in a positive direction. Not only was Rousey part of a much-anticipated Strikeforce headliner against Miesha Tate this past weekend but she, along with Tate and fellow female Sarah Kaufman, out-earned a number of their male counterparts in terms of both base pay and total take-home. The list of salaries from Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey was released on Monday, and though the rundown was topped by Ronaldo Souza, it appeared to indicate good things could be in store for the sport as long as the bevy of talented women continues to impress. Rousey made $32,000 for her title-winning tap-out of Tate including a $17,000 win bonus while Tate in turn was paid $19,000. Meanwhile, Kaufman exited the arena with a $25,000 check in tow. Souza and Josh Thomson were the card’s highest earners with $92,000 and $80,000 a piece. A Rundown of Medical Suspensions from Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Read below for a full list of payouts: Ryan Couture: $10,000 (no win bonus) def. Conor Heun: $8,000 Pat Healy: $22,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Caros Fodor: $12,000 Roger Bowling: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Brandon Saling: $5,000 Sarah Kaufman: $25,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Alexis Davis: $4,000 Ronaldo Souza: $92,000 (includes $22,000) win bonus) def. Bristol Marunde: $10,000 Lumumba Sayers: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Scott Smith: $65,000 Kazuo Misaki: $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Paul Daley: $45,000 Josh Thomson: $80,000 (no win bonus) def. K.J. Noons: $38,000 Ronda Rousey: $32,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Miesha Tate: $19,000 PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, bonus, ronda rousey, rousey

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Sarah Kaufman is willing to eat a punch to dish out a few. As the personable 135-pounder said after her win over Alexis Davis at this past weekend's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event, you simply needed to look at her bruised-up face for proof of that philosophy. But despite a grueling three-rounder that she ultimately won, Kaufman today told MMAjunkie.com Radio she's ready to challenge for new champ Ronda Rousey's belt whenever Strikeforce officials want to do it.

Posted in: rousey, alexis davis, bruisedup face, strikeforces kaufman, kaufman today

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Ronda Rousey seems to have an infatuation with submissions, arm bars to be exact. The former Olympic Judo medalist, began her amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) career with three straight wins via arm bar, all in under a minute. She then continued her pro MMA career with four consecutive victories, again under a minute, again via arm bar. Stepping into the Strikeforce Hexagon this past weekend (Mar., 3, 2012) at the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event, she undoubtedly faced her toughest opponent to date in Miesha Tate. However, it was apparently business as usual as she defeated Tate to capture the Strikeforce women's 135-pound title. This time, it took longer than a minute, but it ended the same way her other seven fights did, via first round arm bar. Miesha was able to hang on from an attempted submission from the former Olympian early on, however, the second attempt was latched on tight, and this time, "Rowdy" did not let up until "Takedown" eventually tapped. Taking a page from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion Frank Mir, the newly crowned Strikeforce Bantamweight champion says she will hold on to a submission until she feels a tap, even if she hears a snap. At least that's what she said today as she appeared on "The MMA Hour." Check out her comments about the gruesome arm bar and what she thinks about facing Miesha Tate's boyfriend, UFC fighter, Bryan Caraway after the jump. "The rules that I'm used to, that I grew up with in Judo is that if you don't tap, it doesn't count, even if it's broken, even if it's really broken. If the person doesn't tap you keep going. If she had a free hand, then she could have tapped at anytime. I think the referee made the right call, it's up to (her). He was trying to respect her and her choice, she could have given up at anytime. If he would have stopped it sooner, then other people would have been upset that he stopped it before the tap. Anything they do in that situation, people are just going to find a way to criticize." Tate has since confirmed that she did not suffer any broken bones during the fight. Over the weekend, Rousey and Miesha Tate's boyfriend, UFC Lightweight, Bryan Caraway, were involved in a back-and-forth Twitter war after Rousey said she could beat him in a fight. Caraway, regrettably, responded via his official Twitter account : " that was just a publicity stunt. Guys and girls arent = I would knock her head off w 1 arm or choke her, not a real question" He has since then spent a lot of time on his account explaining his comments to people who obviously took offense to him saying that about a female and stated that he clearly does not advocate hitting women, but rather, was replying to a comment that he took offense to by Rousey. Rousey reiterated on the "The MMA Hour" that she still is confident she can beat him: "Of course I can. Who is he? You would have never heard of him if it wasn't for Miesha. He's just some dude, he's not even a legit fighter, he is just some random guy that likes fighting, but it wont be approved by any athletic commission out there. People don't want to see a guy and girl beating each other on TV." For now, Rousey will keep on fighting women and will more than likely defend her 135-pound title against number once contender Sarah Kaufman down the road. Rousey gave a huge breath of air to women's MMA with her outstanding performance on Saturday night, backing up all the trash talk leading up to it. But with the depth of talent, or lack thereof, in the women's 135-pound division, how much longer can we expect to see the "Rowdy" one dazzle us with her slick submission moves?

Posted in: tate, arm, miesha, rousey, arm bar

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Not only did former middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza depart Columbus, Ohio with a victory under his belt at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey but did so with the largest check of any of the evening’s competitors. According to a list of salaries provided by the Ohio Athletic Commission, “Jacare” earned $92,000 for his success against Bristol Marunde. However, Souza did not have the night’s largest base pay, as his total take-home was assisted by a bonus for winning. Receiving that honor was Josh Thomson who made $80,000 for beating K.J. Noons in co-headlining action without any additional money for bringing home the “W”. Meanwhile, new bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey was paid $32,000 for her exciting clash with former title-holder Miesha Tate who earned $19,000 in defeat. Also standing out, albeit for perhaps the wrong reasons, Scott Smith earned $65,000 for his lackluster showing against Lumumba Sayers. Read below for a complete list of salaries from Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey: Ryan Couture: $10,000 (no win bonus) def. Conor Heun: $8,000 Pat Healy: $22,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Caros Fodor: $12,000 Roger Bowling: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus) def. Brandon Saling: $5,000 Sarah Kaufman: $25,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus) def. Alexis Davis: $4,000 Ronaldo Souza: $92,000 (includes $22,000) win bonus) def. Bristol Marunde: $10,000 Lumumba Sayers: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Scott Smith: $65,000 Kazuo Misaki: $50,000 (no win bonus) def. Paul Daley: $45,000 Josh Thomson: $80,000 (no win bonus) def. K.J. Noons: $38,000 Ronda Rousey: $32,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) def. Miesha Tate: $19,000 PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, bonus, souza, rousey

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Two days after defeating Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce women's bantamweight championship, Ronda Rousey was all smiles and laughs. On the road to New York, she received a congratulatory phone call from UFC president Dana White. Her mentor "Judo" Gene LeBell said that Rousey had signed 2,000 autographs in the hours after winning. And after a strict diet on the road to making 135 pounds for the first time, Rousey had celebrated by downing a couple of boxes of Girl Scout cookies.Yes, life is good for Rousey, whose biggest problem right now is recovering from all of the excitement."I've been not moving as much as possible," Rousey said on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour. "It's just been so tiring not just physically but mentally. I just feel like I've been tense and holding my shoulders higher or something like that for months on end, and I finally just have just tons of relaxation and I really just don't want to move. So I'm very relaxed. It feels very relaxing to be champion." As she has in all of her five pro fights thus far, Rousey won the bout via first-round arm bar after months of talk exchanged between the pair. Things may have reached their apex in intensity on the night before the fight, when Tate's boyfriend, UFC lightweight Bryan Caraway, tweeted "if [Rousey] wants to challenge a man I'll knock her teeth dwn (sic) her throat the (sic) break her arm!" Caraway eventually deleted the tweet but even following the fight, there appears to be no love lost between the Rousey and Tate camps."It’s a free country, you can say whatever you want," Rousey said. "He’s probably not that smart. I mean, what a way to make yourself look like a retard, to say women can't compete with men on the same level in any sport, and to say he wanted to knock my teeth down my throat. I don't think he needs to be reprimanded because I think anyone that saw that has reprimanded him enough. He's done enough harm on his own making himself look like an idiot that I don't think anyone else needs to step in."Asked about the sentiment behind Caraway's tweet, that she could not compete with a man, Rousey laughed."Of course I can, dude," she said. "Who is he? You never heard of him if it wasn’t for Miesha. He's just some dude. He's not even like a legit fighter. He's just some random guy that likes fighting."As far as the fight itself, Rousey acknowledged that she was surprised by Tate's aggressive strategy, coming out with a flurry at the opening bell. But Rousey said she wasn't hurt by any of the strikes during the exchange.She also noted she wasn't frustrated by Tate escaping from her first armbar attempt, saying she realized in the moment that she never truly secured it. She later sunk in a fight-ending armbar that bent Tate's arm at a gruesome angle. Tate told MMA Fighting on Sunday that she didn't' suffer a break, but must still undergo an MRI to check for further damage.Referee Mark Matheny has taken some fire for letting the fight continue to the point Tate's arm was in danger, but Rousey said he made the right call."He was trying to respect her and her choice, and she was choosing to let it go," she said. "She could’ve given up at anytime. If he stopped it sooner, they would have said, 'Oh he stopped it before she tapped.' Anything we do in that kind of situation, people are going to find a way to criticize."Perhaps one day in the future, the two will rematch and the feud will be ignited again, but for now Rousey is going to enjoy the moment and her newfound celebrity. She had originally set out to bring attention not only to herself, but also to the women of the sport, and there's no denying she did that."That was one of my goals when I started women’s MMA," she said. "I knew that there was a danger of it falling into obscurity. I wanted to do all that and rejuvenate the whole sport. I'm glad that it’s catching on and that I’m actually able to have an impact."

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While it may not be surprising to hear former 135-pound champion Miesha Tate will be spending some time on the sidelines after having her arm shredded by current title-holder Ronda Rousey in the main event at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, the talented grappler will not be the only fighter from the card with a mandatory vacation ahead of her. According to a list of medical suspensions provided by the Ohio Athletic Commission, Tate will be joined by seven other scrappers including Ronaldo Souza, Conor Heun, and Roger Bowling who were all listed as having possibly suffered broken hands in their bouts. The quartet of competitors’ suspensions were all listed as “indefinite” meaning no exact amount of time could be determined until follow-up from medical professionals could be conducted. Highlights from Tate’s Tussle with Rousey The four other fighters listed by the OAC were Brandon Saling, Pat Healy, Alexis Davis, and Kazuo Misaki. Saling (precautionary reasons), Healy (lacerations), and Davis (lacerations) will all be out for 30 days while Misaki (lacerations) has a 45-day wait a head of him. Tweet

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While it may not be surprising to hear former 135-pound champion Miesha Tate will be spending some time on the sidelines after having her arm shredded by current title-holder Ronda Rousey in the main event at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, the talented grappler will not be the only fighter from the card with a mandatory vacation ahead of her. According to a list of medical suspensions provided by the Ohio Athletic Commission, Tate will be joined by seven other scrappers including Ronaldo Souza, Conor Heun, and Roger Bowling who were all listed as having possibly suffered broken hands in their bouts. The quartet of competitors’ suspensions were all listed as “indefinite” meaning no exact amount of time could be determined until follow-up from medical professionals could be conducted. Highlights from Tate’s Tussle with Rousey The five other fighters listed by the OAC were Brandon Saling, Pat Healy, Alexis Davis, Sarah Kaufman, and Kazuo Misaki. Saling (precautionary reasons), Healy (lacerations), Kaufman (precautionary reasons), and Davis (lacerations) will all be out for 30 days while Misaki (lacerations) has a 45-day wait a head of him. Tweet

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Strikeforce medical suspensions and injuries for the "Tate vs. Rousey" event on March 3 in Columbus were released earlier today by the Ohio Athletic Commission (CSAC) for the Showtime telecast held last Saturday night at the Nationwide Arena. Former women's 135-pound champion Miesha Tate, as expected, will be out of action indefinitely after suffering a severe elbow injury during her armbar submission loss to new division champion, Ronda Rousey. Joining her on the injured reserves is former middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza. "Jacare" busted his mitt by repeatedly smashing it against Bristol Marunde's face. Welterweight Roger Bowling and lightweight Conor Heun also hurt their hands this weekend and have no current timetable for return. But that's not all. Here are the complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" medical suspensions and injuries (via MMA Fighting): Miesha Tate: Indefinite suspension (elbow injury)Ronaldo Souza: Indefinite suspension (hand injury)Roger Bowling: Indefinite suspension (hand injury)Conor Heun: Indefinite suspension (hand injury)Kazuo Misaki: 45 days (facial laceration)Pat Healy: 30 days (head laceration)Alexis Davis: 30 days (facial laceration)Brandon Saling: 30 days (precautionary reasons) Just a quick reminder: Fighters often return to action much quicker once doctors give them the green light. The lengthy suspensions are just a precaution in most cases. For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here and for complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here.

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Ronda Rousey won the Strikeforce 135-pound title last Saturday night (March 3, 2012) at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, submitting Miesha Tate with a grisly armbar in the very first round live on Showtime. It was her fifth straight submission victory within the opening frame, although "Takedown" lasted the longest inside the cage with "Rowdy" than anyone else. Now, Rener and Ryron Gracie are ready to show you how it all went down. For what it's worth, prior to the finish, Tate performed admirably, exchanging punches and even momentarily taking Rousey's back and working for a submission of her own. The former Olympian's top-shelf judo and tosses proved to be just too much, however, as Rousey was able to literally flip the momentum in her favor at just about every turn. For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here and for complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. To see a pic of the Tate submission click here and to here Rousey detail how she did it click here. The latest status on "Takedown's" dislocated elbow here.

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Strikeforce fighter payouts for those who competed at the "Tate vs. Rousey" event this past Saturday night (March 3, 2012), which aired on the Showtime network from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, were released earlier today by the Ohio Athletic Commission. Former Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza was the chief check casher on Monday morning, with 92,000 reasons to hit the drive-up window at his local financial institution. Not far behind him was lightweight "Punk" Josh Thomson, who somehow turned shit into salad with his $80,000 payday. Showtime's leading lady and new 135-pound champion Ronday Rousey took home $32,000, which she can probably double by raffling off Miesha Tate's arm at a Columbus tricky tray. "Takedown" was beatdown, but still got a pretty penny with $19,000 simoleons. That's not all. The complete list of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" salaries and payouts (via MMA Fighting) after the jump: Ronda Rousey: $32,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus)Miesha Tate: $19,000Rousey def. Tate via submission (armbar) Josh Thomson: $80,000 (no win bonus)K.J. Noons: $38,000Thomson def. Noons via unanimous decision Kazuo Misaki: $50,000 (no win bonus)Paul Daley: $45,000Misaki def. Daley via unanimous decision Lumumba Sayers: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)Scott Smith: $65,000Sayers def. Smith via submission (guillotine choke) Ronaldo Souza: $92,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)Bristol Marunde: $10,000Souza def. Marunde via submission (arm-triangle choke) Sarah Kaufman: $25,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)Alexis Davis: $4,000Kaufman def. Davis via majority decision Roger Bowling: $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)Brandon Saling: $5,000Bowling def. Saling via technical knockout Pat Healy: $22,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus)Caros Fodor: $12,000Healy def. Fodor via submission (arm-triangle choke) Ryan Couture: $10,000 (no win bonus)Conor Heun: $8,000Couture def. Heun via technical knockout The total disclosed payroll for Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" was $543,500. Keep in mind the salaries listed above do not include fight bonuses, sponsorships, percentages and other unofficial payments. It also does not include deductions for expenses such as insurance, taxes, etc. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action click here and here.

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Miesha Tate and three others received indefinite medical suspensions in the aftermath of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, the Ohio Athletic Commission confirmed to MMAFighting.com on Monday. Tate, the former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, appeared to injure her left arm while defending two grisly armbar attempts during her headlining loss to Ronda Rousey. "Takedown" later revealed to MMAFighting.com that her arm was not broken, miraculously, and she was awaiting further MRI results to discover the extent of the damage. Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, and undercard participants Roger Bowling and Conor Heun also received indefinite suspensions for various hand injuries. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey took place Saturday, March 3, 2012 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and aired live on Showtime and Showtime Extreme. Additionally, PRIDE veteran Kazuo Misaki received a 45-day suspension due to minor facial damage, and Pat Healy, Alexis Davis, and Brandon Saling each received 30-day suspensions for assorted injuries. The official Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey medical suspension report can be read below: Miesha Tate: Indefinite suspension - elbow injuryRonaldo Souza: Indefinite suspension - hand injuryRoger Bowling: Indefinite suspension - hand injuryConor Heun: Indefinite suspension - hand injuryKazuo Misaki: 45 days - facial lacerationPat Healy: 30 days - head lacerationAlexis Davis: 30 days - facial lacerationBrandon Saling: 30 days - precautionary reasons

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The Ohio Athletic Commission released the salary information for Saturday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card, and the top earners were Ronaldo Souza and Josh Thomson. The main event winner and new women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey finished just seventh in terns of payout, but still made a healthy $32,000 for her win over Meisha Tate. Not bad for her fifth career fight. Here's the full breakdown of salaries for the event: Ronda Rousey: $32,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) Miesha Tate: $19,000 Josh Thomson: $80,000 (no win bonus) K.J. Noons: $38,000 Kazuo Misaki: $50,000 (no win bonus) Paul Daley: $45,000 Lumumba Sayers: $10,000 ($5,000 win bonus) Scott Smith: $65,000 Ronaldo Souza: $92,000 ($22,000) win bonus) Bristol Marunde: $10,000 Sarah Kaufman: $25,000 (i$10,000 win bonus) Alexis Davis: $4,000 Roger Bowling: $16,000 ($8,000 win bonus) Brandon Saling: $5,000 Pat Healy: $22,500 ($5,000 win bonus) Caros Fodor: $12,000 Ryan Couture: $10,000 (no win bonus) Conor Heun: $8,000SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

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The OAC has released the fighter payouts for Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey.” Keep in mind, these figures represent the base contracted pay the fighter receives from the promotion. These figures do not include any additional bonuses or sponsorship money, which in many cases exceeds a fighter’s base pay. These numbers also do not account for taxes, insurance, and license fees. Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza led the pack with a $92,000 payday. Josh Thomson was close behind with $80,000 followed by Scott Smith with $65,000 and Kazuo Misaki with $50,000. Meanwhile, Strikeforce certainly got a lot of bang for their buck in the main event. Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, who did a great job selling the show, only made off with disclosed $19,000 and $32,000 paydays. Hopefully they got a little extra in the form of undisclosed bonuses for their stellar performances both in and out of the cage. Payouts Courtesy of MMA Junkie: Ronda Rousey: $32,000 ($15k + $17k win bonus) Miesha Tate: $19,000 Josh Thomson: $80,000 (no win bonus) K.J. Noons: $38,000 Kazuo Misaki: $50,000 (no win bonus) Paul Daley: $45,000 Lumumba Sayers: $10,000 ($5k + $5k) Scott Smith: $65,000 Ronaldo Souza: $92,000 ($70k + $22k) Bristol Marunde: $10,000 Sarah Kaufman: $25,000 ($15k + $10k) Alexis Davis: $4,000 Roger Bowling: $16,000 ($8k + $8k) Brandon Saling: $5,000 Pat Healy: $22,500 ($17.5k + $5k) Carlos Fodor: $12,000 Ryan Couture: $10,000 (no win bonus) Conor Heun: $8,000 Total Payout A disclosed total of $543,500 was paid out to the fighters.

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Newly crowned Strikeforce bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey may appear to have ice water running through her veins but beneath her hardened demeanor she is a human being like the rest of us. Such a notion came to light last weekend in a pre-fight interview package where Rousey spoke about her roots, specifically in regards to the impact her father had on her life despite his untimely passing when she was still in elementary school. “I was first a swimmer. I was swimming when I was six. That was the thing me and my Dad did together. I remember my dad scooping me out of bad at 4:00 AM, just throwing me in the car and driving to swim meets. He always told me, ‘You’re going to win the Olympics one day,’” Rousey explained before adding that she lost passion for it when he died a few years later. However, while Rousey gave up swimming based it wasn’t long until she was doing proverbial laps around competition on the mat after deciding to tag along with her mother, accomplished judoka Ann Maria Damars, on a visit to the gym of a friend. “When I was ten or so my mom went to go visit her old teammates who opened up schools of their own. I went and tried it one day. I still had that mindset my dad gave me that if I was going to do something I’m going to be the best in the world,” revealed Rousey, saying she immediately put it in her mind that she would one day be an Olympian herself. As time would tell she not only made it to the games but won a medal as well becoming the first American woman to do so in the sport. “I feel like everything happens for a reason because I never would have started judo if my dad hadn’t died…And this is where life has been steering me since the very beginning and this is why all these things have happened. I promised him one day I’d be the best in the world at something and I just really wish that he was here to see it.” After her success on Saturday night against Miesha Tate there’s no doubt her father would have been a proud papa, as Rousey solidified her position as one of the top 135ers in the world and possibly #1 depending on how the remainder of her 2012 unfolds. Watch the full, emotional interview below: PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

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Former Strikeforce champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza sits atop the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey fighter salaries and payroll from Columbus, Ohio.

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A nasty armbar submission courtesy of new Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey has landed former title holder Miesha Tate on indefinite suspension from the Ohio Athletic Commission.

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Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was the star attraction of the night, but former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza received the night's highest disclosed payout at $92,000. Behind Souza, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson took home a flat $80,000 for his hard-earned win over K.J. Noons. Strikeforce middleweight Scott Smith pulled in the third-highest payout of the night with $65,000 for his first-round submission loss to Lumumba Sayers. Including his win bonus, Sayers earned $10,000 for the biggest win of his career. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey took place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and was headlined by a bantamweight title clash between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. The event aired on Showtime and Showtime Extreme. MMA Fighting requested and received the disclosed payouts from the Ohio Athletic Commission. They are as follows: Ronda Rousey $32,000 (includes $17,000 win bonus) vs. Miesha Tate $19,000K.J. Noons $38,000 vs. Josh Thomson $80,000 (no win bonus)Kasou Masaki $50,000 (no win bonus) vs. Paul Daley $45,000 Lumumba Sayers $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) vs. Scott Smith $65,000Bristol Marunde $10,000 vs. Jacare Souza $92,000 (includes $22,000 win bonus)Alexis Davis $4,000 vs. Sara Kaufman $25,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)Brandon Saling $5,000 vs. Roger Bowling $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)Pat Healy $22,500 (includes $5,000 win bonus) vs. Caros Fodor $12,000Conor Heun $8,000 vs. Ryan Couture $10,000 (no win bonus)

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Former champs Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza ($92,000) and Josh Thomson ($80,000) took home the biggest paydays at this past weekend's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event. Headliners Miesha Tate ($19,000) and Ronda Rousey ($32,000) lagged behind on the event's payroll, which totaled $543,500. MMAjunkie.com today requested and received the list of official disclosed paydays from the Ohio Athletic Commission.

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The Ohio Athletic Commission has issued indefinite medical suspensions to four fighters from Saturday's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event, including headliner Miesha Tate. The Ohio Athletic Commission today confirmed the suspensions with MMAjunkie.com. In addition to Tate - who suffered an elbow injury via armbar in a title loss to Ronda Rousey - Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Roger Bowling and Conor Heun also face indefinite suspensions.

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With her nasty armbar submission victory over Miesha Tate at this weekend's Strikeforce show, new Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey established herself as the clear dominant force in Women's MMA. And for any fan of WMMA, that's an incredibly good thing. Still in it's infancy, WMMA needs a big name in order to draw in fans - it needs a so called "face of women's MMA." In the past, that role was played by Gina Carano, then Cris Cyborg. Now it's Rousey. And Rousey is a perfect candidate to fill that spot - she's an exciting and dangerous fighter. She is highly skilled. She is a charismatic interview subject. Also she's attractive. And let's be honest here - as much as we want that to not be a factor in selling WMMA, at the moment, it is. So is Rousey about to launch WMMA to new heights? I think she is, but it's not just because of her. Gina Carano had all those same attributes along with an intangible star power and she put WMMA on the map. Cyborg ripped Carano's spot away from her and managed to keep things alive despite the loss of the sport's top star. But both women had a severe shortcoming that was out of their control - no opponents. Fans cared about Carano, but her opponents never mattered until Cyborg. For Cybrog, the same was true - once the Carano fight was done, it was hard to get excited about fights with Jan Finney and Hiroko Yamanaka. Every star needs tough opposition to really pull in the fans, and, with the lone exception of the Carano vs. Cybrog fight, that's never been there for WMMA. Until now. More on Rousey vs. Tate: Why Women's MMA Belongs In The UFC Miesha Tate Vs. Ronda Rousey Full Fight Video Highlights Photo: Ronda Rousey Breaks Miesha Tate's Arm Ronda Rousey as champion is not just exciting because of her win over Tate. It's exciting for the future of her run. Take a look at these posible upcoming Rousey fights: Sarah Kaufman - The former champion is on a 3-0 run since losing the belt and looked good on Saturday. With her heavy hands, she represents a unique and exciting challenge for Rousey. Marloes Coenen - Another former champion, Coenen has not competed since losing the belt to Tate last July. She's currently back at 145 pounds and fighting outside of Strikeforce, but could easily be brought back as a viable challenger. Miesha Tate - After the war of words and the bad feelings still clearly present post-fight, there's no doubt a rematch would again draw fans in. Cris Cyborg - She's out until 2012, but imagine if Rousey runs through the division this year, then moves back up to challenge a returning Cyborg. That's a potential major fight if the cards fall into place. For the first time in the history of the sport, WMMA has a dynamic champion, and a list of exciting possible opponents lined up. And for the first time, I can honestly say I am excited to see what the next year of WMMA may hold with Ronda Rousey at the helm. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

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Miesha Tate suffered a nasty Armbar loss to new Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey this past weekend in the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. After the loss Tate stayed on the mat inside the cage for several minutes, as Rousey bent her arm in an unnatural way causing what appeared to be some sort of serious damage to the limb. However, the former title-holder has since revealed no bones were broken, though still needs to find out if any further damage was incurred and will get more testing done in the near future. “I had X-rays last night,” wrote Tate, in a message to MMAFighting. “No bones are broken, which I already knew. Other than that, I have to get an MRI to find out anything further.” Even with no broken bones, it would appear highly probable that Tate has some sort of ligament damage to the arm based on it being bent nearly completely back the wrong way by the Olympian. Medical suspensions from the show will likely be announced in the coming weeks. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

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As always, Rener and Ryron Gracie has provided us with an excellent and entertaining breakdown of the nasty submission victory from Ronda Rousey, where she dislocated Miesha Tate's arm during their Strikeforce championship bout: There were two beautiful arm bars in the UFC by TJ Waldburger and Daniel Pineda, and then March 3rd comes along and not only does the Ronda Rousey win by arm bar, but she does it in DEVASTATING fashion -- dislocating Miesha Tate's arm in the first round! Ryron and Rener break down the beautiful throw, mount transition setup and finish that Ronda used to seal the deal. Check out the video below, which has bonus footage on the Gracie's take on the classic Helio Gracie vs. Masahiko Kimura showdown from 1951: SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey More coverage of Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey: - Miesha Tate Vs. Ronda Rousey Fight Video Highlights- Photo: Ronda Rousey Breaks Miesha Tate's Arm- Strikeforce: Tate Vs. Rousey Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Ronda Rousey By Armbar

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On Saturday Strikeforce crowned a new Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Ronda Rousey took the title from Miesha Tate via an armbar that forced Tate to tap before the first round came to an end. The submission victory was Rousey’s fifth in five professional MMA fights, all coming in the first round and all coming via armbar. The armbar left Tate’s arm twisted in what can kindly be called an unnatural angle prior to her tap.  There were some that said the referee should have stepped in

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Following her fantastic submission win over Miesha Tate in the main event of Saturday's Strikeforce show, new 135-pound champion Ronda Rousey was dismissive when asked if she was going to make nice with her heated rival. Tate, however, does have one thing to hold over Rousey: she didn't break her arm. In a text to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani Sunday, Tate gave an update on her condition: "I had X-Rays last night," Tate told MMAFighting.com via text message. "No bones are broken, which I already knew. Other than that, I have to get an MRI to find out anything further." For anyone that saw the severe torque on her left arm, that news will come as a shock. The MRI could reveal other issues (ligament/muscle tears, dislocation, etc), but not having a broken arm must come as somewhat of a relief to Tate. Rousey's armbar finish was one that BE writer Ben Thapa opined might be the most brutal in MMA history. Incredibly, she has finished all of her amateur and pro fights by first round armbar submission. Now at 5-0, the 2008 Olympian will look to extend that mark in her next fight, likely to be against former champion Sarah Kaufman. For Tate (12-3), the loss was her first in three years and marks the first time she's ever been submitted. Due to a lack of divisional depth, fellow Saturday night loser Alexis Vila could make sense as her next opponent. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

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The MMA Hour is back in your life on Monday with another two-hour show. Here's a rundown of who will be stopping by: * New Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will stop by to discuss her big win over Miesha Tate. * New UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson will discuss who he wants to fight next and what life has been like as champion. * The legendary "Judo" Gene LeBell will talk about his storied career and his student, Rousey, looking impressive again. * Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia will talk about his campaign to get back in the UFC. * Sean McCorkle will return for another "McCorkle Minute" and preview his Bellator debut this weekend. * YouTube sensation Rener Gracie will discuss his popular Gracie Breakdown videos, his career and much more. We'll also look back at a jam-packed weekend in mixed martial arts. Got a question or comment? Give us a call at 1-888-418-4074. Watch the show live below beginning at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. Subscribe to The MMA Hour on iTunes: audio feed here; video feed here. Download previous episodes here. Listen to the show via Stitcher here.

Posted in: ufc, mma, mma hour, champion, rousey

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Ronda Rousey’s submission victory over Miesha Tate Saturday night in Columbus proved to the naysayers Rousey can fight just as well, if not better, than she talks. The astonishing technical display also showed experience in MMA does not compare to high-level accomplishments in the Olympics. Prior to the fight, Tate believed the superior amount of time she had training in MMA would easily trump Rousey’s single year inside the cage. A good percentage of fans and media shared Tate’s belief Rousey did not belong in the main event with a world champion so early in her MMA career and ran their mouths about it on social networking sites for the past few months. Those individuals were proven wrong last night and it is because they all downgraded a high-level Olympic pedigree in favor of 4-5 more years of MMA experience. This is a mistake typical of the MMA community that seems to be oblivious to the fact the sport is not the highest level of martial arts in the world. MMA is still evolving and has not yet reached that technical milestone there we can start comparing the athletes to those who are mastering a specific art on the Olympic level. Rousey only had four MMA fights to her name before besting Tate for the title but she competed at a high-level in Judo for many years prior to even thinking about stepping foot inside the cage. At the young age of 17, Rousey won a gold medal at the 2004 World Judo Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary. In 2006, Rousey became the first female athlete from the United States to win an A-Level tournament taking home the gold at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain. “Rowdy” Ronda was merely 19 years old when she captured the Bronze Medal at the Junior World Championships and she became the first American athlete ever to win two Junior World medals. The pinnacle of her Judo career was in 2008 when she was awarded a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in women’s Judo since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992. Tate, fans, media, and even other fighters failed to respect Rousey’s abilities and are mpw all enjoying a piping hot piece of humble pie for their efforts. Rousey is the perfect example of what a young Olympic martial artist having competed at a high-level can accomplish in MMA. This isn’t to say that every Olympic judoka, wrestler, or boxer could dominate in the cage because obviously there are many variables that come into play in an MMA fight that these athletes are not used to dealing with in their specific art. An Olympic wrestler would put MMA fighters on their backs with relative ease but defending submissions would be a new ball game to them. The same goes for an Olympic boxer, as their punching technique and footwork would be far superior to the average MMA fighter but would find themselves flopping around like a fish out of water if action hit the mat. Even a phenomenal Olympic judoka could be in a tremendous amount of danger if they are stuck in a striking exchange with a well-rounded fighter in the cage. MMA is a sport dominated by athletes who are good at all areas meaning even if you excel at one specific art you can still be defeated by an average fighter. On the contrary, a world-class Olympic competitor who has dedicated themselves to MMA will have a higher percentage of becoming a world champion than any other fighter in the world. Again, I point to the new Strikeforce bantamweight champ as the example; Rousey evolved herself from a Bronze Medal Judoka into a well-rounded MMA fighter without losing touch with her base. Also, you may have heard of a few other Olympians who have done well in the cage – Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson for example. Rising star Sara McMann, a silver medalist wrestler in 2004 who is 5-0 in MMA, is also another name to consider. That is the key – to develop an understanding of all aspects of MMA and learn how to tie those puzzle pieces together to further strengthen your base. Rousey has done that and she is only going to improve with time. Hopefully this will cause an influx of more Olympic caliber competitors to jump into the cage to help the sport evolve even more from a technical standpoint. Tate was a great champion and is a fantastic fighter but it was foolish to overlook an Olympic medalist and likely a mistake few fighters will ever make again. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: world, mma, fighter, olympic, rousey

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Strikeforce returned to Showtime this past Saturday night (March 3, 2012) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, featuring Ronda Rousey breaking out another armbar to win the women's 135-pound championship, much to the dismay of her opponent, Miesha Tate, who walked away with a mangled arm. Not broken, as it turns out, but mangled nonetheless. Josh Thomson scored a unanimous decision victory over K.J. Noons in the co-main event of the evening. He'll likely move on to a championship bout against Gilbert Melendez to complete their trilogy. Other action on the card saw Kazuo Misaki beat Paul Daley at his own game, Lumumba Sayers easily dispose of Scott Smith, and Ronaldo Souza blow by Bristol Marunde. In case you missed any of the bone crunching action -- or just want to relive it -- below are links to all the major storylines borne from Saturday night's event. Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" Results and live fight coverage Recap and morning after discussion Post-fight press conference Event photos gallery Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey full fight video highlights "Prelims" results and recap Fight recap: Ronaldo Souza taps out Bristol Marunde Fight recap: Lumumba Sayers destroys Scott Smith in short order Fight recap: Kazuo Misaki squeaks past Paul Daley Fight recap: Josh Thomson wins "shit" decision over K.J. Noons Fight recap: Ronda Rousey wrecks Miesha Tate's arm to win bantamweight title Fight review and analysis: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Fight review and analysis: Josh Thomson vs. K.J. Noons Fight review and analysis: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey Strikeforce post-fight fallout Big winners and lowly losers An open love letter to Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey details how she submitted Miesha Tate Watch a gif of Ronda Rousey destroying Miesha Tate's arm Look at a pic of Miesha Tate's arm and elbow bent at an angle it wasn't meant to Luckily for Miesha Tate, she didn't get her arm broken by Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate's brawl was a big win for women's MMA What's next for Ronda Rousey? Ronda Rousey has the title but Sarah Kaufman is going to beat it back from her Miesha Tate lost her bantamweight belt but won a Mania sexiness battle What's the difference between a good game plan and being boring? Josh Thomson won the fight but was disappointed to here the fans boo If Josh Thomson fights Gilbert Melendez, it should be "El Nino's" last with Strikeforce Ronaldo Souza suffered a broken hand against Bristol Marunde Scott Smith is the Arturo Gatti of MMA Brandon Saling's ugly criminal past comes to light, along with his neo-nazi tattoos Hey Strikeforce, how about no more Nazi sex offenders, huh? Dana White no longer involved with Strikeforce And there you have it, my friends. What was the biggest story coming out of the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event?

Posted in: fight, tate, miesha, rousey, ronda

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The sport of women's MMA has been looking for their Jordan, their Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Did the sport just find it in new Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey?

Posted in: ronda rousey, womens mma, rousey, ronda, jackie joynerkersee

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Rener and Ryron Gracie break down the jiu-jitsu techniques Ronda Rousey used to dislocate Miesha Tate’s elbow and win her the Strikeforce bantamweight championship at Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey.” As always, it’s an excellent technical analysis for anyone interested in learning about the jiu-jitsu techniques the top fighters use in the cage. Gracie breakdown archive HT: Gracie University

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, gracie, fighters use, rousey

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Gracie Breakdown: Rousey vs. Tate Promoted to Front Page by T.P. Grant

Posted in: breakdown, tate, front page, grant, rousey

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Good news for Team "Takedown." Although Miesha Tate lost the women's bantamweight championship to Ronda Rousey by way of submission (armbar) at last night's (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce event in Ohio, the damage done to her arm isn't as bad as originally thought. Initially, it appeared as though her arm was broken thanks to the nasty angle Rousey had it bent (evidence here) and the fact that she was unable to move it immediately following the contest. However, she tells MMAFighting.com x-rays came back negative for a fracture: "I had X-Rays last night. No bones are broken, which I already knew. Other than that, I have to get an MRI to find out anything further." At the very least it looked as though she may have suffered a dislocated elbow but now it seems entirely possible she will have escaped her encounter with the "Rowdy" arm wrangler with all her limbs intact and operational. Ligament damage is possible, which would, of course, be bad, but all told, this is good news for the former champion. Mostly because the road to recovery won't be as long as it could have been. For her arm at least. No word on her ego. Check out complete coverage of the Tate vs. Rousey match-up after the jump. Complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results Ronda Rousey breaks Miesha Tate's arm to win title (We thought she did at the time) Picture of Miesha Tate's mangled arm GIF of Miesha Tate getting her arm all mangled Ronda Rousey details how she armbarred Miesha Tate An open love letter to Ronda Rousey Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey fight review and analysis Rousey and Tate score big win for women's MMA with Showtime brawl Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey full fight video highlights Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey event photos gallery Miesha Tate wins the sexiness battle but loses the war For everything else you need to know about the bout between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey check out our complete fight archive right here.

Posted in: tate, arm, miesha, rousey, ronda

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Miesha Tate's arm is surely hurting like hell today following her submission loss to Ronda Rousey at last night's (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce event in Ohio but it's not all bad. She may have lost her women's bantamweight championship belt but she was crowned the winner of the one and only MMAmania.com sexiness battle. She beat out Rousey by a mere 33 votes. Judge Thomas Myers, who oversaw the proceedings, came in third. Here are the unofficial results: Tate: 574 votes Rousey: 541 votes Judge Myers: 69 votes

Posted in: vote, ronda rousey, submission loss, rousey, hell today

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Amazingly, Miesha Tate didn't suffer any broken bones in her left arm following Saturday night's gruesome loss via armbar to Ronda Rousey. "I had X-Rays last night," Tate told MMAFighting.com via text message. "No bones are broken, which I already knew. Other than that, I have to get an MRI to find out anything further." Tate, the now former Strikeforce bantamweight champion, wouldn't elaborate on when she'll find out what kind of shape her arm is in and when she'll back to 100 percent. According to a Strikeforce official Saturday night, the early thought was that she had at least damaged ligaments in her arm. Rousey submitted Tate via armbar at 4:27 of the first round but only after Tate refused to tap for several seconds, which led to her arm seemingly bending backwards. A similar scenario played out in the first minute of the fight, but Tate was able to escape that submission attempt. Following the tapout, Tate remained on the canvas for several seconds and was unable to move her left arm in the cage after the fight. The win improved Rousey's professional record to 5-0, with all five wins coming via first-round armbar. Tate's record dropped to 12-3.

Posted in: fight, tate, arm, armbar, rousey

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Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" took place last night (Sat., March 3, 2012) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, featuring Ronda Rousey breaking out another armbar to win the women's 135-pound championship, much to the dismay of her opponent, Miesha Tate, who walked away with a broken arm or a dislocated elbow. Either way, her arm is jacked up. Josh Thomson scored a unanimous decision victory over K.J. Noons in the co-main event of the evening. Or at least I think he did. I may or may not have fallen asleep and dreamt of more exciting affairs, like watching grass grow or paint dry. Other action on the card saw Kazuo Misaki beat Paul Daley at his own game, Lumumba Sayers easily dispose of Scott Smith, and Ronaldo Souza blow by Bristol Marunde. A photo gallery is available for your viewing pleasure after the jump. For complete results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here, here and here. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Lumumba Sayers vs. Scott Smith Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun

Posted in: vs, tate, miesha, bristol marunde, rousey

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submitted by killzy707 [link] [6 comments]

Posted in: breakdown, killzy, tate, rousey, ronda

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I've always been on the fence with women's MMA. Yes, I understood that for females, establishing for themselves a sport that can come close to the approximation of men's MMA would simply take time. But it never meant I had to enjoy it. Female MMA always tended to be too raw for my liking. I never approached female MMA from the perspective that "women shouldn't be doing this". Instead I just found the mechanics to be crude. Like a Leonard Garcia fight, there was a noticeable lack of grace. But not last night. The females were the stars. Sarah Kaufman put on a fantastic performance against a very game Alexis Davis. But it wasn't a "good fight in the context of women's MMA". It was just a good fight. Kaufman's boxing is better than most men, and certainly better than a neo-nazi's. And then there was the main event. The numbers of viewers won't reflect it, but Ronda Rousey is absolutely a star. All the ingredients are there. She's a world class talent. And here the words "world class" have meaning beyond "happens to fight in the UFC". The way she's able to transition so quickly from takedown to positioning for a submission, or sliding right into mount...these are traits we don't even get from some of our "P4P" kings. Rousey just "gets" MMA. There's a brilliance to her game that reveals itself in the way she transitions. In understanding that each shift from one phase to the next is an opportunity. And that a takedown can be a sequence rather than a precession. Of course, it doesn't hurt that she gives lively, candid interviews that never come across as insincere (as they do with someone like Chael Sonnen), or that she's attractive. And given everyone's love of Nick Diaz, she probably earned some brownie points from fans who love seeing a grudge that isn't manufactured, as was evident in her dismissal of Tate's injuries. Speaking of the former champ, Miesha Tate deserves praise as well. I'm not sure she fought the best gameplan (she seemed intent on getting the fight to the ground rather than separating and striking with Rousey at distance, who is still clearly lacking in that regard), but she wasn't afraid to threaten Rousey with her own grappling prowess. Except for her boyfriend's behavior, Tate has nothing to be ashamed of. SBN Coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey And that's why last night was a game changer. There's a narrative moving forward. Rousey vs. Kaufman is a compelling fight, and I'm just as interested in seeing how Miesha Tate rebounds. By now I should probably explain the ‘why' (women deserve to be in the UFC), but to me the question is ‘why not?' Women's MMA might seem barren after a few "superfights", the critics might argue, but how is this any different from the UFC's flyweight division? The benefit of a platform like the UFC is that it draws the world's best to be in one place. Without the UFC, we never would have had Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson underneath the same roof. Or Urushitani for that matter, who is still a valuable fighter despite the emphatic loss to Joseph Benavidez. It's not like women's MMA doesn't have a corollary. Sara McMann has an Olympic medal that's just a wee bit shinier than Ronda's. While McMann may not be ready now, the potential is there, and already we know a bit more about how she handles pressure (McMann got into a fairly wild fight with Raquel Pa-aluhi). I wouldn't expect the chances to be high on the UFC accepting women's MMA. But if we want to draw out the prospects, the foreigners, and the stars all in one place (and therefore give women the best measure of their abilities), it's the only chance they've got. And I think Rousey, Tate, Kaufman, and Davis proved they deserve that chance. The purpose of the UFC's existence is to display world class fighters. If someone like Ronda Rousey isn't in the UFC, while someone like Aaron Rosa is, then I have to consider that more than a modest injustice. Poll Does female MMA belong in the UFC? Yes No   16 votes | Results

Posted in: ufc, mma, women, womens mma, rousey

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I am simultaneously disgusted and fully engorged.   Starting chronologically, epic staredown.   Rousey wanting to rip out Androl's ovaries after a horribly phrased question which included the term "one trick pony"   The first takedown and guard pass.   ~much more after the break, including highlights from some of the other main card fights~   read more

Posted in: vs, guard, rousey, pony, androls ovaries

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UFC President Dana White has expressed a reluctance to involve the UFC with women's MMA. That's largely due to how thin the talent pool is among women. White's apprehension is prudent and while regrettable, the right call. While that may keep women out of the UFC for the foreseeable future, the scarcity of talent in women's MMA is not entirely a bad thing. The rise of Ronda Rousey is proof. The truth is the thinness cuts both ways. Women's MMA is not as developed as it could be. There aren't nearly as many competitors among the female ranks as there are among the men, skilled or otherwise. That creates a host of difficulties from creating fights to treating contenders properly to even generating any interest at all. There is, however, a good side to the situation: the thin divisions leave open a window for talented, marketable opportunists who can lift the entire sport. Dave Meltzer ably made this point about the state of today's men's MMA. In short, Meltzer argued there is never going to be another 'Brock Lesnar'. What does that mean? Meltzer argues there's never going to be another crossover star from a related combat sport who can enter MMA and within a few fights, have success at the true, highest level of the game. There are three key reasons for this. First, the men's game is too evolved at this point. A talented wrestler, judoka or other combat athlete can probably find some success or have a decent career, but the quality of athlete and MMA best practices are advanced enough that top mastery in one aspect of MMA is plainly insufficient to earn a UFC title. Second, many of the former collegiate wrestlers who would've chosen professional wrestling or Olympic glory in the absence of MMA now flock to the sport directly after college. Lesnar himself admitted had MMA existed as it does today when he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2000, he never would've joined the ranks of the WWE. That means these athletes don't take a circuitous route after college that could end up building their popularity as it did for Lesnar. Now they go right into MMA. Consider recent standouts like Phil Davis, Bubba Jenkins and Chad Mendes (among many others) as evidence. But what about Olympic crossovers, wrestlers or judokas? Can't they do what Lesnar did? It's unlikely, and that's where the third reason comes into play. By the time they've accomplished the highest level of achievement in their sport and earned some notoriety (or built up a marketable background), they won't have the time to really develop the skills necessary to compete at the highest levels. If those athletes show some measure of aptitude, promoters will be eager to push them against the elite of the division on an accelerated timeline. That may not give them time to properly mature their game or steel their psychological preparedness. It's not a foregone conclusion these crossover athletes will fail to rise to the occasion, but it's a hugely risky proposition to push them so quickly. Satoshi Ishii's pathetic decline is the sort of career mishandling and promotional malpractice that should make promoters think twice about how they groom blue chip prospects. Consider amateur wrestling's two best potential crossovers who've expressed interest in mixed martial arts: Jordan Burroughs and Henry Cejudo. Cejudo's chances for success are better. He's got at least some background in boxing and would ostensibly enter the UFC's flyweight division. He's hugely marketable, speaks fluent Spanish and has natural promotional instincts. But will he really have the skills to dominate division stalwarts like Ian McCalls or Joseph Benavidez? I'm not so sure. Burroughs could make an impact at lightweight or welterweight, but again, just how much is unclear. He has what is widely regarded as the best double leg takedown among active American wrestlers, but admitted he's worried about being hit. He'll likely have some success, but it's fair to doubt whether he'll be able to make a splash like Lesnar did at heavyweight or Rousey is doing at bantamweight. It's true the opening Rousey is taking advantage of means women's MMA has a lot of growth and development to do. And it's virtually impossible to argue it wouldn't be preferable to have women's divisions fully populated with talent. Sure, the barriers to entry would be tough to get through, but you'd have cleaner hierarchy, higher participatory rates and a naturally stronger sport. In other words, you'd have what men's MMA enjoys today. In the interim, though, there's a lot of open spacing. It's also not going away tomorrow. Given the limitations women's MMA currently faces, is it so bad Ronda Rousey can sneak through and cause a stir? She has one hell of a story, a marketable look and can legitimately defeat her best peers (for now, anyway). Her uniqueness gives a wide swathe of the curious public a reason to pay attention. And because there aren't a lot of other distractions among her female contemporaries, her star can shine very bright. That's not the best of all possibilities for women's MMA, but it makes the current predicament a lot better. I, for one, will take it.

Posted in: mma, women, athlete, womens mma, rousey

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Hear from new women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, Josh Thomson, Lumumba Sayers and Sarah Kaufman following their fights at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on Saturday in Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, sarah kaufman

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Ronda Rousey won another fight by brutal armbar but in dethroning Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate she proved she's more than a one-trick pony.

Posted in: strikeforce, brydon, ronda rousey, rousey, pony

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Last night’s Strikeforce title-fight between bantamweights Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate lived up to fans’ expectations by delivering a fast-paced, entertaining bout between two rivals with a brutal finish to boot. As fans saw, Rousey latched on to Tate’s arm in the closing minute of the fight’s first frame and torqued it violently to force a tap-out. Shortly after winning Tate’s belt with an opening round Armbar the new champ spoke with ShoSports where she elaborated on her victory as well as what’s next for her. A Detailed Breakdown of Action from Rousey vs. Tate “I was expecting anything – I was expecting five rounds or one round. She really impressed me with how she savvy she was on the ground with her defense,” the 25-year old explained on her preparation for the main event match-up. “I expected her to come out swinging. That’s part of the reason why I tried to get in her head so much before the fight because I feel like if you challenge someone’s womanhood or manhood they tend to be a lot less tentative and tactical with their matches. They tend to fight more with their ego, with their emotions, than with strategy.” In terms of who she’ll likely make her initial title-defense against, Rousey remained open to suggestion and put it in the hands of the public (as well as her bosses at Zuffa). “Whatever the fans want. Fans want to see a rematch or they want to see me fight Sarah Kaufman next or whatever…I’m game. That’s my job. I’m the champ now,” Rousey stated, also mentioning she had her mind on something else in the more-immediate future…buffalo wings! Watch the full interview with Rousey below: PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: fight, fan, tate, rousey, miesha tate

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Rundown of Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” post-fight news and notes… — Following recent proclamations that he was going to personally take control of Strikeforce and turn it into a UFC-level promotion, Dana White has completely stepped away from the organization and declared himself “100% UFC.” And no, he doesn’t sound happy about it. In response to a fan request on Twitter to make changes to the Strikeforce announcing team, Dana sounded more like a rival promoter than a partial owner exclaiming that Showtime “runs that shit” and he’s “out.” So what happened? Well, according to Dana, Showtime decided not to implement the tweaks to the production that he suggested and they didn’t even have the courtesy to call him directly to tell him. “I almost missed the first UFC fight in 11 years, and then I get the phone call from Pete Dropick when I’m in Japan,” White said. “‘Yeah, listen, they’re not going to change pretty much any of the stuff you wanted.’ So I said, ‘[Expletive] them.’ You flew out to Las Vegas and wasted my time. Go talk your boxing [expletive] to somebody else.” “These guys are letting a D-level producer run their organization, and that’s exactly what I told Espinoza,” White said. “You want to let a D-level producer run your organization? Go for it brother. Knock yourself out. I’ve got [expletive] to do. I’ve got another job.” Despite his animosity towards Showtime at the moment, Dana says they still have every intention of honoring their contractual obligations to Showtime. He also says Strikeforce will “never suck” as long they own it, so while Dana won’t be personally involved with Strikeforce, the promotion isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. — It seems Miesha Tate and her boyfriend Bryan Caraway took all the pre-fight trash talk a little more personally that Ronda Rousey did. After the weigh-ins Friday night, Caraway got a little carried away on Twitter saying that if Ronda “wants to challenge a man I’ll knock her teeth dwn her throat the break her arm!” Predictably, Caraway was then bombarded by the angry Twitter mob and spent the rest of night trying to explain that he wasn’t advocating inter-gender violence and was merely trying to say that women can’t compete with men athletically. Nevertheless, it was a dumb thing to say and ended up blowing up in his face. Moreover, it didn’t even have it’s intended effect on Rousey. She explained at the post-fight press conference that she found the whole thing quite humorous. “[Caraway] and Miesha were up all night tweeting and trying to defend themselves, and it was all over the front page of MMA.tv, and me and my friend and my mom were just sitting there laughing that they’re stressed out and tweeting all night, and we’re like, eating trail mix and watching ‘The Fifth Element.’” “People have to realize about Twitter, it’s not just chatter,” she said. “You’re constantly releasing written statements that even if you delete it right away, it’s out there. “So people (such as Caraway) have to think a little bit more before they say something sexist like that. Because I was like, ‘Dude, you ever heard of (tennis player) Billy Jean King?’ I mean, who says that? That’s my comment. Tweet it.” While it’s doubtful that Rousey and Tate will ever become BFF’s, Rousey did give Tate props after she broke her arm for being a “tough chick.” “She’s a tough chick,” Rousey said of the former champ. “That hurts. I’ve had my elbow dislocated before, and that’s no fun. But the rule is in judo that even if it’s dislocated, and they don’t tap, you’ve got to keep going. I don’t think the referee should be criticized for not stopping it because those are the rules I’m used to.” — With the Strikeforce bantamweight title in hand and the Tate rivalry behind her, it’s time to look towards her next challenge. Who that will be isn’t set in stone, but it could be former bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman made it clear in her post-fight interview that she wants the title shot, but realizes that she may not get it. “I’ve been told before my next fight is a title fight and it didn’t happen,” Kaufman told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the bout. “At this stage of the game, it is saying what I believe and making sure the fans know what I know, and that they want the same things I do.” I would say the chances are pretty good mainly do to a lack of depth in the division. If not Kaufman, who else would Rousey fight? — Josh Thomson was pretty down on himself following his win over KJ Noons last night. It wasn’t the most exciting performance of his career and that really bothered him. He made it clear after the fight that he wants to entertain the fans first and foremost. “People don’t pay hard-earned money to watch that, especially in this economy,” an emotional Thomson said following “Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey.” “They pay for people to go out there and show their talent.” “We got the ‘W’ – that was the important thing,” Thomson said. “But I can tell you know you guys will never see me fight like that again.” “This is the entertainment business, not the boring business,” he said. It’s unclear what’s next for Thomson, but it could very well be a rubber match against Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. — A little controversy erupted online last night when it discovered that preliminary fighter Brandon Saling had neo-Nazi tattoos and an criminal record as a sex offender. Strikeforce said they were unaware of either when they signed Saling and only learned of it last night during the show. They do however find the tattoos to be unacceptable and said the Ohio commission will be launching an investigation into Saling this week. “We had no knowledge about that until someone brought it up to us this evening,” Coker said of Saling’s background. “It came to our attention during the course of the fights.” “They’re going to launch a full investigation on Monday,” he said. “So that’s where that’s at. As far as you guys know, the policy for Strikeforce and the UFC is that kind of body art, offensive behavior, (and) offensive art is not going to be allowed. “So that’s something we went to the athlete (with). He responded, and we’re going to investigate further and see what the truth is.” According to the OAC’s Bernie Profato, Saling could face a potential suspension pending the outcome of the investigation. Image via Rey Del Rio for FOXSports.com

Posted in: fight, night, strikeforce, tate, rousey

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Hear from preliminary card winners Ryan Couture, Pat Healy, and Roger Bowling following their fights at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on Saturday in Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, roger bowling

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Entering last night’s headlining bout at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey it seemed improbable unbeaten Olympic medalist Ronda Rousey would finish Miesha Tate in the opening round of action let alone with an Armbar. Tate, the more-experienced Mixed Martial Artist, had not only prepared specifically to avoid the technique based on Rousey’s past success with it but had also never been submitted in her career. However, when things were said and done “Rowdy” Ronda did indeed pick up her fifth first-round stoppage via Armbar in five total fights and badly injured Tate’s limb in the process after the former bantamweight champion initially refused to tap out. Showtime/Strikeforce have since released a video featuring highlights from Rousey’s title-winning performance giving fans a chance to either see the judoka’s mastery at work again or for the first time if they weren’t able to tune in to the show. Check out the clip below (and let the squeamish be warned): PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: tate, rousey, miesha tate, rousey ’s, weren ’t

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On March 2, 2012, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) kicked off their flyweight tournament as UFC on FX 2 made the journey to the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia, for an evening of mixed martial arts (MMA) fireworks. Though the 125-pounders were main attraction, they weren't the headlining act. That distinction went to a welterweight match up between Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann that ended up in a result that left everyone a little surprised. The following night (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce invaded the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, with a smashing night of fights in the form of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey." It was a pretty decent fight card, top to bottom, and finished the night with a women's championship bout that will have the MMA community buzzing for weeks to come. Come with me after the jump where we'll examine what's next for the big weekend winners, Martin Kampmann and Ronda Rousey: Martin Kampmann has a had a career marked by lots of ups and downs. One second, he's a top contender that everyone needs to look out for. The next? He's coming up just short to other fighters who end up passing him by to get title shots or main event headline gigs. He's a tough guy. No one would argue that. But it just seems like he can never quite get it together enough to climb over that last hump that stands between him and a title shot. With all that considered, Kampmann's victory on Friday night over Thiago Alves was entirely fitting. For over two rounds, Kampmann was getting outstruck. Though he was not getting manhandled, by any stretch, he was losing the fight. When the fight ended, he was probably 48 seconds away from losing a decision to his opponent. None of that matters anymore and was all for naught, when Alves incorrectly dove in for a takedown, thinking he had hurt Kampmann with a combination and could possibly finish him off. He might have been right. Kampmann may have been legitimately shook up, but Alves should have been nowhere near Kampmann's ground game, especially at that juncture of the fight. Kudos to "The Hitman" for keeping himself composed and taking advantage of the opportunity in front of him by choking out Alves and notching a great comeback victory. So, what's next for Kampmann? There are a ton of options. Several welterweights who are currently without dance partners are Jake Shields, Rick Story and Diego Sanchez. The problem is that Kampmann's already fought all three of them. I'm not a big fan of rematches unless they're for a good reason. I'm not sure that's the case here. Jake Ellenberger is without an opponent, and that would be an interesting match up, but it's likely that "The Juggernaut" is going to get a more high-profile adversary for his next bout. That leaves me with two names: Dong Hyun Kim and and Stephen Thompson. "The Stung Gun" brings it every time. We'd see fireworks, for sure. This is the pairing (of the two) that probably makes more sense. The "fantasy match up" here is Martin Kampmann vs. Stephen Thompson. I know, "Wonderboy" has only fought once inside the Octagon. But it was a really impressive debut and Kampmann hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire. Make Kampmann play gatekeeper. If he wins, give him a top five guy. If he loses, it's re-evaluation time. I also don't believe it would be devastating for Thompson or his career if he were to lose. Kampmann is a reputable name. If Thompson loses but is able to hang in there with him, it's a victory. Time will tell. The build up to the fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey was downright mean-spirited. These ladies did not like each other and they were willing to make this known to anyone with a camera and a microphone. The fight itself did not disappoint, unless you're a Tate fan, that is. The first few minutes of the championship bout saw some decent striking, good transitioning and, finally, a nasty armbar submission from the new Women's Bantamweight Champion, Ronda Rousey. What's next for "Rowdy?" Right now, she's pretty much ruling the world, at least from a women's fighting perspective. She looks fairly unbeatable. The real tragedy is that "Cyborg" Cristiane Santos is out of action and will be for awhile due to her getting popped for steroid use. That fight can't happen, so in the interim, it looks like we're going to see Rousey defend her belt against Sarah Kaufman, the former Bantamweight Champion before Marloes Coenen took her belt on Oct. 9, 2010, in San Jose, Calif. It's an interesting match up, because Kaufman is a striker who poses problems for Rousey on the feet. But can she keep the fight standing? There's the rub. Kaufman has only lost once, but do you remember how it happened? That's right. It was at the hands of a Marloes Coenen armbar. That does not bode well for Kaufman, and I can tell you one thing: If this fight gets signed, she better commit the next several months of her life to submission defense. Otherwise, she's going to have to learn how to live with one arm for a while. If she needs pointers, I'm sure Miesha Tate will be able to help her out. What do you Maniacs think? Who is the best potential match up for Martin Kampmann? Do you think Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman has potential to be a competitive fight? Sound off! For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. Undercard recap and wrap-up here. Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate full fight video highlights from last night's main event on Showtime here.

Posted in: fight, tate, kampmann, rousey, ronda

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey delivered an action-packed line-up tonight from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Proving that she was more than just an inexperienced pretty face, Ronda Rousey secured her fifth consecutive submission victory in the headlining bout, dethroning Miesha Tate to capture the Women's Bantamweight title. Despite surviving a noticeably painful first attempt by Rousey, Tate was forced to tap in the waning moments of the opening round when a second gut-wrenching armbar was

Posted in: tate, opening round, submission victory, rousey, columbus ohio

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Video highlights from the Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” post-fight press conference via MMA Fighting and Strikeforce.

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Video highlights of the Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” main event between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

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Did you miss last night's Strikeforce women's bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey? Get caught up with Showtime's highlights video.

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Strikeforce's second show of 2012 is in the books with another great performance from the women. In the main event Ronda Rousey continued her streak of breaking bones when she snapped Miesha Tate's arm and forced the former champion to tap. The night wasn't without controversy as it was discovered that prelim fighter Brandon Saling has an extremely questionable past including but not limited to: neo-nazi tattoos and a history of sexual misconduct. There will obviously be more on this topic later today and this upcoming week but for now let's take a look at the biggest winners and losers at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. WINNERS Ronda Rousey: Ronda Rousey is a beast. The fact that she tells you to your face what she's going to do and then does it is the craziest thing. She talked a lot to hype of the fight which can put her in an awkward situation had she lost. She didn't though. Instead she added another arm to her trophy case. Also coming out to Joan Jett "Bad Reputation" was in the top five best walk outs. I'd shake her hand and congratulate her but I'm afraid she'll just armbar me. Super impressive win. Kazuo Misaki: Dropping down to welterweight was a great decision for Misaki. He made Paul Daley look like an amateur striker and kept pressuring. If there is a knock against him, it's that he gave up the takedown easily when Daley's entire game plan was to try and lay and pray to a decision. I wouldn't mind seeing Misaki vs Jason High in the future. Lumumba Sayers: I was pretty hard on Lumumba Sayers because I just didn't think he had the overall skills to compete at the top level. Up until the Antwain Britt fight he never demonstrated punching power and just seemed to be a guy who was on his way to washing out of Strikeforce. Instead he does a pro wrestling style suplex and finished Scott Smith with a beautiful guillotine. I'm not sure if Lumumba Sayers "is for real" but he sure is entertaining. Sarah Kaufman: Sarah entered the cage and fought like a woman who wanted to prove that she deserved a shot at the title. I can't remember her ever having that kind of output when striking but she was throwing combinations for the entire fight. The only negative was the last round when Davis had her in trouble but a win is a win and Kaufman will be getting the next shot at Rousey. Alexis Davis: I know what you're thinking, how can she be a winner when she lost her fight? Easily if you saw the gutsy performance she put on. She could have cracked mentally in the first and second round when the doctors inspected her cut but she stayed in the fight and almost pulled off the win in the third. Maybe a fight with Tate when her arm finally heals? Losers and other thoughts after the jump... SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey LOSERS Miesha Tate: On the flip side, Miesha Tate tried playing a promotional game at the weigh ins when she got in Ronda's face. Then when Ronda responded she asked for her to get fined. Add to that her boyfriend's misogynistic tweets and Tate had a lot to prove. Unfortunately, the only thing she proved is that her arm breaks just like everyone else's and that she really should have trained for the armbar. Josh Thomson: Well at least he knows that was an awful fight. K.J. Noons: See Josh Thomson. Paul Daley: Paul Daley's performance last night was a first for MMA. It was the first time that a striker fell in love with his wrestling. Fans often complain about wrestlers showing off their awful stand up and they got to see what happens when a striker tried to wrestle. I'm sure the losses in his career made him think "If Tyron Woodley and Josh Koscheck can do it, so can I" but that wasn't the case. Because Paul Daley lost. Also, a Brit winning with wrestling? That'll be the day. Scott Smith: Am I the only one that is now getting really depressed watching Scott Smith fight? I can't be the only one. I don't know what he's going to do but at this point he shouldn't be fighting. His mechanics are slowed to a crawl and he's essentially getting paid to lose. If you're a fighter you shouldn't want to be in that role. Stop fighting and find something else because your career is depressing me. Brandon Saling: You're a fucking loser. I'm not even talking about your loss to Roger Bowling. I'm saying you, Brandon Saling, are a loser. That you were even given the opportunity to fight shows that someone either at Showtime, Strikeforce, or the Ohio Commission really screwed up. I don't ever want to see this guy fight again and he didn't deserve that referee stoppage. What an awful human. Strikeforce/Showtime/Ohio Athletic Commission: I said it above but who the hell made the decision to allow Brandon Saling to fight? I'm not only disgusted that he's a neo-nazi with an 88 tattoo surrounded by SS bolts but he and a friend allegedly raped a 13 year old girl. How the hell does no one do a google search and say "no fucking way"? All three parties need to rectify this situation because they've allowed a legitimate scumbag to fight on a national card. OTHER THOUGHTS Pat Healy was very impressive. I know that Strikeforce is dead set on Melendez/Thomson III but if we're basing the title shots on performances, Healy should be fighting for the title. In my opinion he creates an interesting match up with Gilbert Melendez based on his grinding style and toughness. Hopefully he's get a shot soon because I enjoy watching him fight. Jacare did what he needed to do. Bristol Marunde wasn't brought in to win. Nice win by Jacare, it's obvious he used the fight to test out his stand up. Ryan Couture continues to develop and I was impressed with him last night. Conor Heun was a huge step up in competition and Couture passed the test with flying colors. His stand up looked solid and he's active on the mat when looking for submissions. I doubt he becomes the next Randy but that's okay. He should just be the best Ryan Couture. The booth of Pat, Mauro, and Frank was awful last night. Showtime is responsible for the production and it is their call to put these three in the booth. In a perfect world Pat Miletich would be working with a more professional commentary team and though this would be unpopular with many of you, I wouldn't be opposed to a Pat Miletich/Gus Johnson team. It would be Strikeforce's answer to Anik/Florian and Rogan/Goldie.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, loser, rousey

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Posted in: mir, lesson, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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What a weekend! On Fri., March 2, 2012, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brought the thunder "down under" as UFC on FX 2 brought their brand of mixed martial arts (MMA) to the fans in Sydney, Australia. The very next night, Sat., March 3, 2012, Strikeforce kept things rolling as Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" traveled to Columbus, Ohio with an action-packed card of fights. The UFC side of things was marked by the excitement of the new division of "little guys" taking the Octagon, as the flyweights stole the show in Sydney. On the Strikeforce end, fans saw a new champion crowned in a fighter who will, perhaps, rule the roost of women's MMA for a long time to come. After the jump, we'll take a closer look at the big winners and lowly losers from this weekend: WINNERS: Ronda Rousey -- Yes, I'm starting with Rousey. Yes, I'm aware that there were some very good and deserving candidates from the UFC event. Yes, she's a female fighter. I don't care. Man or woman, her win was massive. Four times she's entered the cage. Four times she's brought an arm home with her. This time, it was no ordinary arm. Miesha Tate is a decorated combatant and athlete, in general. She's been in many wars and didn't come to her fight with Rousey looking to give up easily. Eventually, it didn't matter what Tate wanted, as "Rowdy" finally secured a very deep and nasty armbar that left "Takedown" with a badly broken arm. This lady is legit. UFC Flyweights -- I'm being general. I know. I'll get more specific in a minute. But, I just wanted to focus on how cool it is that the UFC now has 125-pounders. It's not a freak show. It's not a bunch of guys badly emaciating themselves to fight smaller competition because they couldn't hang at bantamweight. The four guys who fought on Friday night are all very good flyweights. Not only are they very good, but they belong at 125 pounds. That's key. I was impressed by what I saw and I can't wait to see more! Demetrious Johnson vs. Ian McCall -- If you didn't like this fight, I question your MMA fan status. I'm not kidding either. For three rounds, fans were treated to big shots, well put together combinations, intricate ground maneuvering and just an out-an-out fantastic fight. Even though the scoring at the end left things to be desired, you can't fault the fighters (or even the UFC) for that. We'll get to see the continuation when these two gets back in the Octagon to finish this once and for all. I, for one, cannot wait. Joseph Benavidez -- For the entire first round, Benavidez was absolutely putting it on Yasuhiro Urushitani, a world class flyweight in his own right. As soon as the opening horn for round two sounded, Benavidez showed his finishing ability and killer instinct as he flew forward, caught his opponent with a big right hand on the button, securing himself a spot in the flyweight championship. He looked fantastic at 125-pounds. It will be very interesting to see who he will end up challenging for the belt, based on the results of "Johnson vs. McCall Part II." Martin Kampmann -- Wow. Talk about snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat! For two-plus rounds, Thiago Alves appeared to be way ahead on the scorecards by outstriking Kampmann at every turn. Kampmann seemed frustrated and unsure how to attack Alves. Then it happened. For no good reason, Alves went for the takedown. Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe he just forgot that Kampmann is much better on the ground than he is. Either way, the quickness with which the "Hitman" choked him out said everything that needs to be said. The thing is: It doesn't really matter what happened in the first two rounds. Kampmann survived, waited for his opening and then took advantage of it to clinch the win. Great job. LOSERS: Miesha Tate -- For weeks, leading up to her championship bout with Rousey, we had to listen to Tate talk about how Rousey didn't deserve the title shot, how she wasn't experienced enough to face her and how one-sided their fight was going to be. She was right. It was one-sided, but not in her favor. The only real good thing she has going for her here is that there is such a serious lack of depth in the Strikeforce women's bantamweight division (and on the women's roster, in general) that it may not be all that long before she can get a rematch. The problem i that she is going to one-armed for a while and unable to train for a good deal of time. Tap sooner next time. Commissioner Craig Waller -- Due to Mr. Waller's math mistake, the Sydney fans were robbed of a sudden death round between Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall. McCall may actually be the one who was hurt the most by this error, as he was putting a good pounding on "Mighty Mouse" in the third round. He may have been able to carry that momentum into the final frame and secure a finish. Who knows? We'll just have to wait until next time to find out. Thiago Alves -- Bro. You had this fight won. All you had to do was keep things standing, stay on the outside, keep landing your leg kick and following up with good combos. But you got cocky. Maybe it wasn't even that. Maybe you just smelled blood and responded to stimuli. Either way, you all but gave away the win by diving neck first into a guillotine. If someone told you it was Kampmann's birthday, they were lying. The Strikeforce announcing team -- Maybe if I rail about this often enough, someone will listen and do something about it. Probably not, but it makes me feel better. Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock are just the absolute worst. Pat Miletich does alright and I'm glad he was on the broadcast, but it wasn't enough (and never is enough) to overcome the axis of evil that is Ranallo and Shamrock. They're just the worst. I can't take it. If there was a radio broadcast, I'd mute the TV and go that route, but there isn't. The thing that excited me the most about the Zuffa takeover was that I felt sure that these guys would be the first ones to go. I was wrong and I just don't get what's taking them so long. Make the move, Zuffa. Scott Smith -- He's now lost four fights in a row. Even worse is how he's losing. He's getting finished and losing lopsided decisions. He also continues to show that if you take him down and have a decent ground game, you're going to be able to submit him. There's no progress or evolution. He gave fans some really fun fights and highlights. I'll grant you that. But those days are over. It's time for "Hands of Steel" to call it a day. Thanks for the memories, Scott. Paul Daley -- For someone who talks as much as this guy does, he sure doesn't back it up very often. The truth is that he's lucky to be fighting under the Zuffa banner at all after his egregious post fight antics in the UFC (versus Josh Koscheck) that led to him being dismissed by President Dana White. Daley was outstruck badly by Kazuo Misaki, who many fans had never even heard of before Saturday night. Don't be surprised if we don't see Daley around the Zuffa neighborhood for a lot longer. That's my list of big winners and losers from UFC on FX 2 and Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey." But we're just getting started. We're looking for you, the Maniacs, to keep the list going in the comment section. For full recaps of the UFC on FX 2 preliminary undercard and main card fights, click here and here. For detailed analysis of the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" undercard and main card fights, click here and here. Ronda Rousey vs Miesha Tate full fight video highlights from last night's main event on Showtime here.

Posted in: ufc, fight, time, tate, rousey

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Following an exciting round of action between the two top female bantamweights in the world, Showtime has released highlights from the 4:27 the two spent inside the cage. Rousey was crowned champion after winning her fifth consecutive professional fight via armbar, and eighth consecutive if you include amateur fights. Rousey actually had Tate in an armbar within the first minute, but Tate was able to escape. From there, the pair put together an exciting round that continued the entertainment that Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis had provided earlier in the event. Kaufman defeated Davis via unanimous decision, and will face Rousey for the championship later this year. “Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey” re-airs on Tuesday at 10 PM EST on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: tate, rousey, alexis davis, world showtime, cage rousey

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Following Saturday night's Tate vs Rousey event at the Nationwide Arena, Ronda Rousey, Sarah Kaufman and Josh Thomson talked more about their wins, outfits and other things. Check out a highlight package of the press conference below.

Posted in: press conference, rousey, josh thomson, columbus ohio, things check

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Newly-crowned Strikeforce Women's Champion Ronda Rousey may get a little time off from training camp, but there are no reprieves in the world of pre-fight trash talk. Picking up where Miesha Tate left off, former 135-pound titleholder Sarah Kaufman is calling for another crack at the division crown after proving she was (still) championship material by defeating fellow Canadian Alexis Davis at the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event last night (March 3, 2012) in Columbus, Ohio. "The fans, they wanna see fighters. They wanna see two people get in there, swing, hit each other and get a little bloody. It's the first time I've been cut and I love it! It's my belt, I want it! It's my fault I lost it and no one else should have it. If Ronda Rousey wins that title, it will be sweet satisfaction to beat it back from her." Last night's majority decision victory was Kaufman's third win in a row and a strong statement for getting the next shot at the "Rowdy" one. Now, I don't want to sound overly pessimistic, but it should be noted that in 16 professional fights, Kaufman has just one loss. And it came by armbar. Video of Kaufman's post-fight interview, where she breaks down her performance against her fellow Canadian (and a whole lot more), after the jump. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. Undercard recap and wrap-up here.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, ronda, kaufman

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Ronda Rousey won the Strikeforce 135-pound title last night (March 3, 2012) at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, submitting Miesha Tate with a bone-snapping armbar in the very first round live on Showtime. It was her fifth straight submission victory within the opening frame, although "Takedown" lasted the longest inside the cage with "Rowdy" than anyone else. Too bad it came at such a terrible cost. For what it's worth, prior to the finish, Tate performed admirably, exchanging punches and even momentarily taking Rousey's back and working for a submission of her own. The former Olympian's top-shelf judo and tosses proved to be just too much, however, as Rousey was able to literally flip the momentum in her favor at just about every turn. For a more detailed recap on the fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey click here and for complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. To see a pic of the Tate arm break click here and to here Rousey detail how she did it click here.

Posted in: click, tate, rousey, columbus ohio, blowbyblow commentary

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A few observations from Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey”: -I don’t know what’s more depressing: the fact that Bristol Marunde was inadequate as an opponent for Ronaldo Souza, or the fact that a win over Marunde puts Souza on track for a shot at the belt. -No, wait, I know.  It’s the fact that Strikeforce’s middleweight division sucks. -Sure, Lumumba Sayers looked good, but how hard is it to dominate someone who apparently stopped giving a shit about fighting over a year ago? -Scott Smith’s last win was a come-from-behind thriller against Cung Le back in 2009.  Please, no more. -Kazuo Misaki was better at being Paul Daley than Paul Daley was.  Hooray for dangerous Japanese strikers! -He may have been down on his own performance, but Josh Thomson at the very least proved that there’s still someone in Strikeforce who can legitimately challenge champ Gilbert Melendez. -Give credit to Miesha Tate, who managed to last far longer against Ronda Rousey than anyone else the judoka has faced. -Give Rousey your arm if she wants it.  She’s getting it whether you resist or not!

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, paul daley, fact, rousey

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Heading into their Strikeforce bantamweight showdown on March 3, 2012, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey created high expectations for women's mixed martial arts (MMA), which still faces an uncertain future. And in a rollicking battle at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, they delivered. After an intense back-and-forth match, Rousey slammed home a crushing armbar for the submission win at 4:27 of the first round.With the victory, Rousey took the promotion's 135-lb. title, and the unofficial helm as the "face of women's MMA." The victory didn't come easy, as the game Tate refused to go, fighting off an initial armbar attempt earlier in the round that appeared to damage her arm, prior to the finisher, where her lib was visibly mangled and bent far beyond the point where most fighters would've tapped. In short, it was one hell of a performance by both and destroyed any lingering stigma that women's MMA can't be exciting or marketable. With a dizzying series of transitions on the ground, and Tate unloading early on the feet, the fight showcased women's MMA on a level that hinted at a massive upside if the sport can be harnessed, promoted and showcased properly. With the victory, Rousey upped her ledger to 5-0, all via armbar submissions in the first round. With her previous longest bout a mere 49 seconds, she showed a necessary reservoir of resilience. Tate popped her a couple times on the feet, and created some tough positions; taking Rousey's back on a couple occasions, she forced "Rowdy" Ronda to back up her pre-fight trash talk by escaping the potentially dangerous spots. Rousey did, en route to a brutal armbar finish.With the victory, Rousey took the mantle of women's MMA on her talented shoulders. With Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos' one-year suspension ticking away, Rousey now has Sarah Kaufman as her likely first defense. She'll need to work on her standup defense and overall game, but that's one hell of a women's superfight to look forward to. What's sobering to consider is that Rousey has plenty of time to improve and is obviously in the beginning of her improvement curve to become a well-rounded mixed martial artist. All in all, it was a memorable performance, and precisely what the ladies of MMA needed to make a statement that they belong on the big stage, with the attendant promotional mojo to develop the sport. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. Undercard recap and wrap-up here.Jason Probst can be reached at Jason@jasonprobst.com or twitter.com/jasonprobst.

Posted in: mma, tate, women, womens mma, rousey

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Post-fight reactions and video from newly-crowned women's champion Ronda Rousey, along with main card winners Ronaldo Souza, Josh Thomson, Lumumba Sayers, Sarah Kaufman and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, who were all on hand for last night's press conference following the "Tate vs. Rousey" Showtime event on March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. Undercard recap and wrap-up here.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, columbus ohio, undercard recap

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Newly minted Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey may or may not have expected a reaction when she claimed that she could not only beat Miesha Tate, but Tate's boyfriend, Brian Caraway too. But when Caraway fired back on Twitter and wrote that women couldn't compete with men and, regrettably, promising physical violence to Rousey in a mock confrontation, Rousey couldn't help but smile. Neither could her mother and friend.

Posted in: rousey, ronda, miesha tate, couldnt, women couldnt

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The most anticipated female mixed martial arts (MMA) fight in years, perhaps ever took place last night (March 3, 2012) as Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate looked to defend her title against judo Olympian Ronda Rousey in the main event of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" in Columbus, Ohio. Tate repeatedly proclaimed that she didn't feel Rousey had earned the shot, that others were more deserving of being her first title defense, that Rousey was only there because of her looks and her mouth. But look who's laughing now? In one of the more cringe-worthy finishes of 2012, Rousey took Tate's arm home with her to claim the championship belt as her own. So how did "Rowdy" Ronda pull it off? (literally) And what's next for both talented ladies?Follow me after the jump for our Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" post-fight review and analysis: Perhaps fueled by all the pre-fight trash talk, Tate came out swinging wildly, charging forward and throwing a flurry of lunging hooks. One cracked Rousey on the jaw, but the majority of them missed and they allowed Rousey to clinch and easily reverse a takedown attempt into a takedown where she immediately went to work with her elite judo ground skills. After slickly passing to side control, the Olympic bronze medalist latched onto Tate's arm and attempted to score her fifth straight first round armbar finish. It looked painful, but Tate turned into Rousey, forcing the challenger to transition to an omaplata which allowed Tate to get back to her feet. The champion, proving that she was not going to be overwhelmed early, clinched with Rousey and proceeded to drag her to the canvas, locking in both hooks and taking her back on the way down. Rousey remained calm despite the perilous situation, not panicking despite the threat of a rear naked choke and she escaped out the back door to return to her feet where she was able to take command in the clinch and score a trip takedown. Tate again showcased her own grappling ability by working her way back to her feet, but she once again got overzealous with her striking, overcommitting on some big hooks which took her off balance and Rousey capitalized with a beautiful hip toss which would eventually set up the finish to the fight. This time, Rousey would pass to mount and posture up, dropping nice short strikes, all targeting the left side of Tate's head. This was brilliant because the second Tate brought up her left hand to defend her head, Rousey snuck her own arm underneath and then once again transitioned to an armbar. Her knees weren't cinched together perfectly this time, but Rousey made up for it by using her knee to keep Tate's head in place and then torquing violently on Tate's arm, which led to one of the more gruesome-looking arm configurations we've ever seen and also forced a tap from the champion. It was competitive, it was action-packed and it lived up to all the pre-fight hype and billing. For Miesha Tate, first thing's first, she's going to need some time to heal. She played "tough-girl" for the cameras in her post-fight interview but she had that thousand yard stare and she likely suffered some pretty severe damage to her elbow at least. She held her own with Rousey, but her biggest mistake was letting Rousey get into her head which allowed her emotions to take over. In the stand-up, Tate was way too aggressive and this led to easy throws and trips by Rousey. She'll have to make sure to not let that happen the next time around. If her timetable for a return is not too severe, I'd love to see her step in against Alexis Davis, who put on an incredible performance in a losing effort to Sarah Kaufmann earlier in the evening. Other possibilities include former title challenger Liz Carmouche or top Brazilian prospect Amanda Nunes. For Ronda Rousey, this was an incredible performance. Other than a shaky minute where she had her back taken, she was nearly flawless in her execution of guard passing, takedowns and submission attempts. She is an absolute technician in the cage and she's got the athletic gifts to back it up. Rousey has the look, the talent and the charisma to be a superstar in women's MMA for quite some time. She will almost certainly be battling Sarah Kaufman next in her first title defense, as soon as Kaufman's superficial injuries heal and they want to set up a big championship fight. This likely won't have quite the buzz of Tate vs. Rousey, but now that Rousey is likely going to be a huge star in the division, there will be plenty of interest among casual MMA fans for all of her fights. If she can defeat Kaufman next, there's no telling how high Rousey's stardom in women's MMA can reach. So what did you think, Maniacs? Were you as impressed by Rousey's performance as most everyone else seems to be? Can she be the savior of women's MMA and help bring about a new era of female fighters? Sound off! For complete Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here, here and here.

Posted in: time, vs, tate, womens mma, rousey

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Fresh off her impressive victory over Miesha Tate in the main event of last night's Strikeforce card in Columbus, Ohio, Ronda Rousey looked back at the fight that won her the Strikeforce Bantamweight title fight. Despite not "squashing the beef" with Miesha Tate, Rousey gave credit to the former champion for showing heart and technique on the ground, prior to tapping out to the armbar at the end of Round 1. Rousey will now look towards her first title defense, most likely against the former champion Sarah

Posted in: title defense, miesha, rousey, miesha tate, ground defense

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Ronda Rousey backed up the trash talk inside the cage, defeating Miesha Tate for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight title. Tate battled Rousey's armbar attempts 'til the very end, but finally tapped at the end of round 1, after severely dislocating her elbow. Ronda Rousey improves her MMA record to 5-0, all first round armbar finishes. Further Reading: Full Tate vs. Rousey fight card

Posted in: tate, mma record, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

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Strikeforce returned to the Showtime airwaves last night (March 3, 2012) with "Tate vs. Rousey," broadcasting live from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. In the main event of the evening, Miesha Tate put her 135-pound title on the line against undefeated contender Ronda Rousey, who secured her shot at the division crown by winning four straight contests via first round armbar. Make it five. The "Rowdy" one, who not only talked the talk heading into last night's main event, but also proved she could walk the walk, got all she could handle from Tate, who shrugged off an initial arm-lock right out of the gate. In fact, "Takedown" was able to rattle off a few submission attempts of her own, proving her ground game was on par with that of the former Olympian. Well, at least for a little while. Rousey was able to once again secure a dominant position and lock up a limb with just over 30 seconds left in their frenetic opening frame, but this time, there was no giving it back. Tate showed an incredibly high tolerance for pain, grimacing and squirming as the clock ticked away, but the inevitable tap -- and horrific still shot of her broken wing -- came at the 4:27 mark of round one. Snap, crackle, pop. While one champion was being crowned, another was in the broadcast booth, keeping a keen eye on the 155-pound affair between Josh Thomson and Karl James Noons. It's been said that "heavy is the head that wears the crown." Well, even heavier is the eyelids that watched that fight. Because Thomson fought "like shit." That's according to "The Punk," who was visibly upset with his unanimous decision win over "King" Karl. The former lightweight champion attributed his poor performance, one that had the Columbus boo-birds harmonizing by the start of the second stanza, to a pair of Staph infections during training camp. Not that it stopped him from demanding a trilogy with Gilbert Melendez. Thomson stifled Noons with his wrestling-based attack and even had the former EliteXC straphanger gasping for air from an arm-triangle choke, but their inability to keep the fans in the game makes it difficult to generate any kind of excitement for a rematch against "El Nino." Especially with so many terrific (and fresh) match-ups awaiting Melendez in the UFC. One person who knows a thing or two about mixing it up inside the Octagon is Paul Daley. The British bomb-dropper made a name for himself under the ZUFFA banner by pasting more than a few careless welterweights. Kazuo Misaki would not become one of them. The Japanese import made a successful debut not just in Strikeforce, but in the 170-pound weight division as well. And he did it by beating "Semtex" at his own game. Daley, who's been criticized for having the ground game of a cigar store Indian, made a concerted effort to continually take the former PRIDE middleweight to the floor. Because he just couldn't hang on the feet. Misaki was quicker to the punch, lighter on his feet and simply out-struck his bewildered foe, who seemed more concerned with landing the knockout punch than finding his range and working his jab. Daley also allowed the "Hitman" to control the center of the cage, busted up nose and all. In the end, it cost him the fight. But it may not have cost him his job, which unfortunately can't be said for Scott Smith, who dropped his fourth straight fight under the Strikeforce banner when Lumumba Sayers strangled him en route to a first-round submission win. The Coloradan needed just over 90 seconds to melt the "Hands of Steel" with a lightning-fast takedown that Smith tried to convert into a guillotine choke. Instead, it got him scooped and slammed. In fact, Sayers used the gorilla press and subsequent canvas-crash to lock in a choke of his own. Smith pawed and clawed at the offending arm, but in the end he chose to tap, rather than nap. Based on his recent struggles, that tap may as well have served as his resignation. See you in Bellator. In the opening fight of the night, Ronaldo Souza wanted to prove he was still at the top of the very short list of 185-pound title contenders by finishing Strikeforce debutante Bristol Marunde. Mission accomplished. "Jacare" came out like a man possessed and despite his vaunted jiu-jitsu prowess, controlled the first three rounds of action through crisp striking and calculated aggression. Students of the ground game, however, did not go home disappointed. The Brazilian took advantage of his late replacement in the third and final frame, dragging his weary foe to the ground and sinking in an arm-triangle choke. While the win in "Discovery City" still leaves him one spot behind Tim Kennedy in the line of eligible contenders, it unquestionably put the remainder of the division on notice. Mr. Rockhold, take us to DEFCON 3. That's a wrap from Columbus. Now it's your turn to discuss Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" in the comments section below. And after last night's main event, there's certainly plenty to talk about. Have at it. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and detailed blow-by-blow commentary of the televised main card fights click here. Undercard recap and wrap-up here.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, game, ground game, rousey

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New Strikeforce women's bantawmeight champion Ronda Rousey talks about her Saturday victory over Miesha Tate in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, rousey, ronda, miesha tate, saturday victory

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If you happened to miss the most significant women's MMA fight since 2009, here are Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate fight highlights, via Showtime Sports. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey took place March 3, 2012 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, OH. Upstart challenger and former Olympian Ronda Rousey (5-0) took on reigning Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (12-3) in an electrifying title fight. Check out the video highlights below. For more on Rousey's spectacular victory, check out the play-by-play from MMA Fighting's own Luke Thomas. Round 1: Tate swinging and lands a few strikes, but Rousey tosses her to the mat and moves to side control. Rousey steps out and moves to opposite side and attempts an armbar. It's close, but Tate survives and now has Rousey's back. Rousey removes the hook and stands but in a slam Tate still gets Rousey's back. In a scramble Rousey gets out the back door and is standing over a prostrate Tate. Tate stands and they clinch. Rousey takes a shot to the face, but hip tosses Tate to the mat with ease. Now in mount. Rousey goes to the Russian arm bar and then back down. Tate fights valiantly, but her arm appears to be badly dislocated. Tate taps. That's it. Ronda Rousey is your new women's bantamweight champion. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey results: Ronda Rousey defeats Miesha Tate at 4:27 of round 1.

Posted in: vs, tate, miesha, rousey, ronda

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In case you missed the Strikeforce event which hosted what is probably the most important bout in the history of Women's MMA in Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey, here are official highlights from Showtime to get you up to date. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Since the video probably won't be enough, here's how the play-by-play from the live blog of the event: Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship: Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey - Round 1 - They don't touch gloves and Tate wails away with punches. Rousey with a quick takedown and she moves to side control. Rousey steps over to get side control again. Armbar by Rousey and Tate survives! It looked bad but she survived. Tate was on top but Rousey stood up. Tate has the back now as she takes her down. Rousey gets free and stands. Rousey almost spikes her on her head but Tate is still on her back on the ground. Tate escapes and is on top now. Punch by Rousey and a few leg kicks. Rousey takes her back down. They trade punches as they stand. Hip toss by Rousey! Rousey moves to mount and lands some punches now to back control, punches and takes the arm bar. Tate's arm is all kinds of broken and this fight is over and so is Miesha Tate's time as champion. Ronda Rousey wins by technical submission (armbar/broken arm), Round 1. More coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey: - Photo: Ronda Rousey Breaks Miesha Tate's Arm- Strikeforce: Tate Vs. Rousey Results And Post-Fight Analysis - Ronda Rousey By Armbar - Josh Thomson Wins Lackluster Decision Over KJ Noons - Kazuo Misaki Takes Decision Over Paul Daley - Lumumba Sayers Submits Scott Smith - Jacare Chokes Out Bristol Marunde

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, ronda

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Ronda Rousey had to secure two different armbars to finally put Miesha Tate away on Saturday night, but "if they don't tap, you keep going."

Posted in: saturday night, saturday, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

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MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up Ronda Rousey, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Lumumba Sayers, Sarah Kaufman, Alexis Davis, Pat Healy, Ryan Couture and Roger Bowling about their fights at Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey.” Also, Showtime Sports interviewed Josh Thomson.

Posted in: vs, showtime sports, rousey, roger bowling, healy ryan

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Sherdog.com will report from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, at approximately 8 p.m. ET with play-by-play and live results of Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey,” which is headlined by a 135-pound women’s title match pitting champion Miesha Tate against undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: result, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Ronda Rousey backed up all of her talk Saturday, winning the Strikeforce bantamweight title from Miesha Tate.

Posted in: bantamweight, mma world, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Ronda Rousey backed up all of her talk Saturday, winning the Strikeforce bantamweight title from Miesha Tate.

Posted in: bantamweight, mma world, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Posted in: interview, postfight, rousey, ronda

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Following an exciting line-up from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, many of the event's biggest winners were in attendance for the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey post-fight press conference...

Posted in: conference, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Going into tonight's affair, the hype surrounding Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate was through the roof for us hardcore fans. Most of us had heard rumblings of Rousey a couple years ago when the Olympic bronze medalist started an amateur career in MMA in Tuff-N-Uff bouts. Some of us, myself included, wondered just how things would fare when the competition stepped up from Ediene Gomes and Charmaine Tweet to Julia Budd, but that wasn't even a speed bump. Some of us (self included again) still weren't just ready to leap onto the bandwagon just yet. Budd is a tough fighter, but both her and Rousey were in their 4th pro fight apiece... Miesha Tate had more than triple the ring and cage experience of either of those women to go with a credible and credentialed wrestling background. Ya know what? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK! I thought that Tate might make it a solid brawl - and for a little while, she did. Then Honda hit the Ippon and that was the beginning of the end. I am officially on the bandwagon, because if I'm not, I might get my arm turned into ramen. Rowdy snapped the arm of the stubborn Tate, and cut one of the better after-fight promos we've seen in some time. If I were Sarah Kaufman, I'd make sure I spent some time quickening my tapping hand, because there's no reason to get your arm mangled. Speaking of Sarah, she looked... I don't want to say "not great", but really, it wasn't that great. She showed all kinds of heart and chutzpah, but so did her opponent, Alexis Davis, who isn't exactly a world beater at a now pedestrian 11-5. I thought the judging in that was highly questionable, as one judge scored it a draw, but SK still got the deserved win over a game opponent. That said, while I think her boxing is technically decent, she doesn't have the power to stop Rousey and she doesn't have the grappling skills to avoid the takedown and not get submitted. The following winners get major props from me: Kazuo Misaki Lumumba Sayers Roger Bowling Ryan Couture I thought Misaki was a dead man walking. It's the first fight in almost a year for the man about to turn 36. The same man who'd been KO'd multiple times by heavy hitters and making his welterweight debut against one of the hardest 170-lb hitters in the world in Paul Daley. Paul was beside himself after the fight, because in his head, he got four takedowns, broke his nose and cut him up badly - what more can one do? Well, do something with those takedowns to start - Misaki was rarely in trouble on the ground and reversed Paul a couple times. Also there's the fact that Kaz outlanded him throughout the fight, even staggering him. Extra special props to Mr. Sayers for not inflicting any more long-term damage on Scott Smith than he's already absorbed. A first round submission is a lot better for my soul than watching you drub that man's head around like a basketball. Speaking of drubbing like a basketball, I'm kind of mad that the ref didn't let Roger continue to abuse the hell out of Brandon Saling. For those that missed it, Saling has a bunch of neo-Nazi tattoos, including the numbers 88 with lightning bolts and "white steel". Feel free to look those up on google if you'd like, but you can also just take my word for it. There's also the matter of him having been indicted in connection with a rape of a person under 13. Yea, I'm really not a huge fan of registered sex offender nazis being given a national audience. Moving along, Meh props to Josh Thompson, Pat Healy and Ronaldo Souza. They got the wins, and even stoppages in a couple cases, but none of them looked particularly dashing in victory. Thompson was honest about it, describing his performance as "sh*t" repeatedly, to which no one really argued. Souza looked like he was coasting through the first couple of rounds, and while Healy faced a tough test in Fodor and came out with his arm raised, I don't think anyone not related to him or in his camp is thinking he'll be the one to beat Gil Melendez based on tonight's performance.

Posted in: tate, arm, couple, rousey, miesha tate

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After winning the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title from Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey will now face former champion Sarah Kaufman following her victory over Alexis Davis. The two women put on fantastic displays of mixed martial arts in their wins Saturday night in Columbus, Ohio. Rousey showed off her Olympic Judo skills against a very game Miesha Tate before finishing her with her trademark armbar. The win was her fifth straight profession win by armbar, putting her half-way to “The Arm Collector” Giva Santana’s ten consecutive armbar finishes. Kaufman slugged out a hard fought victory over Alexis Davis on the last preliminary card of the evening. While Davis showed a much improved striking game and strong grappling. The former champion used more accurate striking that forced Davis to get more and more desperate as the fight wore on. After the victory, Kaufman signaled her intent to get the belt back by saying “The belt that Miesha and Ronda are fighting for tonight is my belt. No one else should have it and I’m coming after whoever gets the win tonight!” No immediate timetable was set after the fight but that will likely change in the coming week. For complete coverage of Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey” stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.

Posted in: davi, rousey, kaufman, alexis davis, trademark armbar

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Here’s some advice. If Ronda Rousey ever puts you in an armbar, tap and tap immediately. Miesha Tate learned that lesson the hard way tonight in her bantamweight title defense against Rousey at Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey.” Tate actually escaped a nasty looking armbar early in the first round, but wasn’t so fortunate later in the round when Rousey snagged another one and torqued it to the point Tate’s elbow bent the complete opposite direction. As you can see from the gif’s below it was pretty painful to watch, let alone be trapped in. So moral of the story: Tap. Rousey’s striking may have a ways to go, but the girl knows how to put you on your back and rip your arm off. She’s had five professional fights and three amateur fights. She’s won every single last one of them via ambar in the first round. Crazy. Gif’s via IronForgesIron. Image via Dave Farra’s Twitter.

Posted in: round, tate, gif, ronda rousey, rousey

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I'm still in shock over the ending of the main event of tonight's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card. I always favored Rousey to take the fight and a lot of us joked about her ripping Tate's arm off, but I don't know that I legitimately believed that it would end so violently. Ronda is an incredible fighter and she showed that she can deal with a fight that takes place in different areas in rapid succession. Tate came out hard and was landing some punches, Rousey got on top, worked for the finish, ended up on her back, got out of several bad spots including having her back taken, and still found a way to get on top and ruin Rousey's arm. Some people seem to be upset that Rousey didn't squash the beef between the two after the fight and instead said that she "didn't feel bad" about breaking (or dislocating) Tate's arm. I'm not sure why two people who have a grudge should suddenly bury it because one of them won the fight. Rousey backed up her talk and it was Miesha who chose not to tap when she was clearly beat. Why should Ronda feel bad about it? Rousey is a star. I'm curious how many people tuned in for the fight tonight, but no one who watched is going to avoid the next Rousey fight...unless they're squeamish. I'm glad Josh Thomson admitted his performance was lame (in, slightly more "mature" language) following his win over KJ Noons. In looking for a good fight for Gilbert Melendez, the last thing that Strikeforce could have wanted to see was Thomson spend the majority of the fight literally only holding Noons down. He deserved the win, but it was a bad, boring fight. Kazuo Misaki outstruck Paul Daley so Daley worked takedowns to try to get a decision via his top game. That really happened. It was like we were watching this fight on Htrae (Bizarro World for you non-nerds). Misaki's toughness really worked out well for him as he did have his nose crushed and face busted open but did enough to deserve the win. Much more after the jump.. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Scott Smith will always hold a special place for me as a guy who was always exciting and had some incredible moments in his career. But the guy is done. He looked as bad as ever against Lumumba Sayers and he has looked pretty bad on other recent occasions. I don't want to tell a guy to retire, but I wouldn't be sad to see him gracefully hang 'em up. Ronaldo Souza getting the win is...whatever. He did what he had to do against a late replacement, but it wasn't really much of a fight for him. Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis put on one hell of a fight. Davis would have been smarter to try to get it on the floor sooner than the third round, when she had her best success of the fight, but her decision to go to war with Kaufman on the feet was certainly a win for all of us watching. Those two ladies gave everything they had and deserve all the credit in the world for their performances. Roger Bowling's win over Brandon Saling will be lost in the shuffle over Saling's neo-nazi tattoos and sex offender conviction. Someone in charge of this stuff at both Strikeforce and Showtime dropped the ball badly in putting this kid on TV. I get that he has the right to compete, but I have the right as a consumer to say that I want the money I spend on the programming, tickets and other things related to the network and promotion to not go into his pocket. Pat Healy is experiencing quite the run right now. Caros Fodor is no joke and Healy did very, very well in disposing of him by his usual method of grinding away and taking advantage of mistakes. Ryan Couture has improved considerably but I still don't think too highly of him as a fighter. Conor Heun also looked miserable in that fight. Still, credit to Couture who is looking to get better and certainly isn't trying to cost on his dad's name. And, hey, it's not like he's picking up DUI's like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, im, rousey

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Rousey executed her fifth consecutive first-round armbar, earning the title at 4:27 of the opening five minutes.

Posted in: title, tate, armbar, rousey, ronda

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey resultsColumbus, OHRonda Rousey def. Miesha Tate via submission armbar 4:27 R1Josh Thomson def. K.J. Noons via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)Kazuo Misaki def. Paul Daley via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)Lumumba Sayers def. Scott Smith via submission guillotine choke 1:34 R1Ronaldo Souza def. Bristol Marunde via submission arm triangle choke 2:43 R3Sarah Kaufman def. Alexis Davis via majority decision (29-29, 29-28, 29-28)Roger Bowling def. Brandon Saling via TKO (strikes) 1:15 R2Pat Healy def. Caros Fodor via submission arm triangle choke 3:35 R3Ryan Couture def. Conor Heun via TKO (strikes) 2:52 R3   

Posted in: decision, submission, arm, rousey, alexis davis

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In the end, Miesha Tate found herself in the same hopeless position as Ronda Rousey’s first four opponents in mixed martial arts.

Posted in: tate, miesha, rousey, ronda, strikeforce championship

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This is what it looks like when you think wrestling trumps judo nine times out of 10 and when you don't worry about getting armbarred when fighting Ronda Rousey. At tonight's (Sat., March 3, 2012) Strikeforce event in Columbus, Ohio, now former Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate found out the hard way that having pride and waiting until the last minute to tap means getting your limb snapped. Especially when a "Rowdy" lady like Rousey has you in her grasp. The victory caps an insanely awesome run through the 135-pound division for Ronda, who talked her way into a title shot with no previous experience in the weight class and delivered on everything she promised ... and more. War women's MMA! For a more detailed look at the Rousey vs. Tate fight click here and for complete Strikeforce results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here. Check out another sick pic of Tate's arm after the jump.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Normally I dive right in to my post fight analysis when an event ends, but tonight calls for a little something different. Why? Because Ronda Rousey broke Miesha Tate's arm in an incredible moment of violence and we all need to stop and look at it for a few minutes. The picture (via Dava Farra's Twitter): Here's how we called the action in our live blog: Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship: Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey - Round 1 - They don't touch gloves and Tate wails away with punches. Rousey with a quick takedown and she moves to side control. Rousey steps over to get side control again. Armbar by Rousey and Tate survives! It looked bad but she survived. Tate was on top but Rousey stood up. Tate has the back now as she takes her down. Rousey gets free and stands. Rousey almost spikes her on her head but Tate is still on her back on the ground. Tate escapes and is on top now. Punch by Rousey and a few leg kicks. Rousey takes her back down. They trade punches as they stand. Hip toss by Rousey! Rousey moves to mount and lands some punches now to back control, punches and takes the arm bar. Tate's arm is all kinds of broken and this fight is over and so is Miesha Tate's time as champion. Ronda Rousey wins by technical submission (armbar/broken arm), Round 1.

Posted in: punch, tate, arm, miesha, rousey

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - After months of trash talk and boastful predictions and heated press conferences and promotional spots, Ronda Rousey ultimately did exactly what she said she would do. In one of the biggest fights in women's MMA history, the Olympic judoka secured one of her patented first-round armbars to defeat Miesha Tate and win the Strikeforce's women's bantamweight title. The title fight headlined"Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It aired on Showime following prelims on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: title, tate, rousey, columbus ohio, olympic judoka

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Ronda Rousey backed up her months of smack talk, submitting Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce bantamweight championship in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night. Though this fight went longer than any of Rousey's other matches, which were all finished in … Continue reading →

Posted in: saturday night, ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate, columbus ohio

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Ronda Rousey defeats Miesha Tate by submission (armbar). The submission came at 4:27 in the first round. "I understand we are not touching gloves" is said by the referee. Miesha Tate came out swinging wild puches to open the round. Rousey got tagged and then tripped Tate to the ground. Rousey with an armbar and it looked to have dislocated. Tate survives when Ronda looked for an omoplata. Tate drags Rousey to the ground and looked for a rear naked choke. Rousey with a backdoor escape and they clinched on the feet. Trip takedown from Rousey and they are back to their feet. Rousey landed a jab-cross and then a judo hip toss. Rousey passed to mount and Tate gave up her back. Rousey with punches and then an armbar. OH GROSS THAT IS BROKEN. Tate tapped but the damage was already done. Her arm is JACKED! Ronda Rousey is the new Strikeforce bantamweight champion. Impressive win for Ronda Rousey. Amazing grappling displayed by both women. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: tate, armbar, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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The highly anticipated main event of tonight's (Sat., March 3, 2012) Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event in Ohio featured Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate putting her title on the line for the very first time against fast-rising superstar challenger Ronda Rousey. Both ladies talked a lot of trash in the long lead up to tonight, especially Rousey. Tate tried to stay cool but looked flustered at times, including the weigh-ins when the two went forehead-to-forehead. But the time for talking ended tonight and they got busy in the cage to show us who the real deal Holyfield is. Turns out, Rousey wasn't playing around with that judo and did exactly like she said she would do by grabbing a hold of Tate's arm and breaking it inside the first round. At least Tate took her into deeper water than anyone else before. But now that we know Rousey can get past the first minute and still take a limb home with her, can anyone stop this woman? Does anyone even want to try? They came out fast and furious, as expected, with Rousey jumping in for that arm and getting a hold of it, just like she said she would. But Tate, like she said she would, battled through and got up to take Rousey's back a short time later. Whew. Ronda escaped, too, and back up to the feet they went. After a trip from Rousey, they battled back to their feet again and Tate started letting her hands go a bit. Of course, Rousey went back to the bread and butter and hit a judo trip. She transitioned quick to mount and worked hard punches. It wasn't long again before she grabbed a hold of Tate's arm and did just like she said she would and BROKE IT OFF. Ronda Rousey is the new Strikeforce Women's bantamweight champion. Get some. For a complete rundown of the entire Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results and blow-by-blow coverage of all the night's action click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, arm, rousey, ronda

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In a tremendous main event to Saturday night's Strikeforce card, a new women's champion has been crowned: Ronda Rousey has submitted Miesha Tate with a first-round arm bar. Rousey is now 5-0, with all five wins by first-round arm bar. But this was a much tougher fight than her previous four. None of the previous fights lasted even 50 seconds, but this one was a back-and-forth battle that lasted most of the first round. In the end, Tate didn't want to tap out, and she appeared to have an injured arm for her trouble. "She was much more savvy on the ground than I anticipated," Rousey said of Tate. "She's good, she's legit, but I don't feel that bad about it." More Coverage: Tate vs. Rousey Results | Rousey vs. Tate Live Blog It was a great fight: Tate charged in swinging but Rousey grabbed hold of her and did exactly what she wanted to do, using her world-class judo to throw Tate to the ground. Rousey then went for an arm bar, and it appeared that she would win this fight the way she had won all of her previous fights, with an arm bar in the first minute. But Tate fought it off and not only escaped but wound up in an advantageous position, taking Rousey's back. Rousey fought that off and got back to her feet, and after a brief exchange of punches standing Rousey used a judo throw to get on top of Tate on the ground. From there it was only a matter of time before Rousey got what she wanted, an opportunity to sink in an arm bar. Tate desperately wanted to survive and at first refused to tap, but eventually her arm bent in an ugly way, and Tate did tap. She stayed on the ground for several minutes as Rousey celebrated in the cage.

Posted in: fight, tate, arm, rousey, arm bar

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Holy shit! What a main event...one of the most entertaining fights I've seen. submitted by Audiophiliac [link] [28 comments]

Posted in: tate, discussion, ive, rousey, fights ive

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4:22 is what it took Ronda Rousey to reach into Miesha Tate's career and steal her Strikeforce women's bantamweight strap. That's longer than it took John Travolta to take over the planet in Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000. Granted, it was the longest fight of Ronda Rousey's career. Subsequently, it was the most mangled arm we've ever seen Ronda Rousey destroy. Here's a heads up, folks. If you ever encounter Ronda Rousey, don't give her a handshake if you value your appendages. A fist pound will do (or as FOX News calls it, a 'terrorist fist jab'). If Miesha Tate didn't have connective tissue that attached her shoulder to her arm, Rousey would have literally pulled it off her torso. Ronda Rousey would have made Miesha Tate into the new Jax. People need to realize Tate trained for months to prevent only one move in mixed martial arts: the arm bar -- and she couldn't do it. Actually, in the history of MMA, no one has been able to stop the Ronda Rousey arm bar. It's like she's evolved into Fedor Emelianenko circa 2007. Sure Miesha Tate exhibited a level of grappling that none of Ronda Rousey's opponents have in the past, but it literally cost her ability to pick up objects with her left arm for the next three months. As a tribute to Ronda Rousey being the champion of yet another sport and granting the MMA world one of the gnarliest arm bars we've ever seen -- we're going to show it again in an endless loop of awesomeness. We appreciate all the love you've shown MiddleEasy over the months, Ronda. Congrats on your new bling, playa. Props to ZombieProphet for the gif.

Posted in: tate, arm, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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This is the Strikeforce live blog for Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey, a female bantamweight bout on tonight's Strikeforce event from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Tate (12-2) is out to make her first defense after winning the title from Marloes Coenen in July 2011. Rousey (4-0) made her professional MMA debut in March 2011 and has won all her fights by armbar. Check out the live blog below. More Coverage: Tate vs. Rousey Results | Latest Strikeforce News Round 1: Round 2:Round 3: Round 4: Round 5:

Posted in: strikeforce, round, blog, tate, rousey

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Misaki stood toe-to-toe with the striker, Daley, bringing aggression with no holding back.

Posted in: rousey, toetotoe, misaki, striker daley, kazou

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Let's just say this up front: picking Ronda Rousey to beat Miesha Tate is a leap of faith. After all, what exactly do we know about Rousey the mixed martial artist? Sure, she is 4-0, but her fights combined have lasted little over two minutes. She's spent next to no time standing up and little time on the ground for that matter, her lighting quick arm bar transitions causing frantic taps. Rousey herself has even played up the mystery, acknowledging that the less Tate knows about her skills, the better. What we do know is that she is a killer, a fearless assassin who has shown no fear inside or outside of the cage. On the other hand, she's never faced anyone with the experience level of Strikeforce bantamweight champ Tate. That makes their Saturday night main event fight more of a guessing game than usual when it comes to predicting a winner. Rousey (4-0) comes in as a nearly 3-to-1 favorite to unseat Tate and that's based solely off of her ability to put the fight where she wants it and finish. Unlike some of her other opponents, Tate (12-2) has a wrestling background, and according to FightMetric, has never been taken down in her six Strikeforce fights.That's a stat that will be tested on Saturday. Will Rousey be able to pull off the trick? She's done it in every other fight, either with brute force or through judo technique. Given her background as an international judo competitor, you have to believe that anytime the fight gets in close quarters, Tate is going to be in danger of finding herself on the mat.In her most recent fight against Julia Budd for example, Rousey jabbed her way in close, got a hold of Budd and tried a hip throw. Budd was ready for it and kept her weight back. From years in judo, Rousey has a perfect understanding of leverage, and simply readjusted, using Budd's backwards force to push her down to the mat. Within seconds, it was game over. It's been the same sort of plan for every fight, Rousey quickly jabbing her opponent backwards as a means of getting a grip on them. She shows no fear of return fire from the woman standing across from her, but she hasn't show any polish as a striker, either. She certainly excels in the clinch, and that's going to be an area of concern for Tate. Given Tate's background as a wrestler, it will be interesting to see if she is more interested in keeping the fight standing up or has faith in her submission defense. Tate historically has good ground and pound, but as we've seen from Rousey, she has no problem working from the bottom and attacking there.The matchup problem for Tate comes in the fact that she's proven to be a fighter who likes to work her opponent against the fence, put them on their back and work from the top. Does that sound like a matchup tailor-made for Rousey? So it becomes a question of whether Tate willl adjust and choose to jab, use footwork and look to keep Rousey at distance, or fight her normal fight.Against Marloes Coenen, Tate showed a decent jab and a straight right hand behind it, but spent most of the fight using those to walk into a clinch. One thing that must be noted is that Tate found herself in a series of troubling spots on the ground against Coenen. In the first round, she worked her way out of a first-round anaconda. In the second, Coenen took her back, hooked on a body triangle and worked for a rear naked choke. She also used the position to mount her from the back and land strikes from the top. That Tate escaped the positions is a testament to her toughness, but Rousey is a bigger and stronger opponent than Coenen, and if she gets those positions, the possibilities of escaping will be slimmer.Because this could potentially be a five-round fight, the conditioning edge must go to Tate. Against Coenen, she looked strong into the championship rounds, sinking in a fourth-round arm triangle choke to win. It's also Rousey's debut at the lower 135-pound weight class, and we don't know how the cut will effect her conditioning.Of course, even that is speculative. So much of Rousey's game is still a mystery that it's impossible to know how good she really is. We do know that many of Tate's best qualities play into what Rousey does best. And so that's enough to guess that Rousey will get the fight to the ground and again win by submission. Given Tate's experience and toughness, it's not going to take her less than one minute, like all of her other fights. She will be tested, and maybe we'll learn something more about her. But a trend is a trend, so Rousey by arm bar.

Posted in: fight, ground, tate, rousey, coenen

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Lumumba Sayers may or may not have sent Scott Smith packing at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on Saturday night, but he certainly made a statement.

Posted in: saturday night, tate, rousey, scott smith, lumumba

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It's not a fight that will win fans over, but Josh Thomson controlled K.J. Noons for the majority of their fight en route to a unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey.

Posted in: tate, kj noons, kj, rousey, josh thomson

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The former Strikeforce middleweight champion dominated the contest from beginning to end, submitting his opponent at 2:43 of the final round.

Posted in: strikeforce, champion, opponent, end, rousey

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Bloody Elbow Radio, presented by Bad Boy, will be LIVE! at 12:30 a.m. ET/9:30 p.m. PT for another edition of the show. Join hosts Matt Bishop, MMA Mania's Brian Hemminger and Matthew Roth as they review tonight's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey," which is headlined by a Strikeforce bantamweight championship bout between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Also on the card is a lightweight bout between Josh Thomson and K.J. Noons. We'll review all the bouts while taking your calls, emails, tweets and comments. Bloody Elbow Radio is sponsored by Bad Boy. Get your Legacy Fight Shorts, seen on Yushin Okami, Vaughan Lee and Hatsu Hioki at UFC 144, only from Bad Boy at the brand new BadBoy.com. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook and tell them Bloody Elbow sent you. How to listen: Live/archived on the player below I iTunes I RSS feed I Direct download link (available after live broadcast) Want to get in touch with the BE Radio crew? Here's how you can do so: Phone: (347) 202-0934E-mail: bloodyelbowradio@gmail.comTwitter: @mbish86 or @BrianHemmingerBloodyElbow.com: Leave a question or comment in this post For those calling in, you will first be picked up by our producer who will take your information and get what you want to talk about. You will then be queued. We will try to get to everyone as soon as we can. We ask that you call in around the time of the topic you want to discuss. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, elbow, boy, rousey

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Follow live Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey results as women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate faces (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, result, vs, tate, rousey

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Ronda Rousey snapped Miesha Tate's in the first round Saturday, becoming the new Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion. Get full results

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, round saturday, miesha tates

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Ronda Rousey snapped Miesha Tate's in the first round Saturday, becoming the new Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion. Get full results

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, round saturday, miesha tates

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Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, chat, rousey

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xSarah Kaufman has staked her claim as the top contender for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship.

Posted in: strikeforce, slugfest, rousey, kaufman, sarah

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The Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event got off to a roaring start with the prelims, where Sarah Kaufman staked her claim to the next shot at the bantamweight title.

Posted in: tate, rousey, sarah kaufman, kaufman, sarah

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The main event of Saturday night's Strikeforce card is a women's title fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. And now we know who's going to fight the winner of that one: Sarah Kaufman, who turned in a great performance in beating Alexis Davis on the Tate vs. Rousey undercard. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Kaufman, while one scored it a 29-29 draw. Kaufman opened up a huge cut over Davis's eye in the first round, battered Davis through the second, and then survived the third despite Davis taking her down and controlling her on the ground. It was a tremendous fight, and one that reinforced Kaufman's status as one of the best female fighters in the world. More Coverage: Tate vs. Rousey Results | Kaufman vs. Davis Live Blog In fact, a strong case can be made that Kaufman -- not Rousey -- deserved to be fighting Tate in the main event. Rousey burst onto the scene with four impressive first-round submission victories, but Rousey doesn't have the complete body of work that Kaufman has. "I'm going to come, I'm going to fight, I'm going to have that title. It's my title," Kaufman said afterward. So while Kaufman wasn't happy about being passed over last time, she'll get her title shot next time. Kaufman is a great fighter.

Posted in: fight, davi, rousey, kaufman, alexis davis

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submitted by i_am_not_a_robot [link] [comment]

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, iamnotarobot link, iamnotarobot

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MMA Fighting has Tate vs. Rousey results for all of the March 3 Strikeforce fights, plus live coverage from Columbus, live blogs of all the fights and live Tate vs. Rousey twitter updates.In the main event, Miesha Tate will defend her women's bantamweight title against Ronda Rousey. In the co-main event, Josh Thomson will square off against KJ Noons.Check out the full Tate vs. Rousey results below. Main CardMiesha Tate vs. Ronda RouseyK.J. Noons vs. Josh ThomsonPaul Daley vs. Kazuo MisakiRonaldo Souza vs. Bristol MarundeScott Smith vs. Lumumba SayersUndercardSarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis (live blog)Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy (live blog)Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun (live blog)Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling (live blog)

Posted in: vs, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, kj noonscheck

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey live results and play-by-play on Saturday, March 3. The main event features Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, playbyplay, rousey

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey quick results on Saturday, March 3. The main event features Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, result, vs, tate, rousey

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One of the most anticipated female fights in years is only hours away from taking place with Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate putting her title on the line against brash judoka Ronda Rousey in the main event tonight at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. The bad blood between the two talented 135ers has been well-documented and nearly spilled over during weigh-ins after Tate decided to go face-to-face with her unbeaten challenger. Were the bout not enough, the card also features former middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza in action against Bristol Marunde, hard-hitting Brit Paul Daley duking it out with Kazuo Misaki, and a battle for top contendership in the lightweight division between K.J. Noons and Josh Thomson. The prelims, also ripe with potential from an entertainment standpoint, start up at 8:00 PM EST on Showtime Extreme with the featured fights firing up two hours later on Showtime. As always, Five Ounces of Pain will be tuned in from start to finish relaying real time results back to readers as things unfold from the arena. Read below for a full list of winners/losers from Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, time results, rousey

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Two of the baddest bantamweights on the planet are poised to face off for Strikeforce gold tonight in Columbus, Ohio, as divisional champion Miesha Tate puts her gold up for grabs against undefeated Olympian Ronda Rousey in headlining action at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. Beyond the professional stakes at play, both women have been open about their utter disdain for one another making tonight’s tussle personal as well. Other scheduled match-ups include Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki and Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons. The prelims start at 8:00 PM EST on Showtime Extreme with the featured fights firing up two hours later on Showtime. As always, Fighters.com will be glued to the set while delivering live outcomes to our readers. Check below for a full rundown of results: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers KJ Noons vs. Josh Thomson Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Round-by-round and fight-by-fight coverage of the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey preliminary card starts at 8 p.m. Eastern here at HeavyMMA, including a women's bantamweight contenders bout between...

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, fightbyfight coverage, blog roundbyround

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Before Showtime takes to the airwaves tonight (Sat., March 3, 2012) with its Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" broadcast, catch a sneak peek of the pre-fight feature that will air before the big main event. In it, women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate puts her title on the line for the very first time against rising star Ronda Rousey. Naturally, some final banter was bandied about before they settle up inside the cage. Says "Rowdy" Ronda: "Everything about her is better on paper. Her fights look better on paper. Her photos look better on paper than she does in person. Her trash talking looks much better on paper than it is if you actually listen to her talk." Replies Miesha: "No talking happens in the cage. It's time to shut up and throw fists and see who really has the heart and the will. You know, you can talk all you want but actions speak louder than words." Are we ready to finally get this show on the road or what?

Posted in: tate, miesha, rousey, ronda, paper

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Get a look at tonight's Showtime preview video for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey – before it airs on the broadcast! Miesha Tate! Ronday Rousey! The Strikeforce women's bantamweight title! Who ya got?

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, tate, rousey

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Like the swallows of Capistrano, faithful sports fans converge upon Columbus, Ohio every year to take part in the general festivities. In great numbers, these curiously bipedal and featherless migratory beings that call ourselves "humans" agree with each other that early March is the perfect time to see some fine feats of athletic strength, skill and competition - which makes Columbus a perfect place to have mixed martial arts events. The UFC has brought its show to town many times in the past and this year, Strikeforce is bringing the first title defense of the Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion against a fiery upstart challenger. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey will feature Miesha Tate (12-2, 5-1 in Strikeforce) and Ronda Rousey (4-0, 2-0 in Strikeforce) as the five round main event in the battle for the women's 135 pound title. The nationwide broadcast on Showtime begins on March 3rd at 10 PM Eastern Time (9 PM CT) and possibly extending up to 12:30 AM ET (depending on how the five main card bouts unfold throughout the night). By now, the esteemed reader may have grasped that this event is hyped as the battle of the two hottest stars in women's MMA. The hype is actually right. With the sidelining of Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, the meteoric rise of Ronda Rousey and the decisive method by which Miesha Tate became the champion, these are the two best fighters in the bantamweight division. Both are athletic, skilled, tough and attractive women. Both have the ability to talk some heat, stir up controversy and get inside the heads of their opponents. Only one will walk out as the champion, but women's MMA should benefit from both being fiercely passionate examples to emulate for current and future fighters. Hit the jump for a brief look at the last fights of Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, their styles and the likelihood of success for both fighters. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Miesha Tate won the bantamweight belt by submitting Marloes Coenen with an arm triangle midway through the fourth round of their bout at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Henderson. The title bout between Tate and Coenen was relatively even, as Miesha looked to push Coenen up against the cage and then take her down to begin her ground and pound progressions. Coenen attempted several submissions and even had Tate's back during the second round, but both fighters spent significant time in advantageous positions during those battles on the ground. The stand-up/striking portions were fairly limited due to Tate's success in evading Coenen's strikes and dragging Coenen to the ground. Throughout her career, Tate has had five wins by submission and two by knockout. The remaining five wins in her professional career were all unanimous decisions. Her last loss was back in 2009 to Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina. Miesha has made significant strides in her game since then and now enjoys a wrestling advantage over just about everybody in the division as well as competent stand-up. Tate will want to plant her opponents onto the mat and swing her fists at their head and body until they give up position or submissions in every fight she takes. Lately, Miesha and her support team have been vocal about dismissing Rousey's worthiness as a title challenger and even going as far as tweeting some very provocative words on the eve of the fight. The weigh-in "headbutt" was really nothing more than a slightly more than normally intense stare-off and even reminded me of an Australian cockatoo gently confroting a Meyer parrot that has encroached upon its space. The big story of this event is how Ronda Rousey armbarred and trash-talked her way to the title. That simplistic telling of things does little credit to the years of hard work sunk into a world class judo career and the stunning swiftness with which Rousey has applied that judo success into MMA. None of Ronda's four professional opponents have managed to avoid being submitted by an armbar within a minute. This woman is blasting her opponents out of the cage and occasionally leaving them with mangled limbs. The list of fighters in MMA who have done things like this include names like Jon Jones, Junior Dos Santos and Rousimar Palhares. These are the bonebreakers, soulcrushers and legendmakers of MMA. Julia Budd, Ronda's last opponent, lasted forty seconds before having her elbow dislocated at Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs. Sayers. However, the knock on Rousey is that she has not fought someone yet who can hold her off, make her play the stand-up game or plant her on the mat and unveil her defenses. Winning fights inside a minute with little to no damage taken is exactly the kind of career a professional fighter wants, but to be fighting for a title belt in a major MMA organization on a national title stage is a big step up for such a young prospect. The stand-up skills have been employed mostly as feints and blocks for Rousey to get within the clinch and then use her diverse array of trips and throws to gain side control or mount. From these positions, Ronda harvests arms with excellent technique and quickly - perhaps too quickly - applies the coup de grace that is her armbar. Rousey has been training all phases of the MMA game, as befits a professional, but time in the cage is a valuable learning tool and she just doesn't have it yet. Will that precociousness matter? Will Miesha Tate retain her belt by fending off Ronda Rousey's onslaught and dealing out damage in return? All signs seem pointed towards another Ronda armbar, but Miesha's coaches and team are smart people and probably have been drilling her in keeping her arms clenched inwards like the quasi-avian T-rex while on the ground. This is an interesting one and the later rounds could expose Rousey's conditioning to Tate's delight. This fight is the upstart judo hotshot facing an experienced wrestler/submission grappler in the most anticipated fight in recent women's MMA and it is the headlining bout of a Strikeforce show in Columbus, Ohio and televised on Showtime. Check this main event out. If the signs are right, we should be in for one very entertaining fight between two "birds". SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, miesha, rousey, ronda

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As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. Our live coverage will start with the prelim card on Showtime Extreme (8 p.m. ET) through the Showtime main card (10 p.m. ET) so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event. This post will cover live results and thoughts for the Showtime main card. The evening's main event sees Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate put her title on the line against challenger Ronda Rousey in what has become a major grudge match. The co-headlining bout on the evening sees K.J. Noons square off with Josh Thomson in a lightweight fight. Welterweights Paul Daley and Kazuo Misaki meet on the broadcast in a fight that promises fireworks. Rounding out the main card is a pair of middleweight bouts as Ronaldo Souza faces Bristol Marunde and Scott Smith takes on Lumumba Sayers. Make sure to come back during the event and share your thoughts as the event goes down. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, event, card, tate, rousey

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The Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” takes place later tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The event will air on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. In the night’s main event, Miesha Tate puts his women’s bantamweight title on the line against Ronda Rousey. KJ Noons takes on Josh Thomson in a pivotal lightweight bout. Paul Daley and Kazuo Misaki meet in a welterweight match-up. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza faces off against Bristol Marunde in a middleweight bout. Scott Smith squares off against Lumumba Sayers in a welterweight match-up. Results and thoughts after the jump. Results Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Recap Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers: Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Bristol Marunde: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey:

Posted in: vs, tate, lumumba sayers, rousey, josh thomson

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Burnt out by the over-all great UFC on FX card from Sydney, Australia last night? Maybe you are fairly indifferent to tonight's Strikeforce event and have considered giving it a miss and will check the results and other sources for the fights on Sunday morning? Fear not, and prepare to get hyped by this amazing fan made fight promo video for the Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey Bantamweight Championship main event. Using a collection of promotional footage most should be familiar with by now, this fan made video is really well edited and synchs excellently with the Trent Reznor / Karen O cover of "Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin, that features as the main theme for the American adaptation of the wildly successful "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" novel / movie. Unlike a lot of high quality promo videos released on Youtube the week of a fight, this hasn't been tweeted by Dana White and the account seems to belong to a genuine user, making me believe it's not a Zuffa-pretending-to-be-fan-made video. Strikeforce Tate vs Rousey airs tonight at 10pm ET on Showtime Strikeforce Tate vs Rousey Coverage on SBN Related Stories Bryan Caraway Calls Ronda Rousey An 'Unintelligent Bimbo,' Wants Her To 'Know Her Place' Strikeforce Weigh-In Results: Miesha Tate 134.5, Ronda Rousey 134.5 Strikeforce Fight Card Preview: Can Miesha Tate Stop Ronda Rousey? Strikeforce Tate Vs. Rousey: Staff Picks and Predictions

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, ronda

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As with every major show, Bloody Elbow will be here to bring you live results, play by play and commentary for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. Our live coverage will start with the prelim card on Showtime Extreme (8 p.m. ET) through the Showtime main card (10 p.m. ET) so make sure to make Bloody Elbow your home for this event. This post will cover live results and thoughts for the Showtime Extreme prelims. The "featured prelim" bout sees Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis meet in a fight that should determine the next challenger for the Strikeforce women's bantamweight championship. Two of the promotion's top up-and-coming lightweights meet when Caros Fodor clashes with Pat Healy. The card is rounded out by a lightweight bout between Ryan Couture and Conor Heun and a welterweight fight featuring Roger Bowling and Brandon Saling. Make sure to come back during the event and share your thoughts as the event goes down. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, card, rousey, welterweight fight, alexis davis

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Tonight, for the first time in three years, the talented and underappreciated females of MMA will headline a prominent fight card on Showtime. Unfortunately, it seems the athlete who is mostly responsible for this fight receiving the top billing on this card, undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey, is not nearly getting enough respect heading into the match-up. Her opponent, Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate, has made it known on numerous occasions \she doesn’t feel that Rousey is worthy of challenging her for the title. Rousey has only been competing professionally in MMA for a year, and, while she has finished all four of her opponents with an Armbar in the first round, she hasn’t tested herself against the elite of the division. It took Tate thirteen fights to get what Rousey received in four – a shot at the Strikeforce title, and thus Tate feels Rousey has essentially talked her way into their bout, disrespecting women’s MMA with her mouth along the way. It is undeniable Rousey’s brash behavior in addition to her good looks is what has put her in this position faster than the norm but that doesn’t mean she is not a worthy challenger. An Olympic bronze medalist in Judo, Rousey poses many difficult challenges to the champion, and, despite her relative lack of MMA experience, could upset Tate when it is all said and done. Tate is a phenomenal competitor and a fantastic role model for the sport but deep down inside she should be thankful of Rousey. Without Rousey, this fight would not be in the main event and would not be getting the tremendous amount of press that it has. Just imagine if Tate were fighting Sarah Kaufman instead. It would still be a very compelling collision but would also be positioned much lower on the card, even for a title fight, and it would not be talked about in the press very much. Think about this – Josh Thomson and K.J Noons who are two of the most exciting lightweights that Strikeforce has to offer are competing on this card and nobody is talking about it. Everyone is mesmerized with the Tate-Rousey match-up and this is something that hasn’t been seen in the sport since Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos ended Gina Carano’s run in 2009. If it is a good fight with the winner emerging as a star, but if it is a great fight they both could become household names meaning female fighters will be highlighted more often on the main card. It seems that Tate, many female fighters, and even fans fail to understand this concept because a majority of the female audience is against Rousey and believe she is a horrible representative of the sport. Maybe it just boils down to the fact that certain women can be very jealous people in nature and will downgrade anyone who is accomplishing something faster than them, or maybe Rousey really is such a horrible person and I’m just not seeing it. Either way, she is helping launch women’s MMA to higher levels whether the rest of the audience wants to admit it or not. Not taking anything away from Tate, as the champion has been a class act throughout her entire career and is truly one of the best ambassadors of the sport for both males and females, but every good girl needs a bad girl to spark the flames. We have seen many male fighters play the role of the heel or villain in their fights and fans have loved it so why is it so wrong when a woman promotes herself that way? I’ve seen people on Twitter verbally attack Rousey in Tweets and then sing the praises of fighters like Chael Sonnen. Where’s the sense in that? If you are going to dislike someone because they talk a lot of trash but call yourself a fan of another fighter who does the exact same thing on a much higher level, you are a compulsive hypocrite and the MMA community does not need people like that. Tate’s experience and championship pedigree might be too much for Rousey tonight, or the bronze medalist could shock the world, but regardless of the outcome women’s MMA is on the front line and this is a big moment for female fighters across the globe. “Rowdy” Ronda shouldn’t be criticized for her behavior – she should be praised for it. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE (Austin Hargrave)

Posted in: fight, mma, fighter, tate, rousey

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Posted in: xkrazexmnux, tate, rousey, rouseys teeth, teeth

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With the women's bantamweight title on the line, Strikeforce's fight card later tonight (March 3, 2012) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, brings some compelling mixed martial arts (MMA) match ups. But, regrettably, Strikeforce's future -- and that of women's MMA -- is uncertain. However, with Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey battling for the 135-pound championship, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White is expected to be in attendance, which means that like the rest of us, he can't wait to see these ladies fight. There's smack talk, and then there's the torrent of abuse Rousey has heaped on Tate, along with a who's who of other name female fighters. Rousey, a 2008 bronze medalist in judo, seems to have an inherent understanding of self-promotion. Now that she's brought the noise, she needs to bring the ruckus. And with her impressive career thus far -- four wins, with the longest a mere 49 seconds -- she seems poised to usher in a new era of women's MMA, especially with Cristiane Santos' likely suspension after testing positive for steroids, and Gina Carano's exit from the sport altogether. But, Tate has worked pretty hard herself to get the championship. With a gutty fourth-round submission of Marloes Coenen, Tate showed a blend of composure and commitment in a back-and-forth battle in July. Many great grapplers have been upended in MMA when striking or submissions come into the fray before their core skills can -- Kevin Jackson, for example -- and you get the feeling the prefight build up is going to either push Tate to a career-defining performance, or represents Rousey's attempt to get inside her head. Either way, this is a great fight for women's MMA between two very skilled athletes. The bad blood only makes it that much more interesting to the casual viewer. Follow me after the jump for a complete breakdown of the Strikeforce title fight between Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey: The Breakdown Tate's striking and the ability to control the distance are critical in this fight, because if she ties up and clinches with Rousey, she's going to get tossed to the mat. Rousey, cutting down from 145 in previous bouts, is exceptionally strong with incredible core strength, typical of a world-class judo player. She'll upend you and practically be moving to advance into her next position while you're still heading to the floor, chaining submissions together expertly. The best tool to use against a superior tie-up artists is the cage, and Tate should gravitate there if Rousey can tie her up. I'm not sure striking will be that big a factor in this bout. One drawback of women's MMA, at least in terms of viewer entertainment, is that most women don't have the kind of upper-body strength to uncork big punches like the men. As a result, standing exchanges are often damaging as much because of poor footwork and positioning as solid technique and striking power (yes, we know Santos is an example, which sort of proves the point retroactively, doesn't it?). That said, what Tate can do is work a good Brazilian jiu-jitsu game if she ends up on the bottom, using sweeps to reverse position or to return to her feet. Rousey should have the stamina to go at least two or three rounds, but a five-round fight is a huge unknown. It's also a wild card if Tate can weather the early storm and go to work on Ronda, especially on the feet, and plant doubts in her head, which are especially fatiguing for a title challenger who's yet to go a full minute in a four-fight career. The Pick When Cassius Clay challenged Sonny Liston, he talked so much smack to the baleful champ that reporters literally plotted routes to the nearest hospital from the Miami arena. But what Clay-nee-Muhammad Ali was really doing was a couple things: Getting inside Liston's head, and convincing himself that he was ready for the biggest stage of his career. He wasn't talking to Liston. He was talking to himself. I think that's a fairly accurate guess on Rousey's approach here, and her background as long-time judo player gives her some resolute toughness to back it up. Mentally, Rousey has some big hurdles to get over with her lack of distance fights, but so does Tate in the sense of this being her first title defense. She was focused for her championship-winning effort for Coenen, and if she can make it through the first two rounds, I think she can take Rousey deep and outlast her for a late submission or decision win. But there are some athletes who just strike you with how they execute. That's precisely the reason I was high on Jon Jones early in his UFC career, and Rousey gives me that same feeling. She'll come up like gangbusters and take it to the mat, submitting Tate in a memorable, but ultimately one-sided battle that ends in the second round. And, hopefully, one that encourages White and the UFC to take a long look at women's MMA in some long-term capacity. Rousey via submission Be sure to join MMAmania.com later this evening for LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the Strikeforce main card action, which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8:00 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Showtime Extreme. See you then!

Posted in: fight, tate, women, womens mma, rousey

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"Rowdy" Ronda Rousey says she deserves her Strikeforce women's title shot, and if you don't believe her, look at the odds – she's the favorite.

Posted in: strikeforce, shot, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Strikeforce is all set to get it poppin' at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, tonight (Sat., March 3, 2012) with its "Tate vs. Rousey" event. And, thanks to each competitor on the card officially making weight at yesterday's weigh-ins, they can do just that. The main event of the evening will see Miesha Tate defend her women's bantamweight championship against Ronda Rousey, an undefeated judo player with a penchant for breaking arms. Will she add one more to her collection tonight? Also booked for the card are match-ups pitting Josh Thomson vs. K.J. Noons, Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde, Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki and Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers. Check out a photo gallery (via ShoSports) after the jump.

Posted in: vs, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, ohio strikeforce

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Ronda Rousey has a chance to lift judo into the MMA spotlight in her Strikeforce women's title bout Saturday night against champion Miesha

Posted in: title, strikeforce, bout, rousey, mma spotlight

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Ronda Rousey is now the new Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, after an impressive performance against Miesha Tate in tonight's main event, and another first round armbar victory. The fight opened with Rousey and Tate exchanging punches, looking to get out all the mutual hatred gathered from the build-up for the fight. Rousey was first to respond with a hip toss that got her straight into full mount. From there, the challenger tried to secure her trademark armbar maneuver, but Miesha Tate refused

Posted in: tate, armbar, rousey, miesha tate, fight rousey

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Click the banner above or right here for up-to-the-minute results and blow-by-blow coverage of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey." MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the Strikeforce main card action RIGHT HERE later this evening (March 3, 2012), beginning at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8:00 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Showtime Extreme. If you're going to leave comments and discuss the fights with all the other MMAmania.com readers be sure to do it on the main Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" results post and not this one. Comments in this thread are turned off. Enjoy the show, Maniacs!

Posted in: strikeforce, blowbyblow coverage, rousey, uptotheminute results, showtime click

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey kicks off tonight at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. MMAFrenzy will have live coverage beginning with the Showtime Extreme aired Preliminary Card beginning at 8PM ET and will continue through the Showtime aired main card starting at 10PM ET. MMAFrenzy will have live results, twitter updates, and play-by-play for tonight’s main event battle between Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey. Quick Results: MAIN CARD (Showtime) Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Bristol Marunde Scott Smith vs. Lamumba Sayers PRELIMINARY CARD (Showtime Extreme) Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy Ryan Couture vs. Conor Huen Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling Play-By-Play: Miesha Tate (c) vs. Ronda Rousey Round 1 - Twitter Coverage: <a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php?option=com_altcaster&task=siteviewaltcast&altcast_code=75e1eae8d5&height=550&width=470″ target=”_blank” >Click Here</a>

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, showtime, tate, rousey

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After an exciting UFC card on Friday night, the UFC’s sister promotion, Strikeforce, takes center stage with Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey. Featuring a women’s 135 pound championship bout between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, as well as an intriguing lightweight bout between K.J. Noons and Josh Thomson, this card could very well outshine Friday’s UFC card. With four preliminary bouts on Showtime: Extreme, and a five fight main card live on Showtime, fights fans will have no shortage of fights to watch this Saturday night. Let’s get down to business and take a look at the card: Roger Bowling (10-2) vs. Brandon Saling (8-5) Longtime Strikeforce fighter Roger Bowling welcomes newcomer Brandon Saling to the promotion to open up the Showtime Extreme portion of the card. Bowling is coming off a quick knockout of Jerron Peoples in December, and looks to make it two in a row here. A Chuck Liddell lookalike, Saling already has two knockout victories this year. Unfortunately for Saling, Bowling is just a better fighter, and will likely overwhelm him. Winner – Roger Bowling defeats Brandon Saling via TKO Round 1 Ryan Couture (3-1) vs. Conor Heun (9-4) The son of “The Natural” Randy Couture, Ryan, steps into the Strikeforce cage for the fifth time looking for his first victory over mid-tier competition. The test he must pass is that of one Conor Heun. “Hurricane” hasn’t had much luck in Strikeforce, and looks to build his first win streak inside the Strikeforce cage. Let’s be real here, Couture just isn’t very good, at least not yet. Heun will beat Ryan on the feet and on the ground, en route to a unanimous decision win. Winner – Conor Heun defeats Ryan Couture via Unanimous Decision Caros Fodor (7-1) vs. Pat Healy (26-16) An exciting prospect, Caros Fodor enters the cage on Saturday on the strength of a five fight win streak, and most recently blasted Justin Wilcox in 13 seconds. “Bam Bam” Healy has done it all. With victories over Dan Hardy, Paul Daley, Carlos Condit, and most recently Maximo Blanco, Healy looks for his fourth straight win. While Fodor may be “The Future”, I think the crafty veteran Healy gets the win here, but it will be a very close fight. Winner – Pat Healy defeats Caros Fodor via Split Decision Sarah Kaufman (14-1) vs. Alexis Davis (11-4) In the main event of the preliminary card, we’ll find out who gets the next shot the the champion. The former champ Sarah Kaufman looks to prove that she was overlooked for the title shot after dominating Liz Carmouche at Strikeforce Challengers 17. Davis looks for her fourth straight win and looks to earn her first Strikeforce title shot with a win over Kaufman. Although it was nearly five years ago, Kaufman has already defeated Davis. While they’ve both grown since, I believe Kaufman is the better fighter, and will have an easy night here, taking a decision and being first in line for the winner of the main event. Winner – Sarah Kaufman defeats Alexis Davis via Unanimous Decision Scott Smith (17-9) vs. Lumumba Sayers (5-2) Scott Smith needs to win, badly. Coming off of three straight losses to Cung Le, Paul Daley, and Tarec Saffiedine, the heavy handed Smith is likely fighting for his job. Smith can just about knock out anyone, and he tends to make these miraculous comebacks that are the stuff of legend. Smith returns to middleweight for this bout. Sayers, who made short work of Antwain Britt in November, looks to build off of that win and get his second straight victory. Known for his submissions above all, Sayers has heavy hands and may very well be ready to to make the move from mid-tier to upper-tier middleweights with a victory here. Smith doesn’t have much of a chin, but Sayers has suffered a quick knockout in his career as well. While most seem to favor Sayers in this fight, I feel as if he’ll get pulled into a brawl here. Someone will likely go to sleep, and I have a feeling that Smith will be the one landing a big counter that ends the fight. Winner – Scott Smith defeats Lamumba Sayers via Knockout Round 1 Ronaldo Souza (14-3) vs. Bristol Marunde (12-6) Jacare! The former middleweight champion looks to bounce back from his loss to Luke Rockhold. The grappling ace has victories over Jason Miller, Tim Kennedy, and Robbie Lawler, and undoubtedly wants his belt back. A victory here would be a step in the right direction, however, a loss would be devastating, and “Jacare” has a lot to lose here. Making his Strikeforce debut, Bristole Marunde, the IFL veteran, looks for his fifth straight win. The biggest challenge of his career, a victory over Souza would be a huge statement, and Marunde has absolutely nothing to lose in this fight. With nine wins in his last ten fights, Marunde is more than capable of taking home the W, and his well-rounded fighting style could take him far. I expect a very aggressive Marunde in this fight. I imagine him throwing leather with blatant disregard for his, or Jacare’s safety. Unfortunately for him, Souza outclasses him on the feet, likely hurts him, and follows up on the ground with his speciality. Winner – Ronaldo Souza defeats Bristol Marunde via Submission Round 1 Paul Daley (29-11-2) vs. Kazuo Misaki (24-11-2) Returning to Strikeforce for the first time since July of last year. “Semtex” looks for the third straight victory, and looks to get back into title contention in Strikeforce. The heavy handed striker has worked hard on improving his ground game, as we’ve seen in his last few fights, but his bread and butter is still, and always will be, his sledgehammer fists. The Japanese Misaki returns to Strikeforce for the first time in three years. The Pride, Sengoku, and Pancrase veteran has fought some of the best in the world including Dan Henderson, Jake Shields, and Jorge Santiago. With 15 finishes to his credit, the Haleo Top Team fighter looks for his third straight victory, and is more than capable of getting it on Saturday night. This has “Fight of the Night” written all over it. While Misaki may not be the fighter he used to be, he still can hold his own against anybody. The most likely scenario sees the veteran Misaki engaging Daley on the feet, but that will likely be as far as he gets. His desire to engage in a brawl will be his downfall as Daley lands one or two huge shots and puts Misaki away within the distance. Winner – Paul Daley defeats Kazuo Misaki via TKO Round 2 K.J. Noons (11-4) vs. Josh Thomson (18-4) The fast-moving boxer, K.J. Noons returns to the cage less than three months removed from his decision victory over Billy Evangelista. With victories over much of the lightweight division, Noons is a handful for anybody, and his striking, movement, and speed, can cause a lot of problems for his opponents. Looking for his second straight victory following two losses, Noons faces a tough challenge in Thomson. “The Punk” returns after over a year away from the sport due to injuries. The lightweight standout undoubtedly wants a rubber match with champ Gilbert Melendez, and a victory over Noons could be the start of his climb back to the top. The former champion believes he should be in the main event, and he’ll look to put on a great showing in the co-main event on Saturday. The possibility of ring rust aside, Thomson is a versatile fighter with a fantastic skillset. If Thomson can stay out of a slugfest and work the fight to where he is stronger, which is everywhere else, he should be able to overwhelm and confuse Noons. One of the closest fights on the card, this could go either way, but I give the slight edge to Thomson. Winner – Josh Thomson defeats K.J. Noons via Unanimous Decision Miesha Tate (12-2) vs. Ronda Rousey (4-0) The main event pits the 135 pound champion Miesha Tate against fast-rising challenger Ronda Rousey. Tate, who defeated Marloes Coenen to take the belt home last summer, makes her first defense of the title in the headlining contest on Saturday. The Team Alpha Male fighter, Tate tends to use her powerful wrestling and excellent submissions to dictate the pace of fights. She has the gas tank to go for five rounds, and is proficient in the ground and pound. The undefeated Rousey fights for not only a title, but also, respect. While many within the division have criticized Rousey for essentially talking her way into a title fight, she has the experience in combat sports, the athleticism, and the technical prowess to make short work of anyone. Having not had a fight get out of the first minute, Rousey is clearly a fast starter and a great finisher, who will look to continue her streak of collecting limbs. It goes without saying that we could very well have a new champion here. While Rousey lacks experience in MMA, she has been grappling her whole life, and that may play into her favor. Both fighters want this fight to hit the ground, as that’s where their strengths are, but Rousey may have the edge in that regard. Tate’s striking isn’t anything spectacular, and she can’t win the fight just standing with “Rowdy” Ronda. She does have dominate top control, and if she can score takedown after takedown, she could dominate the fight, especially in the later rounds. In the beginning of the fight, I heavily favor Rousey, but if the fight gets out of the first one or two rounds, Tate will continuously take Ronda down and grind out a decision. I like Rousey a lot, but I believe Tate retains the belt here. Winner – Miesha Tate defeats Ronda Rousey via Unanimous Decision No matter how the fights play out, Saturday’s Strikeforce card will round out an awesome weekend of fights, and features perhaps the best fight of the weekend in Tate vs Rousey. After this event, hopefully we’ll have a better idea of how Strikeforce’s divisions will progress, and have a better idea of the future of women’s MMA. Enjoy the fights! Things start on Showtime Extreme at 8:00 PM EST with the main card firing up at 10:00 PM EST.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, victory, rousey

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Everyone hit their marks for tonight's "Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey" card, with Miesha and Ronda both looking predictably lean and mean and sexy at 135 lbs.  Unfortunately, the only one who needed to strip down to make weight was Caros Fodor, and the only nipple tweaking was between Thomson and Noons, but things did get a bit heated when Tate and Rousey squared off. Besides the cuties fighting for our hearts and a big golden belt, the main card also features Michael Knight vs The Punk, Paul Daley and Jacare getting fed what should be fairly easy wins, and Scott Smith returning to middleweight in an attempt to prove that he's not utterly shot, while two Canuck chicks and the usual suspects from the Challengers shows languish on the undercard. The complete weigh-in results are below.  I presume there'll be a chat tonight, but this old man will be out getting hammered for my birthday, so you'll just have to do without my clever and hilarious observations.  You kids stay outta trouble now. MAIN CARD (SHOWTIME):Women's BW Championship: Miesha Tate (134.5) vs. Ronda Rousey (134.5)K.J. Noons (156) vs. Josh Thomson (155)Paul Daley (171) vs. Kazuo Misaki (169.5)Scott Smith (186) vs. Lumumba Sayers (185)Jacare Souza (184.5) vs. Bristol Marunde (184) PRELIMINARY CARD (SHOWTIME EXTREME):Alexis Davis (135.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (135.5)Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5)Caros Fodor (155.5) vs. Pat Healy (155)Ryan Couture (154.5) vs. Conor Heun (155)

Posted in: vs, card, tate, weighin results, rousey

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - MMAjunkie.com was on scene for Friday's official "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" weigh-ins, where all 18 competitors made weight. The festivities took place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Held in conjunction with the annual Arnold Sports Festival, the weigh-ins built up to an intense staredown between two bitter rivals: Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate and fellow headliner Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, columbu, weighin, rousey

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Let's just say this up front: picking Ronda Rousey to beat Miesha Tate is a leap of faith. After all, what exactly do we know about Rousey the mixed martial artist? Sure, she is 4-0, but her fights combined have lasted little over two minutes. She's spent next to no time standing up and little time on the ground for that matter, her lighting quick arm bar transitions causing frantic taps. Rousey herself has even played up the mystery, acknowledging that the less Tate knows about her skills, the better. What we do know is that she is a killer, a fearless assassin who has shown no fear inside or outside of the cage. On the other hand, she's never faced anyone with the experience level of Strikeforce bantamweight champ Tate. That makes their Saturday night main event fight more of a guessing game than usual when it comes to predicting a winner. Rousey (4-0) comes in as a nearly 3-to-1 favorite to unseat Tate and that's based solely off of her ability to put the fight where she wants it and finish. Unlike some of her other opponents, Tate (12-2) has a wrestling background, and according to FightMetric, has never been taken down in her six Strikeforce fights.That's a stat that will be tested on Saturday. Will Rousey be able to pull off the trick? She's done it in every other fight, either with brute force or through judo technique. Given her background as an international judo competitor, you have to believe that anytime the fight gets in close quarters, Tate is going to be in danger of finding herself on the mat.In her most recent fight against Julia Budd for example, Rousey jabbed her way in close, got a hold of Budd and tried a hip throw. Budd was ready for it and kept her weight back. From years in judo, Rousey has a perfect understanding of leverage, and simply readjusted, using Budd's backwards force to push her down to the mat. Within seconds, it was game over. It's been the same sort of plan for every fight, Rousey quickly jabbing her opponent backwards as a means of getting a grip on them. She shows no fear of return fire from the woman standing across from her, but she hasn't show any polish as a striker, either. She certainly excels in the clinch, and that's going to be an area of concern for Tate. Given Tate's background as a wrestler, it will be interesting to see if she is more interested in keeping the fight standing up or has faith in her submission defense. Tate historically has good ground and pound, but as we've seen from Rousey, she has no problem working from the bottom and attacking there.The matchup problem for Tate comes in the fact that she's proven to be a fighter who likes to work her opponent against the fence, put them on their back and work from the top. Does that sound like a matchup tailor-made for Rousey? So it becomes a question of whether Tate willl adjust and choose to jab, use footwork and look to keep Rousey at distance, or fight her normal fight.Against Marloes Coenen, Tate showed a decent jab and a straight right hand behind it, but spent most of the fight using those to walk into a clinch. One thing that must be noted is that Tate found herself in a series of troubling spots on the ground against Coenen. In the first round, she worked her way out of a first-round anaconda. In the second, Coenen took her back, hooked on a body triangle and worked for a rear naked choke. She also used the position to mount her from the back and land strikes from the top. That Tate escaped the positions is a testament to her toughness, but Rousey is a bigger and stronger opponent than Coenen, and if she gets those positions, the possibilities of escaping will be slimmer.Because this could potentially be a five-round fight, the conditioning edge must go to Tate. Against Coenen, she looked strong into the championship rounds, sinking in a fourth-round arm triangle choke to win. It's also Rousey's debut at the lower 135-pound weight class, and we don't know how the cut will effect her conditioning.Of course, even that is speculative. So much of Rousey's game is still a mystery that it's impossible to know how good she really is. We do know that many of Tate's best qualities play into what Rousey does best. And so that's enough to guess that Rousey will get the fight to the ground and again win by submission. Given Tate's experience and toughness, it's not going to take her less than one minute, like all of her other fights. She will be tested, and maybe we'll learn something more about her. But a trend is a trend, so Rousey by arm bar.

Posted in: fight, ground, tate, rousey, coenen

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Missed the fireworks at Friday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey weigh-ins in Columbus, Ohio? Relive the heated action in this highlights video before tonight's card.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Sherdog.com will report from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, at approximately 8 p.m. ET with play-by-play and live results of Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey,” which is headlined by a 135-pound women’s title match pitting champion Miesha Tate against undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: result, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Sherdog.com will report from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, at approximately 8 p.m. ET with play-by-play and live results of Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey,” which is headlined by a 135-pound women’s title match pitting champion Miesha Tate against undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: result, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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Miesha Tate is the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, but Ronda Rousey doesn’t think she’ll be ready when they meet in the main event of Strikeforce’s March 3 card in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, miesha tate, way tate

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After the exciting night of fights in Australia, it's time for some Women's Mixed Martial Arts action, as Miesha Tate defends her title for the first time, fighting Ronda Rousey at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey fight card also includes big names such as Paul Daley, Josh Thomson, KJ Noons, Jacare Souza, and many others. Don't forget to join us at LowKick.com for Play-by-Play Commentary and Chat with a full panel of LowKick.com writers starting

Posted in: tate, arts action, ronda rousey, lowkickcom writers, rousey

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Let's be real here, Maniacs. Strikeforce has sold us on the tonight's (March 3, 2012) women's bantamweight championship between 135-pound champion Miesha Tate against rising star Ronda Rousey based on sex. Or rather, how sexy they are in addition to how very lethal these lovely ladies can be as highly-trained mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters. So why not take it the full nine yards? That's right, we here at MMAmania.com present you the very first (and likely only) sexiness battle. Our Commander in Chief, Tommy Myers, has humbly accepted the difficult undertaking of judging this contest. Tough job. Tate and Rousey will collide for real in the Strikeforce main event from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, in short order. In the meantime, the dynamic duo will go pic-for-pic for fake right here, right now. This sexiness battle will comprise five rounds: Round one is for beauty, round two is for abs, round three is for booty, round four is straight up and round five for intensity. We need your votes, Maniacs, to determine the winner. Let's get to it: Round 1: Strikeforce quickly set up a photo shoot for Tate and Rousey to showcase the fact that not only are they tough enough to beat you up, they're beautiful enough to knock your socks off. Obviously. Judge Myers: Both of these badasses clean up nice, eh? The wind-blown, model-esque look and feel of these pics is very well done. Kind of gives you the feeling that they are lonely, innocent and scanning the horizon for their knights in shining armor. Or, more likely, I'm just demented. I like Tate's rope prop, perhaps a bit too much, and I'd give the round to her hands down if it were a fair fight, but it isn't because Tate isn't clinging to anything phallic. That's grounds for disqualification, or in this case, a dreaded draw. Scoring after round one: Tate 0, Rousey 0 Round 2: Tate's abs are world-renowned, as she frequently gets requests on her Twitter account to post pictures like you see above. Rousey, though, is no slouch, even if she's admitted to having previous weight troubles in her youth. Now that she's down to 135-pounds, they're even more defined. Judge Myers: Rousey looked amazing at the weigh in recently -- she has never looked trimmer, in fact. However, Tate and her chiseled abdomen always bring the heat, and this weekend is no different. While I'd much rather rest my head on Rousey's tummy if we were snuggle buddies, we're not, so I've got to go with the shredded six of "Takedown." Scoring after round two: Tate 1, Rousey 0 Round 3: Obviously, Tate gets some credit for going all Wonder Woman on us, but look how Rousey fills out that dress. Sure, you may find it a little dirty of us to use this as an entire round of scoring, but there's a reason they're both posing this way while taking a pic of themselves. Judge Myers: Both these girls, and all others, need to stop taking pics in front of the bathroom mirror. Immediately. It's retarded. Tate looks completely foolish (I know, it's Halloween), and her best rear-facing asset is all but lost in this costume pic. Don't get me wrong, the wagon that Tate's draggin' is off the charts, but Rousey's surprising curves are giving her a run for her money here. She looks simple and sinister. It's an odd mix. But, I like it, a lot, even though she may not. Upset special. Scoring after round three: Tate 1, Rousey 1 Round 4: Here they are weighing in, straight up. Look at the hair ... the hair! Tate's smile shines through while Rousey's cool demeanor certainly gives her a more mysterious appeal. Judge Myers: Gah, this is tough. Tate's super long finger is disturbing and her hands look filthy. I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt, however, and chalk it up to ... poor lighting? Rousey's alligator arms are also a little off-putting, so I'm going to go strictly on what I should be considering in the first place, which is reproduction. That's what we're all on this planet for in the first place, right? I've got two kids and I certainly don't want any more, but if both these fine ladies approached me and requested my DNA, Rousey would have to get to the back of the line ... for just a few seconds. Scoring after round four: Tate 2, Rousey 1 Round 5: Judge Myers: Grr ... These pretty ladies threw all their beauty aside for one ugly moment immediately after making weight at the Nationwide Arena. Who can blame them, really, normal females are a handful, much less trained killers who haven't eaten much in days. Rousey has been talking all sorts of smack in the build up to this fight, which is perhaps the reason Tate got right up in her grill as quickly as she did. It looks like Rousey ended up getting the better of the head-jarring exchange, but Tate gets all the credit for standing up for herself and letting "Rowdy" know she ain't havin' that. She also steals a very close round in a very close superficial fight. Scoring after round five: Tate 3, Rousey 1 There we have it, Tate wins the Strikeforce sexiness battle via unanimous decision (3-1-0). It hasn't been easy, but the 135-pound champion pulled it off with her all-around hotness and her last-minute kitty cat puffy tale trick at the weigh in. Too bad that means diddly once the cage door closes in the "Buckeye State." Be sure to cast your unofficial vote below: Who's sexier, Miesha Tate or Ronda Rousey? Poll Who wins the very first sexiness battle? Miesha Tate Ronda Rousey Judge Myers   2 votes | Results

Posted in: round, judge, tate, myer, rousey

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Rousey Armbars Her Way To Bantam TitleRonda Rousey’s first armbar didn’t finish Miesha Tate Saturday night at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, but you had a feeling the second would, and it did, crowning “Rowdy” Ronda as the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion via first round submission.“I came here to put on a fight,” said Tate. “I didn’t like her so I wanted to come out here and come out hard. I got a little overzealous, she caught the arm. I do respect her as an athlete.”Tate came out swinging, and not surprisingly, Rousey responded with a takedown. The expected armbar followed, and while it looked to hyperextended, Tate fought off the submission attempt, and with the crowd roaring, the champion got loose and took Rousey’s back. Rousey tried to slam her way out of trouble, but Tate wouldn’t let go. Midway through the round, Rousey got loose and the two locked up against the fence and then on the mat. After breaking, the fighters traded briefly before Rousey scored with a throw. Rousey transitioned into the mount and then took Tate’s back before moving back and securing the armbar again. This time, despite much resistance from Tate, she eventually had no choice but to tap, bringing a halt to the bout at 4:27 of the opening round.“She’s good, she’s legit, but I don’t feel too bad about it,” said Rousey of the finish. It was the first time she had gone past 57 seconds in a bout, pro or amateur.With the win, Rousey improves to 5-0; Tate, who was making the first defense of her title, falls to 12-3In his first bout since December of 2010, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson returned to the cage and may have earned a rubber match against the promotion’s current 155-pound boss, Gilbert Melendez, scoring a solid, yet unspectacular three round unanimous decision over KJ Noons.Scores were 29-28 across the board for Thomson, who was sidelined by injury for the last 15 months.A front kick to the face from Thomson (19-4, 1 NC) got Noons’ attention as soon as the bout started, and “The Punk” showed little sign of cage rust as he stayed busy and potshotted his opponent. Thomson had to fight for a takedown two minutes in, but he eventually got it, adding to his scoring tally.  The action stalled on the mat, but Thomson remained in control, as Noons couldn’t find a way to get back to his feet.Noons (10-4) showed more urgency in his attack to start the second, and while a Thomson slip gave him a good opportunity to capitalize on, Thomson got out of trouble with little difficulty, with a takedown following seconds later. Noons still had no answers for Thomson’s control on the ground, and you could see the frustration on his face. On the other side, Thomson was working just enough to keep the bout from getting stood up, but with two minutes left, referee Keith Peterson did restart the bout. Noons, now bleeding from over the left eye, tried to force the action, scoring with some uppercuts, but Thomson put him on the seat of his pants for the rest of the frame.Looking to turn things around, Noons’ aggression led him into another takedown by Thomson, and this time, he almost got finished by an arm triangle choke. Noons rode out the submission attempt, but Thomson took his back and then got on top, where he drilled his foe with hammerfists that put more points in the bank and ultimately, more than he needed for the victory.MISAKI vs. DALEYPRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix champion Kazuo Misaki returned to the Strikeforce cage for the first time since 2009 and he picked up where he left off after his win over Joe Riggs more than two years ago, taking a split decision victory over British bomber Paul “Semtex” Daley.Scores were 30-27, 29-28, and 28-29 for Misaki, who improves to 25-11-2 with 1 NC; Daley falls to 29-12-2.There was little significant scoring in the opening two minutes as both fighters tried to find their range, and it was Misaki drawing first blood with a quick takedown to open the third minute. Daley got up fairly quickly, but Misaki’s confidence was growing as he fired off hard and fast shots at Daley, even jarring him briefly as the round progressed. In response, Daley actually shot for a takedown with 40 seconds left and got it, finally getting on the scoreboard.Misaki’s speed and willingness to trade kept paying off in the second, leaving Daley off-balance and throwing haymakers to try to keep the Japanese veteran at bay. Daley did score another takedown, but his ground strikes were sporadic and doing little damage. In the late stages of the round, Daley took Misaki’s back briefly, but Misaki reversed position and stood in Daley’s guard until referee Jerry Krzys re-started the action in the closing seconds.Daley’s third takedown of the fight in the third round provided his greatest chance for victory, as he was able to open a nasty cut over Misaki’s left eye while the two were on the mat. A check with the cageside physician kept Misaki in the fight, and “The Hitman” marched forward, taking a hard kick to the face but refusing to move back off as he stalked. A tired Daley got another brief takedown, but he couldn’t do anything with it as Misaki got to his feet and kept the pressure on until the final bell.SAYERS vs. SMITHMiddleweight up and comer Lumumba Sayers handed veteran Scott Smith his fourth consecutive loss, submitting “Hands of Steel” just 94 seconds into their bout.Sayers (6-2) opened up his scoring with a couple strikes before taking Smith to the mat. Sayers let Smith get up, only to slam him back to the canvas. Smith (18-10, 1 NC) looked for a choke as he went down, but it was Sayers who fought loose and sunk in his own guillotine choke, prompting an end to the bout via tap out at the 1:34 mark.SOUZA vs. MARUNDEFormer Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza got back in the win column in his first bout since losing his belt to Luke Rockhold last September, submitting Bristol Marunde in the third round of the main card.Souza took his time to start off the bout, working his standup before taking Marunde down to the mat a little more than two minutes gone. While on Marunde’s back, Souza fired off strikes, but shots to the back of the head prompted referee Keith Peterson to call a stop to the action to issue a warning. Having lost the dominant position, Souza wasn’t rattled, especially not after a right hand dropped Marunde with 1:40 left. Souza looked for the submission finish, but the Las Vegan was able to make it out of the round.“Jacare” mixed up his striking to open up the second, and he was successful, hurting his foe and taking him down the canvas. Marunde shot back up quickly, but he was unable to get any sort of offense going against the Brazilian, who easily put another round in the bank.After getting two rounds of work in, Souza closed the show in the third, taking Marunde down and eventually sinking in the arm triangle choke that made his foe tap out at 2:43 of the third round.With the win, Souza ups his record to 15-3, 1 NC; Marunde falls to 12-7.

Posted in: bout, round, daley, rousey, thomson

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The Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" weigh-in event took place this afternoon (Fri., March 2, 2012) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, where all 18 competitors tipped the scale to make their respective bouts official for tomorrow night's mixed martial arts (MMA) event on Showtime. Of course, Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate and her angry counterpart, Ronda Rousey, stole the show with a pre-fight scuffle on the stage. Main card participants K.J. Noons, Josh Thomson, Paul Daley, Kazuo Misaki, Ronaldo Souza, Bristol Marunde, Scott Smith and Lumumba Sayers are all featured in the video above. For complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" weigh in results click here and for the intense haed-butt staredown pic click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, lumumba sayers, rousey, columbus ohio

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey weigh-in resultsColumbus, OHMiesha Tate (134.5) vs. Ronda Rousey (134.5)K.J. Noons (156) vs. Josh Thomson (155)Paul Daley (171) vs. Kazuo Misaki (169.5)Lumumba Sayers (185) vs. Scott Smith (186)Bristol Marunde (184) vs. Ronaldo Souza (184.5)Alexis Davis (135.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (135.5)Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5)Caros Fodor (155.5) vs. Pat Healy (155)Ryan Couture (154.5) vs. Conor Heun (155)Miesha Tate (12-2) vs. Ronda Rousey (4-0)

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, ronda

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Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey faced off and almost got their fight going 24 hours early as they both made weight ahead of their title fight on Saturday night in Ohio.

Posted in: saturday night, title fight, tate, ronda rousey, rousey

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Get "Rowdy!" That's what Ronda Rousey did earlier today (Fri., March 2, 2012) at the Strikeforce weigh-ins in Columbus, Ohio, as she headbutted her opponent, Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate, during their staredown. It's not like it was unprovoked. Tate got right in Rousey's face and pressed her forehead up against her foe, likely in an attempt to signify her lack of intimidation at all the trash Ronda's been talking in the lead up to the fight. The Olympian didn't take kindly to it, of course, and responded by shoving her head forward, leaving a bright red spot on Miesha's dome. She took to Twitter afterwards to say the following: "Ronda thinks she's tough she tries WAY 2 hard, such a phony person & she'll probably get fined 4 trying 2headbutt me when I got in her face." She quickly deleted the tweet, as noted by our friends at Bloody Elbow, but you can't stop the Internet, folks. Once it's out there, it's out there. To see video of the two going head-to-head (literally) click here.

Posted in: tate, miesha, rousey, ronda, unprovoked tate

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All 18 Strikeforce fighters took to the scale Friday afternoon to make official their fights for Saturday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event in Columbus, Ohio. Watch highlights from the weigh-ins in the video below.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

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The bad blood between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate is no secret but things almost came to a head one night too early as the two faced off at the weigh-ins. The weigh-in faceoff saw Tate get in Rousey's face and Ronda was not too appreciative of that particular move. Here's the video, courtesy of MMA Fighting: Following the weigh-in it didn't take too long for Miesha Tate to hit up Twitter with the following: Ronda thinks she's tough she tries WAY 2 hard, such a phony person & she'll probably get fined 4 trying 2headbutt me when I got in her face Bloody Elbow will have plenty more coverage over the next day with our usual previews, predictions and live coverage of the event as well as all the fallout after the show ends. So make sure you keep your browser locked right here. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: tate, weighin, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

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The Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” weigh-ins took place earlier today at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. All fighters made weight. The weigh-in results: Miesha Tate (134.5) vs. Ronda Rousey (134.5) K.J. Noons (156) vs. Josh Thomson (155) Paul Daley (171) vs. Kazuo Misaki (169.5) Lumumba Sayers (185) vs. Scott Smith (186) Bristol Marunde (184) vs. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (184.5) Alexis Davis (135.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (135.5) Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5) Caros Fodor (155.5) vs. Pat Healy (155) Ryan Couture (154.5) vs. Conor Heun (155) Fighters in non-title fights are allowed to weigh in one pound over the weight class limit. Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” will take place tomorrow, March 3, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will air live on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. The prelims will air live on Showtime Extreme. More Strikeforce weigh-in pics at CombatLifestyle.com

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, weighin, rousey

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All fighters were on weight for their Saturday fights at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey were each 134.5 pounds for their main event.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, saturday fights

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Miesha Tate tipped the scales at 134.5 pounds for her women’s bantamweight title defense against Olympic bronze medalist Ronda Rousey (134.5) in the Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” headliner on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: title, strikeforce, tate, rousey, tate rousey

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Miesha Tate tipped the scales at 134.5 pounds for her women’s bantamweight title defense against Olympic bronze medalist Ronda Rousey (134.5) in the Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” headliner on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: title, tate, miesha, rousey, ronda

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Everything about this video is genetically superior to anything you will watch today. If digital eugenics existed, this is the model that all other weigh-in videos should be cloned from. Everyone should drive to Home Depot, gather building materials, and construct a shrine in honor of Casey from MMAFighting. He's the guy that's been recording photons of light with his overly expensive camera ever since the Elite XC days. Today, he has manifested yet another gem and captured the sheer animosity Miesha Tate shares with Ronda Rousey. This is not manufactured beef, folks. The beef between Tate and Rousey is 100% grain-feed, free roaming beef. It's the type of beef that you can buy at Whole Foods and not feel bad about yourself when you get home. Check out Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey disrobe, hop on a scale in front of a live audience, and then literally butt heads in their soon-to-be legendary face-off. [Source] {iframe}http://mmafighting.vid.io/v/6ff615d8-64b9-11e1-9317-1231390e4da4{/iframe}

Posted in: tate, ronda rousey, miesha, rousey, beef

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One of the biggest women's MMA fights in the modern era was made official Friday afternoon in Columbus, OH, as Strikeforce 135-pound champion Miesha Tate and her opponent Ronda Rousey both made weight. The two are set to clash in the main event set to air on Showtime Saturday night. The 25-year-old Tate (12-2, 5-1 Strikeforce) is looking to make the first defense of the title she won by submitting Marloes Coenen last summer. In the 25-year-old Rousey (4-0, 2-0 Strikeforce), she'll face a challenger that she feels isn't the No. 1 contender, but one that has submitted every opponent in her way in both the amateurs and pros. All fighters made weight for what should be an entertaining show, set to air at 10 PM EST Saturday. Showtime Main Card Tate (134.5) (c) vs. Rousey (134.5) K.J. Noons (156) vs. Josh Thomson (155) Paul Daley (171) vs. Kazuo Misaki (169.5) Lumumba Sayers (185) vs. Scott Smith (186) Bristol Marunde (184) vs. Ronaldo Souza (184.5) Prelims (Showtime Extreme) Alexis Davis (135.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (135.5) Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5) Caros Fodor (155.5) vs. Pat Healy (155) Ryan Couture (154.5) vs. Conor Heun (155) Bloody Elbow will provide live play-by-play coverage all night long on Saturday, along with the usual analysis/commentary you expect throughout the weekend. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, saturday, tate, rousey

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Two of the most talented female 135 pound fighters in the world will meet tomorrow night (March 3, 2012) as Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate takes on "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey in the main event of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" in Columbus, Ohio. Tate rose up through the ranks and earned her title shot after defeating too women in one night, then dethroned the champion last summer to claim the women's 135 pound championship. She feels incredibly disrespected to be heading into this fight as a major underdog and she's out to prove herself all over again. Ronda Rousey, despite just four career fights, has the looks, the swagger and the talent to be a superstar in women's MMA. She's not only finished every opponent from amateur to professional, she's done it all in the first round, in the first minute by the same maneuver, the juji-gatame or better known as the armbar. Rousey confidently talked her way into a title shot and now she gets to prove that she's legit against by far her most credible opposition. Will Tate be talented enough to retain her title? Can Rousey back up her talk with some ferocious technique as well? What's the key to victory for both talented young ladies tomorrow night? Let's find out: Miesha Tate Record: 12-2 overall, 5-1 in Strikeforce Key Wins: Marloes Coenen (Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson), Zoila Gurgel (Strikeforce Challengers 7), Hitomi Akano (Strikeforce Challengers 10) Key Losses: Sarah Kaufman (Strikeforce Challengers 1) How she got here: Miesha "Takedown" Tate got her professional career started in 2007, fighting in the Bodog women's one night bantamweight tournament. She would defeat eventual Strikeforce title challenger Jan Finney in her first fight via decision but would be brutally knocked out by a much sharper and more dangerous Kaitlin Young. Undeterred, she would win her next five bouts, four by stoppage before earning a fight against future Strikeforce women's 135-pound champion Sarah Kaufman. Tate would eventually lose the bout, but she was competitive and forced Kaufman to go to decision for the first time in her career. After reeling off three straight victories, including a very impressive submission against Zoila Gurgel, Tate was invited to the one night Strikeforce women's welterweight grand prix to determine the number one contender. The strong grappler would dominate the tournament with her wrestling and top control, winning a pair of decisions to earn a shot at the belt. After a delay due to a knee injury, she finally got her shot at Marloes Coenen last July and she capitalized, using her wrestling offensively and surprising the Golden Glory fighter with an arm triangle which forced Coenen to tap out for the first time in her illustrious career. Now, after a long waiting period, Tate is set to defend her title again against a brash, young challenger. How she gets it done: When your nickname is "Takedown," don't expect much less when it comes to your most reliable method of victory, but that might not be what she wants to do tomorrow night, at least not right away. While Tate doesn't have the most dangerous stand-up abilities, she also doesn't really have an opportunity to showcase them. Most of her opposition has been decent strikers so why would she risk standing and trading with them like she did early in her career when she got knocked out by the kickboxer Kaitlin Young? This time, she should keep her distance, try to work a jab and just stay away from Rousey's bullrush attack early. She should avoid any close-quarters fighting in the first round entirely and try to drag this fight into deeper waters. Tate has never had a problem with conditioning, so that would likely be her best plan of attack here, wait for Rousey to tire out a bit in the second or third (if she does) and then pounce with a more aggressive striking and wrestling attack. If Rousey begins to fade, Tate can definitely take over with her wrestling and it will be easier to defend against her submission game but she should try to avoid it at all costs in the first round. Ronda Rousey Record: 4-0 overall, 2-0 in Strikeforce Key Wins: Julia Budd (Strikeforce Challengers 20) Key Losses: none How she got here: Ronda Rousey had world class athleticism in her blood. Her mother was a world class judo player and Ronda followed her in footsteps. Starting early in judo, Rousey made it to the Olympics by the time she was just 17 years old at the 2004 games in Athens. In 2008, she not only qualified, but this time she medaled, earning a bronze in Beijing but when it was all over, she was done with judo and wanted to try something else. She began training in mixed martial arts and made her amateur debut in 2010, crushing all three of her opponents inside the first minute with her go-to move, the armbar. Upon switching to a professional in 2010, she didn't slow down, crushing all four of her opponents via first minute armbar, even Strikeforce fighters Julia Budd and Sarah D'Alelio at 145 pounds. With talk that she could be the one to dethrone the champion, "Cyborg" Santos. Instead, she announced she was first going to drop to 135 pounds and challenge for the title there, and she confidently talked her way into a title shot this weekend against Miesha Tate. How she gets it done: Rousey is so big, strong, powerful and skilled, she just needs to keep doing what she's been doing and that is rush in, overwhelm her opposition and force them to tap out. Dropping down to 135, her strength advantage could be even more severe in the cage against Tate and she could seriously turn some heads if she could do to the champ what she's been doing to all her competition prior. Rousey has been working hard to round out her game, but why not stick to what got her here? I'd like to see her close the distance early, wade right through Tate's punches and get in the clinch. From there, she needs to try to use her years of judo experience to leverage Tate onto the canvas and immediately transition to an armbar. If she can put Tate on the ground, she needs to take that arm home with her, even snap it because Tate won't be giving up without a fight. Fight X-Factor: The biggest X-Factor for this fight is experience and time. Ronda Rousey has been so good thus far in her career, she hasn't even had to go past the first minute of a fight against even the best of her opposition. That's a sign of how good she is, but this is a five round fight. What happens if Miesha Tate proves to be resilient and this fight actually goes into the second, third or even the championship rounds? It's all a gigantic question mark. Lastly, while she's had experience against world class judo players, Rousey has yet to really face anyone of significance in MMA. Her biggest career win was against Julia Budd, who has a 2-2 record in MMA right now. Miesha Tate has a ton more experience in actual MMA and that could potentially be a factor here. Bottom Line: This fight has just about everything MMA fans have come to love, skilled athletes, the threat of a finish at any moment and hell, both ladies are pretty easy on the eyes. There's a very high chance of some serious grappling getting showcased in this fight and maybe even some striking, although that all depends on if Rousey can close the distance early or not. The fact that there's a strong possibility that Rousey blitzes Tate with a first minute submission again is enough to warrant that you keep your eyes glued to the television at all times and if Tate survives the early onslaught, it will be extremely interesting to see what happens next as no one has done that before against the judo Olympian. This should be a good one. Who will come out on top at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey? Tell us your predictions in the comments below! Poll Who will exit the cage tomorrow night as the Strikeforce women's 135 pound champion? Ronda Rousey Miesha Tate   5 votes | Results

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, rousey, ronda

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Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, weighin, rousey

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The decade's most-anticipated women's bout has been cleared for launch. Reigning Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey both made weight at Friday afternoon's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey weigh-ins in Columbus, Ohio, rendering their heavy-hyped title tilt official. Despite a steep drop from featherweight, Rousey found her mark easily, weighing-in at a trim 134.5 pounds. Likewise, Tate successfully tipped the scales at 134.5 pounds. In the co-main event, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson hit the stage at 155 pounds after a torturous 15-month injury layoff. His opponent, perennial ‘Fight of the Night' contender K.J. Noons, edged in at 156 pounds. Full weigh-in results are below. Main card (Showtime):Miesha Tate (134.5) vs. Ronda Rousey (134.5)K.J. Noons (156) vs. Josh Thomson (155)Paul Daley (171) vs. Kazuo Misaki (169.5)Bristol Marunde (184) vs. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (184.5)Lumumba Sayers (185) vs. Scott Smith (186) Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme):Alexis Davis (135.5) vs. Sarah Kaufman (135.5)Caros Fodor (155.5) vs. Pat Healy (155)Ryan Couture (154) vs. Conor Heun (155)Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5)

Posted in: pound, strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey

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Great feature on Ronda Rousey from SI.com. You’ll definitely see who she gets her abrasive personality from. Her mom is one tough cookie.

Posted in: feature, ronda rousey, personality, rousey, ronda

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The word “rowdy” is defined as, “A rough, violent person who engages in destructive actions.” As such, Strikeforce bantamweight Ronda Rousey could not have chosen a more appropriate nickname, especially in the face of her biggest fight to date. “Rowdy” Ronda has been on the warpath over the past few months, taking 135-pound champion Miesha Tate to task on a number of topics including comments the title-holder has made regarding the talented judoka’s skill-set (or lack thereof). The two will lock horns tomorrow night on Showtime in the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey to finally settle the score and, according to Rousey, she’ll be out to prove a point when the cage door closes. “I’m an Olympic caliber athlete and she’s a high school wrestler. To assume that that cancels each other out, it’s wrong,” stated Rousey in an interview with the UFC’s website. “To say she has a few more years experience of fighting MMA and has fought ten more girls during that period of time, meanwhile I was fighting hundreds and hundreds of matches against Olympic caliber opponents. The girls I was competing with, it was their full-time job to train every single day, and their government was putting money into flying them around the world for training camps at the best facilities possible and to have the best coaching possible. It was professional. For her to beat a couple girls who train at a gym on the weekends and decided to pick up MMA and then having these long drawn out fights with them, she’s had a hard time with them. It’s not like she’s dominating them. For her to think that experience is equal is ignorant.” However, Rousey certainly isn’t underestimating Tate – she just isn’t overly concerned about what her 25-year old rival has to offer inside the cage outside of a few basics. “I think her advantages are she doesn’t get frustrated when she gets hit and she has good conditioning. Even when she is behind she keeps a cool head. You can tell she has experience in that she doesn’t panic,” began Rousey on the topic of Tate’s abilities before talk turned to the other side of the coin. “Her disadvantages are that she’s extremely slow, she’s not very explosive with any of her takedowns, her striking has a lot to be desired, and her submission game isn’t exciting either. I don’t think she has any real finishing power that I have to worry about. The main theme of this fight is about positioning on the ground and making sure I don’t get stuck in side-control or the mount and making it look like she’s controlling the action. I don’t have to worry about any submissions or knockouts or TKOs from her; I have to worry about her trying to eek out a decision victory.” See if Rousey’s assessment is spot-on when she tangles with Tate on Showtime. The main card broadcast begins at 10:00 PM EST. Prelims begin on Showtime Extreme two hours earlier. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE (Austin Hargrave)

Posted in: tate, cage door, rousey, action i, actions ”

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Full results from Friday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey weigh-ins in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, result, vs, tate, rousey

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We've been talking about Ronda Rousey on MiddleEasy before she even had her first professional MMA fight. We're not hopping on her bandwagon, not at all. We've been sitting shotgun the entire time. We're like the guy in the passenger seat, spilling trail-mix on the floor while doing a half-ass job navigating on a long road trip. On March 3rd, all prior beef will come to an end when Ronda Rousey faces Miesha Tate in the biggest female MMA fight since Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg back in August 2009. I didn't even have to Google that date. It's been ingrained in my cerebellum for years. Our bud, Sports Illustrated's Loretta Hunt, manifested perhaps the greatest Ronda Rousey interview the MMA world has ever seen -- so it's about time that you see it too. Enjoy. [Source]

Posted in: mma fight, weve, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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The main event of this Saturday's Strikeforce show sees Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (12-2) defending her belt against the undefeated Ronda Rousey (4-0). It's one of the most compelling fights we've seen from women's MMA in some time, and with Gina Carano quite possibly retired and Cris Cyborg's recent drug test failure, it's up to fighters like Tate and Rousey to carry the division. One of the things that makes this fight interesting is Rousey's record. 4-0 is an impressive start to your career, especially when 2 of those wins come in Strikeforce, but what's really impressive is how she wins. Four fights, four finishes, four armbars, all under one minute. Add in an additional four amateur bouts, all with the exact same sub-1 minute armbar victory. Whatever you may think of her level of competition, that is a scary degree of domination right there. So the obvious questions: Can Rousey do the same to Miesha Tate? And can the judoka's dominant run be stopped? Despite these impressive performances (and make no mistake, they are impressive), Rousey is vulnerable, particularly in her stand-up game. Once she has a hold of you, she has used her superb Judo skills to secure the takedown and quickly transition to an armbar. Where she leaves openings is in her ability to secure the clinch. Rousey's striking is predictable - she throws the left jab, often doubling it up, then grabs the head in a greco-roman style one arm clinch. But as she throws those jabs, she has two dangerous tendencies. First, she reaches out too much, leaving her defenses open for a counter. Second, she drops her head as she comes in, opening herself up for an uppercut. These are holes that can be exploited. More in the full entry... SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey What's tricky is that, while Rousey leaves these openings, they're also very small. So can someone find these openings? Absolutely. But it will need to be a precise technical striker. And in Miesha Tate, that's not what I see. Tate has improved her striking over the years, but she remains a slow puncher who is a bit flat footed. She also does not respond well to being hit, and has a tendency to go into pure defensive mode. Because of this, she has a tough time countering her opponent's strikes, and that is the exact skill needed to stop the Rousey clinch and takedown. In the end, Rousey can be beaten, but Tate is not the woman to do it. For that, you need a focused striker. And it just so happens that woman is also fighting this weekend. Sarah Kaufman has the power and she has the technique to put a stop to Rousey. So while Tate vs. Rousey is indeed a good fight, and one that holds my interest, it's not the women's fight I am most interested in. With a little luck, we'll soon see Ronda Rousey vs. Sarah Kaufman in a true test of Rousey's stand-up, and the best women's MMA fight out there today.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, opening, rousey

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In the wake of Zuffa's acquisition of Strikeforce nearly year ago, women's mixed martial arts (MMA) has been in a kind of promotional purgatory. With an uncertain future, due to no clear directive on what the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bosses intend moving forward, the women of Strikeforce are left to make their own fate in what is a "use-it-or-lose-it" proposition. For nascent women's scene, that's the bad news. But the good news is that Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, who will headline the Strikeforce event tomorrow night (March 3, 2012) at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, have a huge opportunity to create one hell of a fight this weekend, given their past performances, in a battle for "Takedown's" 135-pound. title. Women's MMA may well need their own version of Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar I to send a message that they're a viable commodity. Given Tate's inspiring submission win over Marloes Coenen to win the belt in July, and Rousey's four wins in a combined 2:18, this figures to be a barnburner. Especially given the trash talk leading up to the fight, adding some promotional spice to a main event that is a must-win for both, as well as the future of women's MMA, if it's going to keep its place on the big stage. The fact that they are both very attractive doesn't hurt, either. The Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" fight card is also rounded out by a lightweight showdown between K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson, while welterweights collide in Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. Former Middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza takes on Bristol Marunde, with longtime fan favorite Scott Smith against Lumumba Sayers. Miesha Tate vs. Ronda RouseyStrikeforce women's 135-pound title There's a great moment at UFC 35, when Jens Pulver is in the cage celebrating his decision win over previously unbeaten challenger B.J. Penn. "Sometimes hype just ain't enough," quips a smiling Pulver. The ultra-talented Penn did well early, and nearly submitted the champ with an armbar at the end of the second round, only to be stymied by the horn sounding. As the bout progressed, Penn's unfamiliarity with deep waters (he'd won his previous three fights all inside the first round) became obvious, and Pulver's experience proved the difference. For Tate to keep her belt, she's going to have to pull a Pulver. Her advantage in experience is probably the biggest edge she's got. While her wrestling is decent compared to most of the women she's fought, Rousey's world-class judo is another level altogether. And though Ronda's professional fight career has been impressively brief, check any highlight reel of her in tournaments, or just training. She moves with a blend of incredible power, technique and finishing instinct that puts her on another level. However, winning big is a lot easier than going deep, especially the first time you're in a long fight -- Rousey still hasn't gone past 49 seconds in her Mike Tyson-esque career -- and the adrenaline dump of a high-stakes bout can scuttle the best conditioning. Throw in the fact that Tate's been there, and you have a real "if-then" conundrum. Every round starts standing, and how the pair negotiate the standup phase of the game is a big factor as well. We haven't seen enough of Rousey to know where her kickboxing stands, but she's an outstanding athlete and figures to be able to do enough to close the distance and uncork some big-time judo tosses and takedowns. Tate's best gameplan is to avoid Rousey's early onslaught, where she'll probably try and get the champ to the mat. In Penn's case, hype just wasn't enough; his lack of seasoning and familiarity with how to pace himself in a long fight proved his detriment. However, in Rousey's case, I think the hype is legitimate. Her athleticism, takedowns and overall pace should be enough to wear down Tate en route to a third-round submission in an exciting fight. Prediction: Rousey via submission K.J. Noons vs. Josh ThomsonLightweight With fans spoiling for champ Gilbert Melendez to jump to the UFC, being a Strikeforce lightweight is like riding coach on a jet where the first-class passengers are having all kinds of fun, except you can't hear or see anything because they've drawn the curtain in the aisle. That said, Noons and Thomson represent two the promotion's elite 155-pounders, and have put in consistent showings in recent bouts. Noons' ability to strike from diverse angles and effectively inside the pocket are reminiscent of camp-mate Dominick Cruz. He'll skip around, mix in uppercuts and shoulder-rolling counters, while often making opponents miss. Thomson is an outstanding athlete with a strong collegiate wrestling background, and at his best, can push a high pace in virtually any kind of fight. He's one of the more talented lightweights not in the UFC, and has been bucking for a Melendez rubber match since dropping a hard-fought decision in their second fight in Dec. 2009. Style-wise, this bout favors Thomson. Many of Noons' recent opponents have been content to try and outpoint him, letting K.J. operate from a standing position, but Thomson's excellent takedowns and imposing pace are great weapons to dictate where the fight goes. Noons' takedown defense is solid, but it won't be enough, especially as Thomson's constant pressure takes away K.J.'s best weapon - the ability to bob, duck and weave in the pocket while looking to force exchanges. Josh will have him in takedown-defense mode, and when he does stick Noons to the mat, he'll work him over and wear him out. Both have very solid chins and are exceptionally durable, but Thomson's pace, pressure and imposing wrestling will wear down Noons en route to an increasingly brutal and one-sided third-round technical knockout from strikes on the ground. Prediction: Thomson via technical knockout Paul Daley vs. Kazuo MisakiWelterweight This is a real clash of styles. With Daley, perhaps the game's most destructive one-shot puncher, you have some guarantees. He'll always come to press the fight, he'll usually crumple whomever he lands cleanly on, and he can be very inconsistent, performance-wise. Daley reminds you of a guy in the American League who can crush the fastball but catches hell with curves. Misaki is a slick, wily type with a ton of experience, and has fought extensively at middleweight, to boot. He uses movement exceptionally well before springing in and striking, and since Daley doesn't look for takedowns, this could prove an advantage for Misaki, whose speed and decent grappling give him a real chance to take advantage of Daley's fairly one-dimensional approach. Daley's best chance is to time Misaki with his huge punches as the Japanese battler springs in, and use his good takedown defense to keep clear of the ground. When nailed, Daley's opponents tend to panic and get desperate for these, which only seems to make Daley work harder to stay on his feet while unloading heavy artillery. Misaki isn't likely to crack under pressure, however. He's fought and beaten too many good people. Look for him to flit in and out in the first round while largely avoiding Daley's bombs, and to take it to the mat in the second, where he'll work patiently to improve position and wear Daley down. In the third, he'll have a scare or two before repeating the trick, riding and punishing Daley to a clear-cut decision win. Prediction: Misaki via decision Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol MarundeMiddleweight Souza looks to return from his upset loss to Luke Rockhold in his last outing, which cost "Jacare" his Strikeforce middleweight belt. The defeat was a stark turnaround from his previous match, where he used his otherwordly grappling and top control to wear down and ultimately submit Robbie Lawler in a masterpiece performance. Marunde isn't a well-known name, but he's got a 12-6 record, and that in itself is misleading regarding his current skill level. He went 3-5 after turning pro, with losses to the likes of Benji Radach, Matt Horwich and Art Santore, also KO'ing Rich Attonito in that stretch. Since then he's gone on a 9-1 run and tightened up his striking, and put it all together. He'll need to against Souza, who can dominate virtually anyone on the ground from the top. Along with Roger Gracie, Jacare and Marcelo Garcia comprise the holy triumvirate of the world's greatest no-gi submission grapplers, and his pedigree makes him a feared opponent from any position on the mat. This is definitely the kind of fight where a guy in Marunde's position can score the upset, particularly if he can outland Jacare on the feet early. Souza's standup is actually pretty good for a jiu-jitsu ace, as he'll willing toss punches and use kicks, while looking to actually hurt foes with his quick and capable hands. Marunde will have very little chance if he can't win the standing battle, as that will give Jacare too many options. Bristol's got to sprawl and brawl and hope that Jacare has overlooked him somewhat, which may have been the case against Rockhold. However, losing his title may well have motivate the Brazilian appreciably, and the guess here is that he knows he can't just show up and steamroll people with his grappling. I like Jacare in a real war here, as they battle back and forth with both guys getting hurt in spots, but Souza eventually landing a submission from the guard in the second. Prediction: Souza via submission Scott Smith vs. Lumumba SayersMiddleweight Some red meat for the fans here, as these two sluggers figure to kick off the televised portion of the card in a big way. Returning to middleweight after a dismal pair of showings at 170 lb., Smith has made some of the most exciting comebacks in the history of the sport. An aggressive bomber with dynamite in his fists, his penchant for getting hurt and then roaring back made him a fan favorite. Despite this reputation, however, Smith's got more skills than a crude slugger. His punching is concise, and his wrestling is a good trait he has but never uses, at least not in recent years, as he's become the face of many of classic bloodbath. However, the many wars and knockout losses may be adding up for "Hands of Steel." A blowout defeat to Paul Daley was preceded by the brutal KO loss in his rematch with Cung Le, and Sayers, a willing brawler himself, has some pop in his shots. If Smith's chin has endured too many miles, Sayers is in a great position to exploit it. Having seen Smith fight since his days on the small-show circuit, I'm not impressed with Sayers' standup. He tends to wing his money punch - an overhand right - and is fond of forcing his way in against opponents with his chin in the air. Smith should be able to capitalize on this by landing his own shorter shots inside the arc of Sayers' bombs. If Lumumba tries to take it to the ground, that might be his best chance to win, but Smith's takedown defense is pretty good, and he's also a very good dirty boxer in close. Sayers has a good opportunity here against an aging veteran, but Smith is still a very strong fighter at 185 and should have the firepower to pull out a first-round knockout in a rollicking brawl. Prediction: Smith via knockout That's it for now. Be share to express your opinions on the upcoming Strikeforce fight card, as well as share your predictions, in the comments section below. Remember, too, that MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the Strikeforce main card action below on fight night, which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8:00 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Showtime Extreme.

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Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey Anton Tabuena: I won't be surprised if Miesha Tate can win this since she will obviously have better striking than Ronda, but I just can't pick her knowing that her strong suit, wrestling, hasn't really been that dominant. I don't think she can keep things standing against a fighter like Rousey, as the Olympian has taken down far superior wrestlers and Judokas than Tate... and once it goes to the mat, it's definitely going to be, Ronda Rousey by Armbar.Fraser Coffeen: I don't buy the idea that Rousey is invincible. She's incredible on the ground, and at the takedown from the clinch, but her ability to secure that clinch could still use some work. Against a precision striker, she'll struggle to grab the clinch, and she'll pay. But Miesha Tate? Not that precision striker. Ronda Rousey by armbar, round 1Ben Thapa: I don't think a precision striker would beat Ronda. She needs to get straight up kneed in the gut as punishment for the upright judo-ish stance she loves so much. That's where Cyborg could come in (if she can make 135 by hook or crook). Miesha is going to drive forwards into Ronda for takedowns as the rush and adrenaline kicks in. Ronda knows exactly how to toss people doing that and then armbar them lickity-split. I'd love to see Miesha work some Dan Hardy-like armbar defense and work her way out while retaining top position. Hoping I get to see that here before Ronda adjusts and gets that arm even faster. Rousey, sub, Round 2.Tim Burke: Sarah Kaufman has a chance to beat Ronda. Miesha Tate? No way. This fight is so easy to call that some MMA pundits and I weren't debating the winner, or even the finish. We were debating what minute of the first round the sub happens. Most took the first. I took the second. Ronda Rousey by armbar.T.P. Grant: Man everyone is picking Rousey. I thought at least someone would pick Tate. Don't look at me, there is just something I like about Rousey. Tate is the better striker, but I don't think she has the accuracy or power to put Rousey down as she comes into the clinch. On the mat, I think Tate is very able, but if Rousey is on top she has a massive advantage. I think at some point the former Judo Olympian grabs onto an arm. Ronda by Armbar. Dallas Winston: Mr. Grant, I am that someone. I was initially thinking Rousey, like everyone else seems to be, but Miesha is consistently under-rated and has really earned my respect. She's far from a one-dimensional wrestler and has good submission knowledge and defense, she defeated a reputable Judoka in Hitomi Akano -- which was her second fight of the evening -- and she's far more experienced. Miesha Tate by decision.David Castillo: Rousey is simply one of those fighters who will get by on one dimension at the highest levels because that dimension is simply that good. Her transitions are phenomenal, and I honestly think Tate is gonna get clowned. Tate's game is too blue collar for Ronda, resume be damned. Ronda Rousey by armbar. Staff Picking Tate: DallasStaff Picking Rousey: Fraser, Thapa, Tim, Grant, Anton, KJ, David, Roth SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. RouseyK.J. Noons vs Josh ThomsonFraser Coffeen: Poor Thomson has gotten totally lost in the shuffle in recent years, mainly due to injuries and his loss to Melendez. But the guy is still 10-2 in his last 12 and is a very dangerous striker. Noons vs. Masvidal really opened my eyes on Noons as a guy with very good boxing, but who can be figured out and defeated. Thomson's huge layoff gives me pause, as there is a worry that his time is done, but I think he's still got life left in him. Josh Thomson by decisionBen Thapa: Thomson might be the one guy who can tell J.Z. Cavalcante and Jason High that he has seniority in the line to the fightmakers' door. The injuries have had their toll, but he's had terrible luck just getting a fight. If this is the Thomson that fought Kawajiri to a decision, I like his chances. Noons is really hard to keep on the ground or hurt much, but Thomson can probably deal with the boxing and the hair flips effectively enough to take a few rounds. Thomson, decision.Tim Burke: I love this fight. For all the hype KJ gets for his boxing, he seems to fight down to the level of his opposition. He looked horrid against Conor Heun and Jorge Masvidal. Thomson has a much more varied striking game and if he goes back to using the push kick as a pseudo-jab like he did against Melendez the first time, KJ will never get near him. I don't even think The Punk takes this to the ground. He doesn't need to. Josh Thomson by decision.T.P. Grant: As said above, Josh Thomson is really quite a good lightweight and KJ Noons might be one of the more overrated lightweights out there. Thomson is going to jab KJ at range and take him down once in the pocket. Josh Thomson by Decision. Dallas Winston: Wow. Well, all the pro-Thomson picks make my inspirational speech about his unappreciated skill unnecessary. I've also been impressed with Noons though his technical boxing seems to be getting sloppier. I don't hold the Masvidal loss against him because I think Jorge is a brute and I do buy into the notion that a broken hand waylaid his performance against Gil. However, Josh has been on the shelf forever and did not look sharp in his last two, so I think this is the biggest fight of his life by far. Josh Thomson by decision.David Castillo: Kind of shocked at the universal agreement, because it's not like Thomson is immune to a lackluster performance, but I think he'll be motivated against the increasingly overly fond of his own quixotic boxing (?) KJ Noons. It's not a great matchup for Josh on paper, but he should get by in a closely contested affair. Staff Picking Noons: Staff Picking Thomson: Fraser, Thapa, Tim, Grant, Anton, Dallas, KJ, David, RothPaul Daley vs Kazuo Misaki Anton Tabuena: This is going to be ugly. Paul Daley by KO.Fraser Coffeen: Last time Misaki fought a heavy-handed slugger was Melvin Manhoef. Misaki, as he is prone to do, waded in and slugged it out. And he got knocked out. Substitute Daley for Manhoef, and you've got the same result this time. Paul Daley by KO, round 2Ben Thapa: Kazuo Misaki has the warrior spirit. However, employing the tactics of "engaging the enemy in his preferred milieu" does not make him a winning warrior every time out. His ferocious battles with Jorge Santiago are the stuff of legend, but he lost them both. Daley should find plenty of opportunities to throw those left hooks and to display his improving sprawl. Daley, KO, Round 1.Tim Burke: Love this fight too, but a ton of unknowns on the Misaki side. The cut to 170, Stateside for the first time in a while, etc. He's got a lot of miles on him, and while he does have cool takedowns, they're not going to work on Paul Daley. And he sits around in the pocket way too long to avoid getting tagged. Semtex all the way. Boom. Paul Daley by KO, round 1.T.P. Grant: Interesting fight because you never know with Paul Daley, because if he gets take down he in is in deep trouble. That said Miskai gets his way too much on the way in and Daley's the owner of the most lethal left hook in MMA. I think Daley lands a heavy punch before Misaki gets a takedown. Paul Daley by KO, Round 1. Dallas Winston: I was geeked when this fight was first announced and haven't had time to think about it much. I'll never forget Misaki holding his own with Hendo in the clinch and then kind of handling him in their rematch. As burly as he is in tie-ups, Daley's takedown defense is actually solid for clinch-based takedowns and he still has one of the (if not the) best left hooks in the sport. Semtex by genuinely angry and something-to-prove knockout.David Castillo: Daley can get stuck in fights where the bout that should heavily favor him on paper manifests itself in counterintuitive fashion: see the Masvidal, and Thompson fights. That's why I think it's so interesting that he's fighting Misaki, who in his prime seemed to take bouts that were terrible for him on paper (Henderson, Akiyama, and Kang when he was on a tear despite the injury in the tournament). That avant garde, new age logic leads me to believe Misaki will take this in an upset. In addition to Daley's one dimensional-ness, and general lack of professionalism (and the fact that I what had to have been the worst week of anyone for UFC 144 on picks). Kazuo Misaki by decision. Staff Picking Daley: Fraser, Thapa, Tim, Anton, Dallas, KJ, RothStaff Picking Misaki: DavidRonaldo Souza vs Bristol Marunde Fraser Coffeen: I don't want to be a jerk here, but this fight is ridiculous. Ronaldo Souza by submission, round 1Anton Tabuena: Yes, Fraser, this is ridiculous. Jacare by anything he wants.Ben Thapa: Bristol Marunde might be one of the best names I've ever heard. His brother Jesse (give me a quiet moment to remember the departed) had immense potential as a strongman, which is a combination of good genetic potential and an otherworldly work ethic. That combination probably runs in the family, but Marunde's home turf of Northwestern America hasn't exposed him to the level of grappler that Jacare Souza resides upon. Souza might be the single best athlete to come out of the Brazilian jiu jitsu world in the last ten years, but his MMA career hasn't shown the same levels of success. I still think he beat Luke Rockhold though. Kudos to Bristol for the step-in, but this is a rough, rough match-up for him. Souza, submission, Round 1.Tim Burke: Big opportunity for Marunde. Too bad there's an angry Jacare on the other side of the cage. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Jacare Souza by submission, round 2T.P. Grant: Jacare should win this fight any way he pleases. I think this goes very similar to the Robbie Lawler fight; Jacare takes him down, gets a dominate position, lets Marunde wear himself out trying to escape and locks in a submission. Jacare Souza by Submission, Round 2. Dallas Winston: The Crocodile by hunger, all day. Jacare by submission.David Castillo: No chance for an upset here. Jacare was dangerously close to winning that fight against Rockhold, and so I think we're talking about a minstay in the division. Against an absolute lamb. Jacare Souza by submission.Staff Picking Souza: Fraser, Thapa, Tim, Grant, Anton, Dallas, KJ, David, RothStaff Picking Marunde: Scott Smith vs Lumumba SayersBen Thapa: Sayers should have a fun time feasting on the punching bag that is Scott Smith. I picked Antwain Britt over him last time I saw Sayers in action and was shown up by a quick KO. Smith has been basically fighting to make a check for years now and he might have forgotten how to win. Sayers, decision.T.P. Grant: Smith seems like a spent force to me, too many wars over the years have worn him down. Sayers is a brawler, so Smith has a chance in this fight for sure but I think Smith's amazing ability to weather storms is going to fail him. Lumumba Sayers by TKO, Round 1. Tim Burke: Sayers is a mover by trade who used to box that knocked out Antwain Britt somehow. He doesn't even really have heavy hands. I'm not sure how that happened. But Scott Smith has been one my favorite underdog fighters forever and how often is he boring? He's got one more sick KO in him. I know it. Scott Smith by KO.Dallas Winston: 100% picking with my heart here. Scott Smith by KO.David Castillo: Scott Smith is the proverbial "spent force". Credit where credit is due: he was a .500 fighter who got name recognition off of improbable comebacks, but his chin has clearly deteriorated, and I don't see how he manages another miracle against a rugged fighter like Sayers. Lumumba Sayers by TKO, round 2. Staff Picking Smith: Fraser, Tim, Anton, Dallas, RothStaff Picking Sayers: Grant, Thapa, KJ, DavidSarah Kaufman vs Alexis DavisBen Thapa: Over/under on how many Tweets we'll see from Tim Burke tonight during the Kaufman fight? Five? Seven? I like Davis, but Kaufman's got some really fine combination boxing. Hopefully, she's working on putting some pep in her game, instead of cruising to another decision win by onslaught of head punches. Kaufman, KO, Round 2.T.P. Grant: Kaufmann has got this one. Sarah Kaufman by Decision. Tim Burke: @MMASarah all day. I hate it when two Canadians fight each other and I'm a Davis fan too, but come on now. She's gotta get Sarah to the floor, and that's really, really tough. Victoria represent. Bring on Rousey. Sarah Kaufman by decision.Dallas Winston: Kaufman beat main-eventer Miesha Tate and will be determined to get back into the spotlight. Sarah Kaufman by TKO.David Castillo: Good, competitive little scrap. At least on paper. Two highly ranked fighters, but it's a terrible style matchup for Davis, who will be forced to box with Kaufman who is the superior striker by a wide margin. Sarah Kaufman by decision. Staff Picking Kaufman: Fraser, Grant, Tim, Anton, Dallas, KJ, David, RothStaff Picking Davis: Caros Fodor vs Pat HealyBen Thapa: This is the fight that should be in place of Sayers/Smith. These two fighters are in their athletic prime and coming off two very fun finishes of decent-to-good fighters. Oh, Maximo, you broke my heart - and Pat Healy, you won it with your ruggedness. Fodor won't go down without throwing everything he possibly can though. This is gonna be a SCRAP. Healy, decision.T.P. Grant: Again I'm going with experience here. Both are fighters are young men, but Healy has some serious scalps under his belt and much more time under the bright lights. Pat Healy by Decision. Tim Burke: Healy's a hoss with a ton of experience for sure. But Fodor has impressed me greatly in his last two fights against James Terry and Justin Wilcox. Those are both big, physical dudes like Healy and this is gonna be a great, close fight. I'm gonna lean towards The Future though. Caros Fodor by decision.Dallas Winston: Damn, this is a reminder of how stacked this card if for Strikeforce and what a shame it is that it's being counter-programmed by their big brother. I'd say these are two of the most underlooked lightweights around. Pat Healy has an enormous fight IQ but I've under-rated Fodor too many times in the past. The Future by decision.David Castillo: Like Dallas, I'm just now realizing how solid this card is, and this fight is a perfect example. Fodor has consistently fought above my expectations, and continues to improve, so I feel like momentum will the deciding factor in this fight, and Fodor has it. Again, it's such a close fight on paper, I'm going with my gut on this one. Caros Fodor by decision. Staff Picking Fodor: Tim, Dallas, KJ, David, RothStaff Picking Healy: Fraser, Grant, AntonRyan Couture vs Conor HeunBen Thapa: Heun is bigger, stronger and has more power than Mini-Couture. The Magno Almeida elbow-break notwithstanding, I don't see Couture isolating an arm. If Couture wins, it's by triangle or guillotine and it's probably after getting beat up for a while. Heun should take this, but I'll take a chance on the improbable. Couture, submission, Round 2.T.P. Grant: If Ryan Couture is going to step up and get a his first serious lightweight win, this is the time. Heun is a solid veteran and ideal for testing out a prospect like Couture. While it is entirely possible that Couture could slap a submission on Heun, I think the veteran pulls this one out. Conor Heun by Decision. Tim Burke: I'll never get over Couture being choked unconscious at the end of the second round in a fight, and the fight not being stopped. They woke him up, sent him out for the 3rd, and he came back and won. I'm not sure if it's good or bad, but it's a story at least. He's not physical enough to hang with Heun though. Sorry Randy Jr. Conor Heun by TKO, round 2.Dallas Winston: This is a reasonable step up for Couture but Heun is a gamer who will look to make a statement. Conor Heun by submission.David Castillo: I think Ryan Couture is a decent fighter, but it's a terrible matchup for him because he's a young, inexperienced, and not very talented fighter with a lot of pressure on him fighting an experienced, rugged, moderately dynamic veteran. Conor Heun by decision. Staff Picking Couture: Thapa, KJ Staff Picking Heun: Fraser, Grant, Tim, Anton, Dallas, David, RothRoger Bowling vs Brandon SalingT.P. Grant: Two local guys on the undercard. The difference is Bowling has fought on five Strikeforces cards, while Saling is being brought on purely as a local guy. One look at their film and it is clear Bowling is lightyears ahead of Saling, crisper stand up and much better wrestling. Roger Bowling by TKO, Round 1. Ben Thapa: I'm so glad Bowling isn't fighting Bobby Voelker anymore. Let him show if he's got any more improvements left in him with a series of steps upwards in opponents. After the super quick KO victory last time, the proper step up would be to get a fun battle with a fighter who loves getting finishes or going out on his shield - like Brandon Saling! Bowling, KO, Round 2.Tim Burke: I like Bowling. I prefer Darts though. Roger Bowling by TKO, round 2Dallas Winston: Bowling still has a huge upside despite his disappointments in the Voelker trilogy. Roger Bowling by athleticism (TKO).David Castillo: What a great card for Strikeforce, but just as Renzo Gracie vs. Michiyoshi Ohara was to Pride, this fight is an example of Strikeforce matchmaking at its most expedient. Saling is toast. Roger Bowling by TKO, round 1. Staff Picking Bowling: Fraser, Grant, Thapa, Tim, Anton, Dallas, KJ, David, RothStaff Picking Saling:

Posted in: fight, round, tim, grant, rousey

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Rowdy Ronda Rousey has mastered the art of self-promotion and has a chance to cash in on it vs. Miesha Tate at Saturday's Strikeforce show.

Posted in: art, ronda rousey, rousey, lefko, selfpromotion

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

Luke Thomas and I are back with another installment of the MMA Tete-A-Tete: Coarsening The Discourse where we wear silly hats and flap our gums about cage fighting. In this installment we cover: Dakota Cochrane and what the UFC's acceptance of him meansLuke and I agree that this is a big step forward for the UFC and that letting the kid fight is the right thing to do. We also blush and giggle like school girls. UFC 144 wrap-upWe look back at the UFC's return to Japan and IIRC I ranted at some length about something tangential. Tate vs. Rousey: ok to market on sexuality?Luke and I both say.....YUS! UFC on FX: future of flyweightsWe look at the UFC flyweight tournament and talk about the hard road the division will have going forward and breaking through to a UFC fanbase that has shown a marked reluctance to follow the little fellows. Also my video feed freezes with about 5 minutes left so I'm especially ugly in this one. At some point a Constable knocks on my door looking for my landlady. Enjoy!SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey SBN coverage of UFC on FX 2

Posted in: ufc, dakota cochrane, rousey, fx future, ufcs acceptance

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Scott Neumyer breaks down Saturday's Strikeforce main event between women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and favored challenger Ronda Rousey to see how Tate can keep her title.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, miesha, rousey, saturdays strikeforce

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

COLUMBUS, Ohio - If there's one thing Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey can agree upon, it's that they've both endured hardships to get to where they are today. Just who's endured more is probably a matter of debate, as it seems to be with most things concerning the rivals. "I don't she's appreciating what this is doing for her whereas this is such a radical change for me so quickly that, of course, I'm having fun," Rousey told MMAjunkie.com.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, fun rousey, challenger rouseys, course im

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The official weigh in event for Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" is set to take place today (March 2, 2012) LIVE from the Greater Columbus Convention Center (as part of the Arnold Sports Festival) in Columbus, Ohio. The first fighter is expected to tip the scale at 5 p.m. ET. As usual, MMAmania.com will provide up-to-the-second coverage of the Strikeforce weigh-ins, as well as provide a detailed recap of the festivities as soon as they conclude. "Tate vs. Rousey" will feature newly-minted women's champion Miesha Tate putting her 135-pound title on the line against undefeated Judo specialist Ronda Rousey. Other match-ups booked for "The Discovery City" include K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson, former women's champion Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis and Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. Complete Strikeforce weigh in results after the jump. Main Event: 135 lbs.: Miesha Tate ( ) vs. Ronda Rousey ( ) Main card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: K.J. Noons ( ) vs. Josh Thomson ( )170 lbs.: Paul Daley ( ) vs. Kazuo Misaki ( )185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza ( ) vs. Bristol Marunde ( )185 lbs.: Scott Smith ( ) vs. Lumumba Sayers ( ) Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme): 135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman ( ) vs. Alexis Davis ( )155 lbs.: Caros Fodor ( ) vs. Pat Healy ( )155 lbs.: Ryan Couture ( ) vs. Conor Heun ( )170 lbs.: Roger Bowling ( ) vs. Brandon Saling ( ) MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the main card action on fight night (Sat., March 3, 2012), which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8:00 p.m. ET with the preliminary bouts. It's going to be a fun night of fights so don't miss it. And remember to check us out for all the pre, during and post-fight Strikeforce coverage you can handle For the latest Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" news and notes click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, lb, tate, rousey

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"We've got to make sure we're trying to outdo the main event. There's a lot of hype around the main event so I think [we're] two males who really want to try to prove to ourselves and to everybody else that we should have been the main event. I think that's what we're trying to do." -- According to Josh Thomson, his Strikeforce Lightweight fight against K.J. Noons should have been the headliner at this weekend's (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" mixed martial arts (MMA) event, at least that's what he told Sherdog.com. The event ,which takes place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, is headlined by a female Bantamweight title fight between current champ Miesha Tate taking on Olympic Judo medalist Ronda Rousey. Feeling snubbed by the woman's title fight, "The Punk" is going to do his best to put on a show Saturday night and prove to the MMA world the reason(s) his bout should have received topped billing. The winner of the Thompson vs. Noons bout is expected to receive a title shot against Strikeforce 155-pound champion Gilbert Melendez. The event also includes an exciting welterweight scrap between Paul Daley and Kazuo Misaki. Anyone feel Thompsons' beef? Or did Strikeforce get the main event correct by letting the women get top billing?

Posted in: title shot, strikeforce, event, tate, rousey

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The highly anticipated Women's Bantamweight title clash between division champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey will headline the stacked Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey fight card, set to take place tomorrow night from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Also featured will be former Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson taking on K.J. Noons and Welterweight power-puncher Paul Daley meets Kazuo Misaki.All fighters competing on the card stepped on the scales today for the official weigh-ins,

Posted in: tate, kj noons, rousey, scales today, columbus ohio

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The talk will come to an end on Saturday night. The level of animosity between Strikeforce Champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey has reached epic proportions in the weeks leading up to the fight with Tate saying that the relatively inexperienced Rousey did not deserve this total shot. While Rousey has only fourprofessional MMA fights, all first round submssion wins, that does not mean she is inexperienced in combat sports or that she isn't driven to greatness as ths video from SI.com

Posted in: combat sports, ronda rousey, rousey, ths video, round submssion

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Honestly, what can be said about Ronda Rousey that hasn’t already been said by her in any one of the million articles written about presumably the new face of women’s MMA in the past two months? For good or for bad, everyone wants a piece of her and she is ready to boldly answer every call, question, doubt or potential Strikeforce title fight that is offered. As each day draws closer to this near mythical showdown with current champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate on Saturday, regardless of all of Rousey’s talk, people are still as befuddled as ever about why she’s so brash, where she came from, when did judo become this devastating, and how is it even possible for someone who has spent less than two minutes inside a Strikeforce cage to win one of their most coveted belts? Although, “Rowdy” has been shouting this from the rooftops since Day One, it has not sunk in yet: Rousey is an Olympic athlete. Twice! At 17 years old, she was the youngest judo player at the 2004 Games in Athens, and four years later represented the USA again in Beijing, China. If that wasn’t enough, Rousey actually won a bronze at the 2008 Games, making her the first American to ever medal in women’s judo. Before all of that, she had been wreaking havoc at top international judo competitions dating as far back as 2001. For Rousey, it is crystal clear tgat being an elite level judoka for the past decade has prepared her more than enough to tangle with the 12-2 bantamweight champ Tate. “I'm an Olympic caliber athlete and she's a high school wrestler,” states Rousey. “To assume that that cancels each other out, it's wrong. To say she has a few more years experience of fighting MMA and has fought 10 more girls during that period of time, meanwhile I was fighting hundreds and hundreds of matches against Olympic caliber opponents. The girls I was competing with, it was their full-time job to train every single day, and their government was putting money into flying them around the world for training camps at the best facilities possible and to have the best coaching possible. It was professional. For her to beat a couple girls who train at a gym on the weekends and decided to pick up MMA and then having these long drawn out fights with them, she's had a hard time with them. It's not like she's dominating them. For her to think that experience is equal is ignorant.”The 25-year old, alliteratively named, Californian with Venezuelan roots, movie star looks, athletic genetics, and a penchant for breaking people’s arms sounds as much like a Stan Lee comic book heroine as the number one contender for the women’s 135 pound division’s belt. To say Rousey is an alluring character is as much an understatement as saying her rise to prominence in MMA last year was meteoric. In her first and only four professional fights, Rousey has debuted in a sport new to her, took it by storm, has gained wild popularity, and is actually the betting odds’ favorite to defeat the champion, Tate, who will be defending her title for the first time since winning the belt last July from Marloes Coenen via arm-triangle choke. Galvanizing this much widespread support in such a short time is almost unheard of.“It is surprising,” admits Rousey. “Most people don't realize in my judo career, I was an American fighting internationally and you don't realize how unpopular you are until you start traveling the world. I got booed and was cheered against in almost every single major tournament in my life. Even when I was in the US, I wasn't getting cheered on that much. I kind of always thought that I was going to be labeled as the ‘bad guy’, but to have so many people in my corner supporting me is really encouraging and I feel more motivated than ever. All throughout judo, I felt like I had a chip on my shoulder and I had all these people to prove wrong. I still have people to prove wrong, but it is really encouraging to have people who believe in me as well.”From the very beginning, Rousey and her myriad of highly regarded coaches believed she was capable of such dominance in women’s MMA, but there was someone very special she had to convince first: her mother. “When I first decided to commit myself 100% to MMA, I was talking to my manager, my conditioning coach, and my wrestling coach, and I told them we have to sit down with my mom because she really doesn't like me doing this and we need to get her on board and have her support and that was before my first pro fight,” tells Rousey of her 1984 World Judo Championship winning mom, Dr. Ann Maria Rousey DeMars, who wouldn’t send her daughter to judo tournaments unless she thought she was prepared to win them. “I remember my coach telling my mom, ‘this girl is something different, she is something special, and we think a year after she turns pro she is going to win the world championship title.’ They believed that in me since the very beginning and I believed that in me since the very beginning and I needed to believe that.”With everyone on board, the S.S. Rousey set sail into the dangerous waters of women’s mixed martial arts in search of more athletic glory, but, most of all, a financially viable career. In plainer terms, “Rowdy” needed money and fast. After years of competing against the best in the world in front of thousands of riotous fans from Brazil to France, Rousey’s bank account was next to nothing and she was in desperate need for an immediate future where she could showcase her abilities with tangible rewards at the end of it.“At the time, I was working three jobs: graveyard shift at 24 hour fitness, physical therapy on dogs, teaching judo,” remembers Rousey. “I was trying to train full-time, the air-conditioning was broken in my car and only one window worked, I was living in a one bedroom apartment I was sharing with a friend of mine, I had a huge dog, everything was broken all the time, we had no water pressure, we were living off pretty much bomb shelter food, we had to use coins to pay rent, and I could barely feed my dog. People are like ‘why is she pushing for all this so hard?’ I had to push to get all of this as soon as possible! Do you think I wanted to waste my time waiting another two and a half years winning some fights so that everyone will think that I'm 'worthy of my talents'? I am worthy of my talents! I need to win and I need to do this quick because I'm tired of living with the cockroaches and eating frozen vegetables!”This is when the 4th dan black belt in judo’s story becomes even more ridiculous, as she beat a war path to Tate’s Strikeforce title. In her first pro bout last March, “Rowdy” won by armbar in 25 seconds. In her second scrap three months later, “Rowdy” won by armbar, again, in 49 seconds, which is, currently, Rousey’s longest professional fight. On August 12th, Rousey made her Strikeforce debut with, shockingly enough, an armbar submission at 25 seconds into the opening round against Sarah D’Alelio. A minor controversy stemming from the win over D’Alelio was that she claimed her shout of pain was not a verbal tap. That left an indelible impression on Rousey entering her fourth fight in November, which was unfortunate for Julia Budd (who had her arm broken in 39 seconds) and any of Rousey’s future opponents.“I felt like I really had to validate myself because with Sarah D'Alelio I thought I had done the coolest flying armbar that everyone had ever seen in women's MMA and she really stained that for me,” says Rousey. “I tried to save that poor girl's arm from snapping to pieces and she said she didn't tap. I felt so angry that that fight got cheapened that I really had to prove a point and validate myself with Julia Budd and I did exactly that. I went in there with the idea that I had to dominate and make it as one-sided as possible. I literally wasn't going to stop cranking on her arm for anything. If anything, I'm even more motivated for this fight. A lot of people are saying, ‘don't you think you've talked yourself into a corner and are under a lot of pressure from everything you said?’ I want to feel like I'm put into a corner, I want to feel like there is no other option, and I don't want to have an exit strategy if I lose. I don't want to entertain the possibility that I could lose. I’m motivated and I'm very positive it is going to be one of the best performances of my career.”In the hotly anticipated main event this Saturday, Rousey will challenge Tate, and while much of the focus of this tussle is on the newcomer Rousey, Tate has earned her place at the top of the mountain, riding a four fight win streak inside of the Strikeforce cage. Tate’s most inspiring victory was her last, with a fourth round arm-triangle choke over vaunted submission artist Coenen. In her own right, Tate is an accomplished amateur wrestler and submission grappler, but Rousey is unilaterally unimpressed with the champion’s physical abilities.“I think her advantages are she doesn't get frustrated when she gets hit and she has good conditioning,” discloses Rousey. “Even when she is behind she keeps a cool head. You can tell she has experience in that she doesn't panic. Her disadvantages are that she's extremely slow, she's not very explosive with any of her takedowns, her striking has a lot to be desired, and her submission game isn't exciting either. I don't think she has any real finishing power that I have to worry about. The main theme of this fight is about positioning on the ground and making sure I don't get stuck in side-control or the mount and making it look like she's controlling the action. I don't have to worry about any submissions or knockouts or TKOs from her; I have to worry about her trying to eek out a decision victory.”To prepare for the throwdown with “Takedown”, Rousey has decided to continue to work with the same disturbingly decorated cast of coaches that helped her get thus far. For her standup, Rousey trains at the Glendale Fighting Club with fellow pro fighters like UFC vet Manny Gamburyan. For her ground game, Rousey has Rickson Gracie BJJ black belt Henry Akins at Dynamix MMA, judo icon Gene LeBell, and multiple international wrestling champion Leo Frincu, who also doubles as Rousey’s strength and conditioning coach. With this type of quality coaching, plus Rousey’s storied athletic history, it’s mystifying that there are plenty of critics, including Tate, that question what the challenger will do if the fight goes 60 seconds. “I think that's a huge advantage actually,” explains Rousey. “They have no video of me and if I'm completely dominating everyone within a minute I think the only way they can convince themselves that they have a chance is that outside of the minute I'm useless. It's kind of funny to me that they think after a minute I'm going to spontaneously combust. Them thinking that after a minute I'm useless is just a horrible strategy for them. I am an Olympic athlete. Before I did judo I was a swimmer and conditioning was always my biggest asset in judo. I'm happy for people to doubt me because that's what helps create debate about this fight. It makes people want to see each one of my fights to see what happens after a minute. I'm not mad people are doubting me, but they'll be surprised.”As mentioned time and time again, Rousey is entering the Strikeforce cage to win 10 pounds of gold, but, whether she accomplishes that or not, what she has done already is a valuable lesson. “If you put in the time and the energy, and believe in yourself, then you are capable of everything and I want to be able to inspire people with that,” reveals Rousey, who talked and fought her way to a title shot with less than a year’s worth of professional experience and, clearly, has a promising career ahead of her. “I want people to see that you should set high goals for yourself even if it is scary, and it is scary to put yourself on the line. I've been talking a whole lot about it, I'm putting my pride on the line, I'm putting my safety on the line, but what I want people to learn is that being courageous pays off some times.”On March 3rd at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, all eyes will be fixed on the clash for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship between Tate and Rousey. “This girl, Miesha, is going to trip out when she sees me at weigh-ins,” adds Rousey, who has been training for this fight just as hard as she has been selling it from the very beginning. “I have no injuries, we've been training perfectly, my body is just completely transformed, and I feel lighter, quicker, and more agile. And I'm just cut up! Oh my God, she's going to be scared when she sees me.”Finally, if all the hype, the title, and the trash talk haven’t gotten fight fans excited enough for this matchup then “Rowdy” has one more thing to add about herself and Tate: “These girls are gorgeous and then they're going to get into unarmed combat - for real.” Sold.

Posted in: fight, people, judo, im, rousey

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The reports of female MMA’s demise have been greatly exaggerated (wait, have I used that lede before?).  This Saturday night, Strikeforce brings us the biggest, most compelling pairing of femme fighters since Cris “Cyborg” Santos stepped into the cage to take on Gina Carano.  That’s right, I’m talking about Miesha Tate versus Ronda Rousey, a matchup that pits the organization’s 135-pound champ against an Olympic judo bronze medalist who rips off arms like you and I rip off pieces of toilet paper from the rolls hanging beside our respective crappers.  There are, of course, other things on the card that will get the blood flowing, like former champ Josh Thomson’s return, Brit slugger Paul Daley’s collision course with Japanese warrior Kazuo Misaki, and Ronaldo Souza and Scott Smith’s impending handling of young upstarts.  But what’s motivating me to tune in to Showtime this weekend is that marquee bout involving the fairer sex, and yes, it has everything to do with the violence one is surely going to be visiting upon the other – particularly, that other fighter’s limb.  Preview time! -Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey – Let me start off by saying some good things about Tate.  She hasn’t tasted defeat since a decision loss to Sarah Kaufman back in May of 2009; she’s experienced; she won the Strikeforce belt by tapping out Marloes Coenen, so she’s no slouch when it comes to submissions; and, she’s a solid wrestler.  Okay, with that out of the way, let’s state the obvious: Rousey is going to throw her down and transition into the kind of armbar that requires rehab and physical therapy to recover from.  In just four pro fights and three amateur ones, the judoka has finished all who stood before her, all via armlock, all in under a minute.  That’s the kind of feat that more than warrants her title shot.  Heck, with that kind of streak going, Rousey deserves credit for turning a run-of-the-mill Meisha Tate title defense into “Oh man is that lady going to get her arm broken for sure” fight.  And folks, that kind of hype, though morbid, is just what female MMA needs to make it more than just “two attractive chicks fighting”.  I see Rousey coming away with the belt (obviously), but the question remains: Can Tate last longer than a minute? -Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons – Miraculously, Thomson’s body has held together enough for him to face Noons (note: Thomson has had to drop out of about a thousand fights due to injuries, and he spent all of 2011 suspended in a nutrient tank a la Luke Skywalker in the Rebel base on Hoth).  But here he is now, a former champ and perennial badass, taking on someone who possesses some of the best hands in the business.  For Noons, the keys to victory are to keep Thomson from taking him down, and keep him at the end of his fists.  This is very doable, especially if the duct tape holding Thomson together spontaneously comes undone.  However, Thomson could just as easily be the one pushing the pace and imposing his will, so it could go either way.  I predict a decision here, but I can’t decide which way the decision will go. -Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki – As one of the most exciting British fighters in the game, and, despite his extracurricular actions against Josh Koscheck (which got him banished from the UFC), one of the most likeable Brits in the game, Daley is right up there among the best welterweight properties Strikeforce has under contract.  But signing Misaki, and pairing him up against Daley… that’s a stroke of genius, so let’s all give Strikeforce a little golf clap.  *Claps effetely*  Twice Misaki went to the well with Jorge Santiago in Sengoku, and twice it was an epic Braveheart-esque battle replete with carnage and heads being lopped off.  Therefore, putting Daley and Misaki together should be a sure-fire recipe for thrills, and honestly, I haven’t the faintest clue how it’s going to end.  It won’t be boring, though! -Ronalda Souza vs. Bristol Marunde – Souza was the Strikeforce middleweight champ until he laid an egg against Luke Rockhold, but his road back to title contention looks to be paved with cans of the tomato variety.  First it was to be against wrestler Derek Brunson.  Unfortunately, the athletic commission took issue with Brunson’s imitation of Mr. Magoo, so now it’s going to be Bristol Marunde who faces the vaunted jiu-jitsu of “Jacare”, and the common denominator between the Brazilian’s two opponents is that they both pose the same amount of threat – nil.  Souza is going back to basics and getting the submission, and soon Strikeforce will once more have someone legitimate to fight for Rockhold’s crown. -Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers – The clock is ticking on Smith and his time in the cage, and that’s a shame because he brings it, win or lose.  However, although Sayers put away Antwain Britt in impressive, hard-hitting fashion, he’s still got a ways to go before he can step to the likes of Smith, who’s managed to score knockouts even after being knocked out and/or gravely wounded himself.  Smith is taking this one via TKO after doing his best “Walking Dead” imitation.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, thomson

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Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey squared off on the microphone on Thursday ahead of their main event fight Saturday night in Columbus, OH.

Posted in: conference, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, microphone

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If I get another text from my grandmother asking me what time this weekend's Strikeforce fight is airing, I'm going to -- call her up and tell her because she's elderly. The only reason why she knows GSP is because her favorite fighter, Nick Diaz, talks about him. Her second favorite fighter is Waachiim Spiritwolf. I don't understand it either, but she also followed NFL Europe like it was an ancient religion. Coincidentally she's also a fan of Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, so it's going to be interesting when I tell her about this newly released MMAFighting video of today's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey press conference filmed somewhere in Ohio. Don't tell her I'm giving you guys first dibs on the video. She may get angry and swing her cane towards the general direction of my head, again. [Source] {iframe}http://mmafighting.vid.io/v/40b60c46-63fc-11e1-9ecc-123139282fa5{/iframe}

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is going down this Saturday night, and the betting odds for the card are now out. Strikeforce odds are always interesting because you generally don't see a lot of close fights. In the main event, I almost never touch a fighter that's above -250 unless it seems like a mortal lock. Well, to me Ronda Rousey is a mortal lock and I'm dropping some coin on her at -285. I think the line should be waaay wider than that. I also like Josh Thomson at -150. I'm sure a lot of people will be all over Pat Healy at +150, and they're right to be. Even though I picked Caros Fodor to win the fight, it's about dead even to me. +150 is a steal. The rest of the card is full of hail mary longshots, and Scott Smith. I don't advise betting on Hands of Steel, but I hope he wins anyway. Scott Smith rules. Anyway, here are your lines (undercard after the jump). Lines via BestFightOdds.com. These lines represent the best price you can get each fighter at from a wide variety of betting sites, and update in real time. Pretty cool, eh? SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, i hope, line, ronda rousey, rousey

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Posted in: conference, vs, press, tate, rousey

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MMA Weekly caught up with Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Paul Daley, KJ Noons and Kazou Misaki to get their thoughts on their upcoming fights at Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” this Saturday night.

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Today they're in jackets, tomorrow they're in skivvies. Strikeforce for held a special pre-fight press conference earlier today (Thurs., March 1, 2012) in advance of the "Tate vs. Rousey" Showtime event scheduled for Saturday night at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. And (surprise), neither Miesha Tate nor Ronda Rousey had anything nice to say about the other when the mic was turned on. Says the champion: "I don't care for Ronda's personality. I've fought people I haven't liked before but not to this extent. But I'm careful not to be overzealous and let tempers change my game plan. Ronda is a self-righteous person. She cares more about herself than the sport. She talked her way into a title fight. Clearly, she doesn't deserve it. She's not the No. 1 contender. She hasn't even fought at this weight before. I mean, she's 4-0 and has been moderately impressive but she hasn't faced anyone like me." Responds the challenger: "I wasn't looking to make friends in this sport. I just wanted to make a living so I didn't have to catch coins. But it doesn't matter if people don't like me because it's mostly current or former champs who think everyone should throw petals at their feet. Honestly, I don't care if a bunch of girls I don't know don't like me. I'm doing this to support myself and not work night shifts at the gym. I don't have respect for Miesha's inconsistency. One minute it's about the sport, the next she is wearing booty shorts on her website and it's the entertainment business." Oh, and there are a couple of other fighters competing this weekend as well, like Josh Thomson vs. K.J. Noons: More Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" news and notes right here.

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Ronda Rousey is who she is and she's not going to apologize for anything she's said leading into her title fight this weekend in Ohio.

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Watch below as the main card stars of Saturday night's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, including headliners Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey, meet with the press one final time before fight night.

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Child molesters are apparently everywhere, from schools to churches to the Boy Scouts. You'd imagine they'd think twice about trying to molest the tough as nails girls who populate the US judo scene, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. For decades USA Judo kept someone on the executive board that had been accused multiple times of drugging and sexually abusing female competitors. Enter Ronda Rousey, who wasn't about to stay silent about that sh*t: In 2008, when Rousey had already made the U.S. Olympic judo team, she wrote a post on her blog that shined a light on a judo official. Rousey wrote about accusations made against Fletcher Thornton. In sworn affidavits, then-teenaged judo players said Thornton had drugged and molested them.The complaints against Fletcher didn't keep him from holding high offices within the judo community until Rousey spoke up. He resigned two weeks before the 2008 Games started."I felt it was the right thing to do, and I had already made the Olympic team, so there was nothing anyone could do to me," Rousey told Cagewriter during our January interview."Someone had to speak up against this pervert. I thought, if I'm the only one who has the balls to do anything about it, then I'll deal with the consequences. I got a hold of all the affidavits, I spread it all around, and we got the New York Times to write an article about it. Now, he's never going to be around judo or any young women ever. I felt obligated as a woman to do that." You can read that New York Times article here, or the initial forum post Rousey made here, or the post Ronda's outspoken and badass mother wrote here calling USA Judo out for never investigating the claims properly. People who sexually assault kids are pretty much the worst people on the planet, but I hope there is a special sub-level in Mormon hell for those who stand idly by and do nothing when these kinds of allegations surface. Ronda's mom summed up USA Judo's position thusly: "Yes, there have been multiple complaints from multiple states over a thirty year period. Yes, people keep bringing this up and refusing to accept our statement that we investigated it, especially when new people come forward with complaints they know they have never talked to us about before. However, we are going to keep sending him along with junior teams until he gets indicted." She also opened up on the USJI's 'investigation' into the case and what a total sham it was: (More after the jump) read more

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During the build up to their title-fight this weekend, Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate and undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey have been anything but cordial towards each other. However, Rousey has come forward to say the bulk of her verbal jabs at Tate have been a means of promoting the match-up rather than representing any sort of personal attack. Tate, on the other hand, doesn’t see things that way as she made clear in a recent interview where she said Rousey has crossed the line too many times to go back now. “She’s made it personal for me. She says it’s not personal, but it is,” explained Tate in a conversation with MMAWeekly. “The difference between her and Chael Sonnen is that Chael’s been around for a long time, and I think people understand that it’s more of a gimmick. He’s a funny guy and he says things that are funny. The difference with Ronda is that she’s rude. She’s not necessarily comical in everything that she says; she’s kind of a bitch to be honest.” “Not only am I not a fan, I cannot stand the girl,” Tate continued. “She is full of it. I think she runs her mouth way too much. She says things that just make her look absolutely ridiculous and I think she gives women’s MMA a bad name. I don’t think she’s good representation or a good role model for the sport, period” “Not only do I not like her, but I don’t respect her at all,” the 25-year old added. Strikeforce Releases “Greatest Hits” Video for Tate-Rousey When it comes to their actual scrap this Saturday night where real jabs will be thrown rather than those of the verbal variety, Tate is confident in Rousey’s inability to live up to her hype. “I think she’s going to fold under the pressure, when after the first minute and she hasn’t submitted me, or even worse, she’s taking punches and thinking ‘Damn why can’t I finish this girl? I did it to everyone else’,” said Tate, alluding to Rousey’s lack of experience in the cage and ease in which she’s put away her previous opponents. Fans can watch the two talented women settle their score on Saturday night with the Showtime-bound broadcast starting at 10:00 PM EST. Prelims will air on Showtime Extreme two hours earlier. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE (Austin Hargrave) Tweet

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Well this is certainly an interesting development. Strikeforce female number one contender Ronda Rousey will challenge Miesha Tate for the 135-pound title this Saturday night (March 3, 2012) live on Showtime from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. And she'll do it as the -350 favorite, according to our fiscal friends at Bet US (via Best Fight Odds). That leaves "Takedown" as the +250 underdog, despite her six-fight winning streak (with four stoppages) and marked advantage in experience. Perhaps the four consecutive (and agonizingly brutal) armbar submission wins by the "Rowdy" one has tipped the line in her favor? Or have the bookies fallen under the spell of her pre-fight trash talk? Either way, Tate fans are no doubt salivating at these odds, but does anyone out there think the challenger is getting too much respect? Who's looking to make some coin on this fight over the weekend? Get up to speed on all things "Tate vs. Rousey" right here.

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This Saturday night sees a return to action for Strikeforce and, perhaps most importantly, the return of "big time" women's MMA. Not to take anything away from those women who have been featured by the promotion over the past few years, but since the Cristiane Santos vs. Gina Carano bout, there has been a real lack of fights that felt bigger than that singular bout. With Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey set to square off for Strikeforce's 135 pound title, their bout was already important. But the trash talk between the two has elevated it to something slightly bigger than just "the next women's title fight." Rousey is currently a heavy favorite at anywhere between -285 and -350 based on her aggressive judo game which does utilize a great deal of submission attacks. Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting had a chance to catch up with Rousey and talk about a variety of topics, but they did dive into the judo vs. wrestling aspects of the bout: Luke Thomas: There's obviously a lot of overlap between amateur wrestling, folkstyle, freestyle, Greco Roman and judo but I guess my question to you would be, why does your judo beat Miesha Tate's wrestling? Ronda Rousey: I think it's because I have a very unorthodox style of judo in that I kind of have a weird European-Japanese-Brazilian jiu-jitsu mix that is extremely hard to prepare for and I train with world champion and Olympic medalist wrestlers several times a week and there's no way that she could have judo players of my caliber to train with. It's just such an unorthodox style that I don't think she can be nearly as prepared for me as I am for her. Luke Thomas: You come in reaching for her arm, I've never seen you change elevation at least not yet in your career. More than just being a different style, I mean the particular application of it. Is she not going to be as strong as you, is she not going to be able to understand the angle at which you come to grab her, what do you mean? Ronda Rousey: Well, yeah, like you were pointing out, for judo players, you don't change levels when you come in for the takedowns, you telegraph a lot less. What was the rest of your question, just the advantage that judo players have in general? Luke Thomas: I guess I'm just wondering, I talked to [Tate] and her sense was that her wrestling really had a lot of different tools to stop your judo and what you're telling me is quite the opposite in a sense that she doesn't even know what she's getting into. Ronda Rousey: There's no way she can know because I'm not a normal judo player and she, I think it's ridiculous to assume that you know how to defend a style that you've never fought against or had any experience training with. Full audio of the interview can be found after the jump... SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Full interview audio:

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On Saturday, Strikeforce's bantamweight belt will be up for grabs, as Miesha Tate defends it for the first time. She's taking on Ronda Rousey, a judo specialist with Olympic credentials. Who has the better game? Rousey is undefeated. She hasn't … Continue reading →

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Get geared up for Friday's Strikeforce card in Columbus, Ohio, with these highlights of main event bantamweight title fighters Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

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Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Video Preview - Ronda Rousey in "The Righteous Wrath of an Honorable Man" by Colin Stetson HT: Damon O.

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Strikeforce is banking on Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey to carry their show this Saturday night when the two women serve as the main event in Columbus, Ohio. The show features Tate defending her bantamweight crown against Rousey, an undefeated former Olympian. To help the cause, both talented females have been putting on a show during the media tour to promote the card, taking several shots at one another along the way. The card also boasts K.J. Noons-Josh Thomson and stars Paul Daley, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Scott Smith, and numerous other notable competitors in action.. To add to the mix, Strikeforce has now put together a highlight reel of Tate and Rousey’s greatest moments inside the cage as a reminder of exactly how able each is. Check out the video below and make sure to tune in Saturday night on Showtime: PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

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Strikeforce breaks out the highlight reel in advance of its Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey 135-pound title fight on Showtime this Saturday night (March 3, 2012) from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Who's sticking around to watch this one and who's firing up the DVR? More on Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" right here.

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Ahead of Saturday's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event, Showtime Sports has unveiled a "greatest hits" video. It focuses on Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey, two top female fighters who meet in the Showtime headliner at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Check out a video for some of the ladies' recent finishes.

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Get all of your Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey information here. Play by Play, results, videos, news, fight card, start times, and more!

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Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” takes place this Saturday, March 3, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will air on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. The latest Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” fight card can be found in our fight cards section.

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In the run-up to Strikeforce's bantamweight title clash between champion Miehsa Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey, much of the focus of the fight has had nothing to do with actual fighting. Did Rousey jump the line for a title shot? Has the marketing for this fight focused incessantly on looks? What's the latest in the war of words between the two fighters? Questions like these and others dominate the news cycle. While these queries aren't without some merit, there's another story to be told: how each fighter plans to win this coming Saturday evening. In this interview with MMA Fighting, Rousey discusses her unusual judo past, how it's radically different from the prototypical wrestling/jiu-jitsu fighter background and why she believes Tate cannot properly prepare for it. The judo bronze medalist also discusses her admiration for Gina Carano, drug testing efficacy in USADA, candor in the fight business and much more. Full audio and partial transcription below: Luke Thomas: Okay, joining me right now to talk about her upcoming title fight at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, which of course takes place March 3rd at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, former bronze judo medalist, Ronda Rousey. Ronda, how are you? Ronda Rousey: it's not former, the next Olympics hasn't happened. Luke Thomas: (laughs) I guess that's true, current bronze medalist, how are you? Ronda Rousey: I'm good, how you doing? Luke Thomas: Speaking of the 2012 London games, how invested are you in judo? Are you gonna watch that as a spectator? Ronda Rousey: Yeah, well I'm for sure going. It'll be an amazing experience to go to the Olympics just for fun and just to watch and to enjoy the games and different sports, it'll be great. Luke Thomas: Are you being facetious? Ronda Rousey: No Luke Thomas: I guess I'm just sort of curious as to your current level of enthusiasm for judo in that way. I know you sort of went to MMA because you got tired as a competitor of the daily grind. Ronda Rousey: Yeah, but that doesn't mean I don't love the sport. I love watching judo, I just don't like the lifestyle required to be the best in the world at it. Luke Thomas: Fair enough. Let me ask you about self promotion because you seem to be rather good at it. Did it come naturally? Is it something you're working on? Is it a little combination of both? What is it? Ronda Rousey: I guess it comes naturally in that I benefited from being raised in a certain environment where I come from a family of very educated and empowered and quick-witted women and ever since I've been 13 or so, most people I've hung out with are men in their mid 20s. I've lived in a lot of houses that were just me and my teammates between the banter of my teammates and arguing with my sisters, I developed my own brand of quick-witted shit-talking that has served me so well. Luke Thomas: But this isn't something like a Chael Sonnen act, is it? This seems to be something that is mostly natural, or am I overstating it? Ronda Rousey: I just try to be as bluntly honest as possible. It's not entirely genuine in that I do not have all that energy all day long, but I just kind of just an exaggerated version of myself I guess. Luke Thomas: Let me ask you about being blunt. Do you think the fight game is full of too much posturing and people not being candid with one another? Ronda Rousey: I think that the women's side definitely does. The men have a good balance of fighters that are much more soft-spoken and are just there to compete and other fighters that are showmen but on the women's side, you really don't see any of that, any of the girls going out of their way to market themselves at the extent of some criticism. That's why I really did a call-out on my last fight because I realized that no other woman had done a call-out on TV before so I was like, "You know what? If I'm the first one to do it, it's bound to work and it did and I'm just trying to draw inspiration from a lot of the men's fighters that have been using the exact same package that I have and I think if I was a man and I was doing the exact same things that I'm doing now, no one would really say "boo" about it but because I'm a woman and not a lot of the women have been outspoken before that it's become something that a lot of people like to pay attention to. Luke Thomas: Well tell me about Gina Carano, and I don't mean to be superficial with the question but in the sense that she has been able to leverage both ability and looks to a pretty strong degree at this point. Is she blazing a path that you'd like to follow or are you looking for something different? Ronda Rousey: She definitely is and if I didn't see what Gina was already doing, I wouldn't have become an MMA fighter because I wouldn't think it would offer any sort of long-term career for me so she has her own path and she's going about things her own way, but yeah, I see that she's been successful and I think it would be dumb of me to not look at what she's done and how she's succeeded and kinda pick and choose from her strategy and make some of it my own. Luke Thomas: Let's talk about drug testing and the state athletic commissions versus WADA which you've also done a lot of testing throughout your judo career. Which one's more rigorous, WADA or state athletic commissions? Ronda Rousey: I would actually say that USADA is the worst one because I think that the United States drug tests are more stringent than the world drug testing and I think that the professional athletic commission is actually most lax of the three. For the Olympics, all I could take the Olympics was Advil. Luke Thomas: Does that mean that there is more opportunity for a false positive because you can take more over the counter supplements in gross degrees in state athletic commission testing? Ronda Rousey: Well in USADA, they told us that, "You are entirely responsible for everything that you take." Even if you take a supplement and test positive for something that's not on the label and you can prove that it came from that bottle and it was mistakenly done, they will hold you accountable so that's why I only take children's vitamins because I know that it's a lawsuit waiting to happen if they happen to put something else in there. I've always just been overly cautious and for all these people that are testing positive for various kinds of steroids and saying, "Oh, I got it from some supplement," it's bullshit. It's a blatant lie and I feel it's insulting the intelligence of the fans. Luke Thomas: Talk to me about newaza in judo. I think a lot of people have poor conception of what it actually entails both in terms of newaza training and newaza as a function of competition in judo. How does it work? How much training is involved in submissions in judo and how much of it matters in competition? Ronda Rousey: Training in newaza in judo is not mandatory. You can get away with not knowing any ground and just knowing how to defend and stay standing. I just happen to come from a background where my mom, she tore her knees out when she was like 17 so all of her fights, she won on the ground and then when I was 16, I tore my knee out and I spent that entire year only doing ground work and when I moved away from home, I went to [Jimmy] Pedro's. They're known as mostly a very ground based judo school so the difference I think between a judo and jiu-jitsu ground game is in judo, you only have sometimes only three seconds, even less than that to make something work so it pushes the transition and the pace on the ground to be faster than any other grappling sport. Luke Thomas: Is that the key to the game? It seems like once you get that rush in, the two on one and then the trip, it's just a matter of seconds at that point. Do you think the jiu-jitsu guys don't have the same sense of urgency in their submission application? Ronda Rousey: Yeah, they don't have any sense of urgency and they don't have as much need to be able to transition between the stand-up and the ground as quickly as a judo player does because we don't have an undisclosed amount of time to work on the ground and so I think that's a big advantage. A lot of judo players like I said neglect learning any kind of ground game at all. It's kind of like some judo players I think have an amazing ground game that transfers better to MMA than any style but some judo players are just completely useless on the ground. It's kind of random. Luke Thomas: There's obviously a lot of overlap between amateur wrestling, folkstyle, freestyle, Greco Roman and judo but I guess my question to you would be, why does your judo beat Miesha Tate's wrestling? Ronda Rousey: I think it's because I have a very unorthodox style of judo in that I kind of have a weird European-Japanese-Brazilian jiu-jitsu mix that is extremely hard to prepare for and I train with world champion and Olympic medalist wrestlers several times a week and there's no way that she could have judo players of my caliber to train with. It's just such an unorthodox style that I don't think she can be nearly as prepared for me as I am for her. Luke Thomas: You come in reaching for her arm, I've never seen you change elevation at least not yet in your career. More than just being a different style, I mean the particular application of it. Is she not going to be as strong as you, is she not going to be able to understand the angle at which you come to grab her, what do you mean? Ronda Rousey: Well, yeah, like you were pointing out, for judo players, you don't change levels when you come in for the takedowns, you telegraph a lot less. What was the rest of your question, just the advantage that judo players have in general? Luke Thomas: I guess I'm just wondering, I talked to [Tate] and her sense was that her wrestling really had a lot of different tools to stop your judo and what you're telling me is quite the opposite in a sense that she doesn't even know what she's getting into. Ronda Rousey: There's no way she can know because I'm not a normal judo player and she, I think it's ridiculous to assume that you know how to defend a style that you've never fought against or had any experience training with. Luke Thomas: Talk to me about what's harder on the body over time, judo or MMA? I read a book called "Falling Hard" where a writer picked up judo as a hobby and really sort of followed it through and he talked about the devastating injuries. Which is harder on the body, judo or MMA? Ronda Rousey: Judo is definitely much harder on the body. It's much harder on your joints. It's not so much cosmetic damage because you don't see much blood, but more people have died from judo than doing MMA and most people get injuries like torn shoulders, separated collar bones, broken collar bones, broken legs, knees everything. I've seen way more injuries, broke necks, people break their necks doing judo because you're pretty much doing gymnastics with somebody on your back. Imagine someone doing gymnastics with another person trying to stop you and throw you on your ass. It's pretty much dangerous in that way and I think that judo is probably one of the more dangerous sports under boxing.

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Strikeforce is close to pulling the trigger on its upcoming Showtime-televised fight card on Sat., March 3, 2012, from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. "Tate vs. Rousey" will feature newly-minted women's champion Miesha Tate putting her 135-pound title on the line against undefeated Judo specialist Ronda Rousey. MMAmania.com will provide LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the Strikeforce main card action below on fight night, which is slated to air at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime. The latest quick updates of the live action will begin to flow earlier than that around 8:00 p.m. ET with the "Prelims" bouts on Showtime Extreme. Other match-ups booked for "The Discovery City" include K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson, former women's champion Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis and Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. That's not all. Here is the complete Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" fight card and line up: Main Event: 135 lbs.: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey Main card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson170 lbs.: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde185 lbs.: Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme): 135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis155 lbs.: Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy155 lbs.: Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun170 lbs.: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling It's going to be a fun night of fights so don't miss it. We're still a few days away from fight night; therefore, feel free to share your thoughts and predictions for "Tate vs. Rousey" in the comments section below. And remember that MMAmania.com will be the spot for the latest news and event-related highlights before, during and after the event. For all the latest Strikeforce news and notes be sure to hit up our event archive right here.

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Strikeforce women’s bantamweight top contender Ronda Rousey talks about champion Miesha Tate's allegations she was "pampered and protected." Rousey challenges Tate on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

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Miesha Tate will put her Women's 135-pound title on the line when she meets Ronda Rousey in the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey headlining bout, set to take place this Saturday night from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

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If there's one thing you can say about Strikeforce competitor Ronda Rousey, she's anything but cliché and she obviously didn't study the classic 1988 sports film "Bull Durham."

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Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey, as well as fighters Josh Thomson and KJ Noons field questions from the media, leading up to their respective fights.

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MMAWeekly Radio Weekend Edition is back with a UFC 144 round-up, Strikeforce fighter Caros Fodor, up-and-comer Drew Brokenshire, MMAWeekly's Erik Fontanez and the final Ask Ronda Rousey.

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Earlier this week, undefeated judoka Ronda Rousey admitted a good deal of the perceived animosity between her and Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate was manufactured as a means of selling their March 3 match-up. However, based on some recent statements Tate made questioning Rousey’s fortitude while labeling her as “carefully matched,” “pampered,” and “protected,” that may have changed. “Rowdy” Ronda responded to the comments in what appears wholeheartedly genuine blog of her own and is anything but complimentary of her upcoming adversary. “I read recently on Miesha’s blog that she thinks that she has the heart of a champion because in her first MMA bout was getting punched till she got a bloody nose, was losing a match and then came back to win. She then stated that I’ve been pampered and protected for my whole career,” Rousey wrote. “Let me give you a little insight into my pampered upbringing,” she continued before listing off a plethora of adverse situations she’d dealt with in her life. In summation: Age 11 – “I broke my big toe doing judo. To an 11 year old this is a very big deal, so I stopped fighting and started to cry. My mother then made me run laps around the mat for the rest for the night. I thought she was just being cruel at the time but she told me, ‘Sometimes you have to fight when you’re injured. You need to know you’re capable of that.’” Age 15 – “ (I) broke three bones in my foot (jumping over a fence, during my first and only attempt to try and ditch class) That weekend my mom sent me up to northern California to fight in two divisions in a tournament that was hosted by the club of one of my biggest rivals at the time. I was sent with no coach and injured, fought eight matches in front of a bias crowd that were cheering against me. When I asked my mom why she would do something so mean she said, ‘You won’t always have a coach, the crowd won’t always like you, and you won’t always be healthy when you fight. You need to know you can win anyway.’” Age 16 – “I tore my ACL during practice. My mom made me finish training that night as well as the following morning before I got another coach to look at my knee. They sent me in for an MRI and found that my ACL was totally missing. A month or so later I got surgery. Two weeks after surgery I was already back on the mat doing push-ups and sit-ups, whatever I could do without using my knee. A week later I was drilling ne-waza (ground techniques) and continued to only focus on my ground game till I could fight standing again.” Age 18 – “I fought in the German open. My first match was against Finland. I was winning until the last 45 seconds when I tried a risky throw which unfortunately set myself up for an armbar. Before I could believe it, she already dislocated my elbow. I remember thinking: “Well…its already out, tapping won’t make it better, I only have 45 seconds…” I didn’t tap, I kept fighting and my elbow snapped back into place, she popped it out again before I finally escaped the hold and was able to relocate my elbow a second time. I stood up, continued fighting, and won. Age 20 – “I tore the meniscus in my knee almost in half. One half flipped over and it jammed my knee into place. I couldn’t bend or straighten it and needed surgery immediately. Unfortunately the Pan American championships were a week away and it was an extremely crucial competition when it came to qualifying the 70kg category for the USA in the 2008 Olympics. Her MMA Debut – Less than a year ago my first pro fight was against Ediene Gomes, a 6-1 Brazilian from American Top Team. Three days before the fight I incurred a brutal pitbull bite that required nine stitches, the wound went down to the bone and the doctor said I was lucky the teeth just barely missed my tendons. I needed this fight, and refused to withdrawal. I asked the doctor if I would permanently injure myself if I fought. He said no, but I would be in a world of pain and the stitches would burst open by the end of the first round. I made myself go through weigh-ins without limping. I stripped naked on the scale (though my opponent was four lbs heavy) so the towels would cover my foot (there were no socks allowed). When it came time to fight, I won in 26 seconds. I didn’t have another option. In closing, Rousey summed things up succinctly, stating, “I don’t know what Miesha thinks being ‘Pampered and Protected’ means, but I suggest she invests in a dictionary.” Fans can catch the two talented women settle their score on Showtime with other highlighted bouts including K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson and Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: fight, week, age, miesha, rousey

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Strikeforce contender Ronda Rousey presents the second installment of her fight blog as she gets ready for her showdown with Miesha Tate on March 3 in Columbus, OH

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, miesha tate, fight blog

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In her latest blog, Strikeforce women's challenger Ronda Rousey echoes the words her mother told her when she was 11 about fighting injured.

Posted in: strikeforce, life, blog, rousey, ronda

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In her latest blog, Strikeforce women's challenger Ronda Rousey echoes the words her mother told her when she was 11 about fighting injured.

Posted in: strikeforce, life, blog, rousey, ronda

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Miesha Tate will defend her Strikeforce title against Ronda Rousey on Saturday, March 3. Recently Tate offered her take on her opponent, saying that she felt that she had the advantage over her opponent due to the fact that Rousey, “has yet to taste her own blood in a grueling MMA bout. She's yet to prove she can battle back from any adversity at all.” MMATorch via Strikeforce Rousey seems to have taken exception to the comments of Tate and answered her in a blog of her own where she detailed

Posted in: tate, rousey, rousey “, strikeforce rousey, ” mmatorch

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Well, as it turns out, Derek Brunson is blind as a bat. That could explain why he failed his medical exam prior to his Strikeforce fight against Ronaldo Souza at the upcoming "Tate vs. Rousey" event on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. No worries. While Brunson gets a laser shot into his eyes to keep himself in the good graces of future fight commissions, International Fight League (IFL) veteran Bristol Marunde will get a chance to dazzle fans at the Nationwide Arena as he answers the call of "Jacare." Marunde is 9-1 over his last 10 fights and the winner of four straight, including a unanimous decision win over UFC veteran Jay Silva at Superior Cage Combat 3 last November. The bad news is that two of his losses have come by way of triangle choke, which could be blood in the water for a grappling shark like Souza. Prior to coughing up his 185-pound title to Luke Rockhold last September, the Brazilian won four of his first five fights under the Strikeforce banner. Here is the revised Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" fight card: Main Event: 135 lbs.: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey Main card (Showtime): 155 lbs.: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson170 lbs.: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki185 lbs.: Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde185 lbs.: Scott Smith vs. Lumumba Sayers Preliminary card (Showtime Extreme): 135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis155 lbs.: Caros Fodor vs. Pat Healy155 lbs.: Ryan Couture vs. Conor Heun170 lbs.: Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling For all the news and notes surrounding the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" Showtime card check out our extensive news archive by clicking here.

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Superior Cage Combat middleweight champion Bristol Marunde has signed with Strikeforce and will replace Derek Brunson against former Strikeforce titleholder Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza at next Saturday's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the signing on Wednesday via Twitter. Brunson was scratched from the contest after failing his pre-fight medicals by testing below the commission's minimum vision threshold without his contact lenses. Ohio Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato revealed that Brunson's vision is 20/400, which fails to meet the state standard of "uncorrected visual acuity." Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is slated for March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate defends her title against former Olympian Ronda Rousey in the night's main event. The late match-up switch marks an enormous leap in competition for Marunde (15-6), whose biggest previous wins came against UFC veterans Jay Silva and Rich Attonito. Training out of West Coast Fight Team, the 29-year-old journeyman recovered from early turbulence to amass nine victories in his last ten appearances, including three first-round stoppages, with his only stumble arriving via a submission loss to Jordan Smith in 2009. Souza (14-3, 1 NC), meanwhile, looks to rebound after dropping his Strikeforce middleweight title in a unanimous decision loss to Luke Rockhold last September. The setback snapped a four-fight win streak for the Black House fighter, which included dramatic wins over Tim Kennedy, Robbie Lawler, and Matt Lindland.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, brunson, derek brunson, rousey

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Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza has a new opponent for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on March 3, in Columbus, OH.

Posted in: strikeforce, jacare, march, rousey, face jacare

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Full audio from today’s Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” conference call via BJPenn.com. Also, here are some choice quotes from the call via MMA Fighting. Miesha Tate on looks playing a role in this fight: “I’m not in denial about that. I understand the logistics behind it and why this fight would want to be put together and how it has the ability to do bigger things than if Sarah Kaufman and I were fighting each other. Just the hype, the selling points, the marketing points — I understand all of that, because it’s not just a sport. To me, the sport is the most important part. But honestly, like I said, if nobody wants to watch it, it’s more of a detriment than anything else.” Ronda Rousey on the same: “I think that’s part of what makes this fight so exciting, so anticipated. We’re pretty much getting into unarmed combat, anything’s possible. Someone could die. When you see two girls that pretty much look like Xena: Warrior Princess going at it, that was a show on TV for a reason. People want to watch it. It’s going to be a huge fight and it’s going to change women’s MMA.” Rousey on her quick rise through the ranks: “This day a year ago I was working three jobs and struggling to train and do all this stuff, and I just wanted to be done with all of that. I just wanted to be able to support myself through fighting and I wanted to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to sit around and do that for a few more years and slowly work my way up while telling everybody ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and bowing my head. I knew that I could win the title the day that I started, and the quicker I could get it the better. If giving a couple more entertaining interviews than some of the girls helps me out, then I’m going to do that.” “I’ve been being pretty much overtly rude. I haven’t been lying or saying anything I didn’t think [was] true, but I’ve been saying things I wouldn’t say to people’s faces usually because it’s not polite.” Tate on making the most of the opprtunity: “We have a responsibility as women to stick together and really try to help other girls… Ronda and I are getting the opportunity for the limelight. The thing about women’s MMA, when you have very little opportunity for mass exposure, you’ve got to make the most out of it. It’s got to be the most bang for your buck.” It was also revealed today that KJ Noons has yet to be medically cleared to fight on the card, Derek Brunson is off the card because he failed medicals and Roger Bowling vs. Brandon Saling has been added.

Posted in: fight, ’t, anything, tate, rousey

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During today’s conference call for the upcoming Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey” event, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that undefeated middleweight Derek Brunson has been scratched from his scheduled matchup with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. Coker announced that Strikeforce officials are now looking for a replacement opponent for Souza. Brunson (9-0) announced that he failed an eye exam during his state-ordered physical. He mentioned that in the past, he was allowed to wear contact lenses during his fights, but the Ohio State Athletic Commission refused to clear him for the fight scheduled for March 3rd. With his current state of vision, Brunson announced that he will likely undergo Lasik eye surgery sometime in the near future, and he plans to return as soon as possible. Souza (14-3-1), the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, was scheduled to make his return to the organization for the first time since losing his belt to current champion Luke Rockhold last September. While an opponent has yet to be announced, Coker mentioned that he is confident they will find an opponent and that Souza will remain on the card. Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey’ is headlined by the biggest female MMA fight in years, with current Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate defending her belt for the first time against the undefeated Ronda Rousey. For complete coverage of Strikeforce: “Tate vs. Rousey”, stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, souza, rousey

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Back when Ronda Rousey started pushing for a title fight with Strikeforce 135-pound women’s champion Miesha Tate, she built her case on a very simple logic. Despite her relative inexperience in MMA, she argued, the two of them should fight because people would want to see it. Whether those people wanted to see it because it was a compelling match-up or because they just wanted to see two pretty girls in sports bras sweating on each other hardly mattered, she insisted. Women’s MMA needed fans more than it needed the ethical high ground. The fact that she got what she asked for tells us that someone, somewhere agreed with her. On Tuesday’s media call, even Tate had to admit that Rousey’s argument made some degree of sense. The sheer amount of PR work the champ has been called upon to do is proof that people are interested, she admitted. "I’m not in denial about that," Tate said. "I understand the logistics behind it and why this fight would want to be put together and how it has the ability to do bigger things than if Sarah Kaufman and I were fighting each other. Just the hype, the selling points, the marketing points -- I understand all of that, because it’s not just a sport. To me, the sport is the most important part. But honestly, like I said, if nobody wants to watch it, it’s more of a detriment than anything else."And yet, Tate repeated several times over the course of the more than 40-minute call, "I don’t feel she’s earned it, at 4-0 and having never fought at 135 [pounds]." Maybe the question is: does it matter? If Rousey is right, and this fight becomes the most anticipated women’s MMA bout since "Cyborg" Santos-Gina Carano, will it make any difference why it happened, or why fans wanted to see it?Not if you believe Rousey, who makes a convincing, if admittedly self-serving case for the importance of exposure over legitimacy. She picked a fight with Tate because it was the biggest match-up out there, she said. If the two had met under different circumstances, Rousey said, "then we probably would have ended up being friends.""But I created this rivalry on purpose because I have enough friends," she added. "What I really could use is a few enemies. I think the result of how much attention this fight has been getting proves me right."She has a point. The Strikeforce women’s title itself typically isn’t enough to move the needle with fans and media. When Tate took the belt from Marloes Coenen in July, the fight took a backseat to the non-title affair between Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko. In fact, in the four title fights that the former champ Coenen fought under the Strikeforce banner, not one was a main event bout. Barring Challengers events, the only other time two women have occupied the top spot on a Strikeforce card was also the first time, when Carano and Santos did it.The fact that Tate and Rousey have generated enough heat to change that now must mean something, even if it’s just that fans are more interested in women’s MMA when the participants are both good-looking."I think that’s part of what makes this fight so exciting, so anticipated," said Rousey. "We’re pretty much getting into unarmed combat, anything’s possible. Someone could die. When you see two girls that pretty much look like Xena: Warrior Princess going at it, that was a show on TV for a reason. People want to watch it. It’s going to be a huge fight and it’s going to change women’s MMA."At the same time, that one quote tells us that Rousey doesn’t consider any potential appeal to be off-limits. Whether you’re tuning in because you want to see death and dismemberment or something with a more erotic feel to it, she doesn’t particularly seem to care. All that matters is you’re watching and she’s getting paid.Or, as she put it: "This day a year ago I was working three jobs and struggling to train and do all this stuff, and I just wanted to be done with all of that. I just wanted to be able to support myself through fighting and I wanted to do it as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to sit around and do that for a few more years and slowly work my way up while telling everybody ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and bowing my head. I knew that I could win the title the day that I started, and the quicker I could get it the better. If giving a couple more entertaining interviews than some of the girls helps me out, then I’m going to do that."In hyping the fight with Tate, Rousey admitted, "I’ve been being pretty much overtly rude. I haven’t been lying or saying anything I didn’t think [was] true, but I’ve been saying things I wouldn’t say to people’s faces usually because it’s not polite."You have to admit that it’s worked. Or at least, it’s worked if the goal is to advance the career of Ronda Rousey. As for the goal of shining a bigger spotlight on women’s MMA? It’s doing that too, for the moment. Then again, as the Carano-Cyborg fight showed, that spotlight doesn’t necessarily carry over to the rest of the division once the big fight is over.Does that matter? Tate seems to think so. She acknowledged the appeal of a fight between herself and Rousey reluctantly at first, and still rarely misses an opportunity to point out that she doesn’t think Rousey deserves it. While Rousey seems primarily motivated by self-interest, Tate insisted that the fight needed to deliver for the good of the division as a whole, especially considering how rare these chances are."We have a responsibility as women to stick together and really try to help other girls," Tate said. "...Ronda and I are getting the opportunity for the limelight. The thing about women’s MMA, when you have very little opportunity for mass exposure, you’ve got to make the most out of it. It’s got to be the most bang for your buck."It’s a consideration that, at least in the present day, men’s MMA simply doesn’t have. You don’t hear male fighters talking about the need to put on a good show in order to help other men. You don’t hear them pushing for certain fights purely on the basis that it will get more people interesting in the sport in general. You definitely wouldn’t catch two male fighters in a promo video that seems like it should have the phrase ‘...after dark’ tacked on somewhere.And yet, for a women’s sport appealing to a primarily male audience, it’s an angle that works. It’s working for Tate and Rousey so far, as well as for Strikeforce and for Showtime. That’s good news if you think that what women’s MMA needs is more eyeballs on the final product, by any means necessary. If you’re the type who can’t help but think about how the hype sausage is made, however, the answers aren’t so simple. Especially when it’s this difficult to even agree on which questions we should be asking.

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A welterweight bout between Ohio natives Roger Bowling and Brandon Saling is a late addition to next week's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event. Event sources today confirmed the matchup with MMAjunkie.com. "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" takes place March 3 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and coincides with the annual Arnold Sports Festival. The main card airs on Showtime, and prelims air on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, welterweight bout, tate, rousey

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Strikeforce will today (Feb. 21, 2012) hold a media conference call to promote next Saturday's (March 3, 2012) Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event which will air live on Showtime. The conference call will begin at 1 p.m. ET. Scheduled to attend will be the main event fighters of the evening: Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey as well as Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker. Tate is the current Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion, having defeated veteran Marloes Coenen to capture the title late last summer. "Takedown" is one of the strongest female wrestlers in MMA and will be looking to legitimize herself as champ with her first title defense. Her challenger, Ronda Rousey, is a reigning Judo Olympic bronze medalist. She transitioned to mixed martial arts after Beijing and hasn't looked back, winning all four of her professional fights (and all three amateur bouts) inside the first minute via armbar. She talked her way to the title and has become an MMA media darling in the process. Rousey talking her way to the title doesn't sit well with Tate, who was hoping to defend her belt against former champion Sarah Kaufman, the last woman to defeat her. This should make things interesting on today's call. We'll have complete updates of the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" conference call after the jump: Brian Hemminger here. The conference call is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Posted in: title, strikeforce, conference, tate, rousey

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The biggest bout in recent years featuring a pair of female fighters is less than two weeks from taking place and both participants have been on fire as of late, taking shots at each other through the media while showing a level of intensity/desire unmatched by many of their peers. With March 3 looming, Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate and unbeaten contender Ronda Rousey will face off over the phone today before things get physical as part of a conference call with media where they’ll discuss their headlining title-fight. They will also be joined by Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and lightweights K.J. Noons-Josh Thomson, also set to scrap on the Showtime broadcast. As always, Five Ounces of Pain will be on the line when things start up at 1:00 PM EST and reporting highlights/soundbytes back to readers as they unfold in real time. See what all of the involved parties had to say below… Ronda Rousey: Miesha Tate: Josh Thomson: K.J. Noons: Scott Coker:

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, time conference, showtime broadcast

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Miesha Tate has glared deep into the eyes of her upcoming challenger, and according to the champ, she's not buying what Ronda Rousey is selling. Just 4-0 in her short professional career, Rousey harnessed the power of the media to aid her quest for a title shot. Though her trash-talking campaign has since paid dividends in the form of a scheduled showdown with Tate, "Takedown" says that after coming face to face with her less experienced opponent, she suspects talking is Rousey's primary talent.

Posted in: tate, ronda rousey, rousey, career rousey, tate takedown

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She may not turn 30 for a few more months but Gina Carano is unquestionably one of the true pioneers of women’s MMA. Though she only fought eight times professionally, the beautiful brawler brought a level of attention onto her gender’s contributions to the sport that paved the way for the March 3 main event between Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate and undefeated contender Ronda Rousey. Carano recently offered up her opinion on the upcoming bout, expressing both her interest in the outcome as well as a desire to attend the match-up live. “Both of those women are hard workers and have strong personalities,” said Carano of the fight as a guest on MMAWeekly Radio. “I hope that it does well. I’m super excited about it.” Check Out the Preview for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Though Carano will definitely be tuning in to the Showtime broadcast when things go down in two weeks, the humble fan-favorite understands her mere presence in the crowd would diminish the spotlight Tate/Rousey have earned. “I would love to,” explained a wishful Carano before continuing, “The only reason I haven’t gone to a bunch of the women’s fights, cause I absolutely love them, but I don’t want to show up and people are like ‘Gina’s trying to show up to steal attention’ or trying to challenge anybody. They usually put the camera on me and that’s their moment.” “Conviction” Carano stopped short of making a pick while admiring Tate’s title-winning performance against Marloes Coenen and Rousey’s Olympic background in addition to her aggression. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: gina carano, tate, carano, gina, rousey

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Ronda Rousey talked about a lot of other stuff in our brief interview with her, but we focused on the most interesting topic and used it to get you here. We used psychology on you -- and it worked. How does it feel knowing that we influenced the direction in your life? The titles of MiddleEasy articles are self-contained motivational speakers that have an incredible success rate. We provide no-charge solutions to deal with life's most troubling problems. Just call us the Tony Robbins of this MMA industry. It was LayzieTheSavage's choice to begin this interview with a full-body pan shot of Ronda Rousey. It wasn't something I initially planned, but it doesn't negate how awesome it truly is. The full-body pan shot is something we need to trademark on MiddleEasy. In reality, we're probably going to forget about the full-body pan shot later today and just play video games the rest of the weekend. Damn, that was a short-lived cinematographic revolution. You can call us the half-assed Che Guevara of this MMA industry.

Posted in: shot, pan, rousey, ronda, fullbody

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Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate is less than one month away from defending her title against the loudest dog in the 135-pound yard, Ronda Rousey. The two will square off in the main event of the Strikeforce event on March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. And according to Strikeforce General Manager Scott Coker, it's the biggest women's fight of all time. In keeping with that, and her desires to drown Rousey while taking great pleasure in it, Tate is in the training rooms preparing herself for a war. Scott Hirano of LowKick.com was recently on the scene snapping pics and you can check out a few after the jump. Head on over to LowKick.com to check out more photos.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, training rooms, jump head

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Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate knows a great deal about her upcoming opponent Ronda Rousey, already being aware of Rousey’s Olympic judo background, overall power, and love of latching onto arms. However, what she’s not so sure of is how much heart “Rowdy” Ronda actually as. Tate, who has been through some wars in her career, called Rousey’s desire into question in a recent blog entry where she pointed to the outspoken grappler’s inexperience as potentially being key in their headlining fight. “My March 3 challenger and opponent, Ronda Rousey, has never faced this type of make or break moment during her 4-0 mixed martial arts career,” began Tate. “Yes, she was very accomplished as a judo player, winning a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, but she has yet to taste her own blood in a grueling MMA bout. She’s yet to prove she can battle back from any adversity at all. Questions have never been asked of her.” “All four of her MMA wins so far have arrived inside the first minute, and she has yet to face anybody that has so much as tested her, let alone come close to disfiguring her face and beating her,” Tate viciously continued. “She’s been carefully matched, she’s been pampered, and she’s been protected. The truth is, going into this world title fight with me, Ronda is still (looking) to discover whether she is even a real fighter.” It looks like the 25-year old Tate plans to test that theory in a few weeks by grinding Rousey down, adding, “(She) will learn just how hard and horrible the sport of mixed martial arts can be. I will take great pleasure in dragging her into deep waters for the first time in her life and then drowning her there.” The two bantamweight beauties will meet in the main event of a card on Showtime also featuring names like K.J. Noons, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Paul Daley, and Josh Thomson in other bouts. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: tate, rousey, ronda, bantamweight beauties, heart “

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We've seen a grand total of 4 minutes of Ronda Rousey fighting in MMA over her four pro fights and two amateur fights. That's not very long at all - I spend longer masturbating to my Ronda shrine every night (although I do stop every 30 seconds to insert another tack, which is why I last so long). This has raised criticisms from Ronda-haters that she is a one trick pony with no real experience. I guess she won that Olympic medal off pure sass alone, huh? Speaking of Olympic medals, Iron Forges Iron took the time to compile and upload a ton of Ronda Rousey judo and grappling videos. So if you want to get to know Ronda better fight-wise, go check them out. If she doesn't finish Miesha Tate off in under 2 minutes, you might see some of the techniques she'll use during their fight.

Posted in: fight, trick pony, rousey, ronda, olympic medal

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Strikeforce women’s bantamweight top contender Ronda Rousey talks about her judo background and what she thinks about champion Miesha Tate. Rousey challenges Tate on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, ronda, judo background

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All four of her MMA wins so far have arrived inside the first minute, and she has yet to face anybody that has so much as tested her, let alone come close to disfiguring her face and beating her. She's been carefully matched, she's been pampered and she's been protected. The truth is, going into this world title fight with me, Ronda is still to discover whether she is even a real fighter. However, on March 3rd, the night we meet for my Strikeforce world bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey will learn just how hard and horrible the sport of mixed martial arts can be. I will take great pleasure in dragging her into deep waters for the first time in her life and then drowning her there. -- Miesha Tate blogs for Strikeforce leading up to her March 3, 2012, bantamweight title defense against Ronda Rousey at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The feud between these two lethal ladies has served a wide ranging purpose for women's MMA in the sense that it's reignited interested not just with fans but with executives at the Zuffa offices. Indeed, UFC President Dana White is now promoting the fight himself, telling anyone who will listen how pumped he is to see what should be an explosive match-up. He'll also have more control over the entire Strikeforce promotion for the March 3 card, and with Showtime pulling out all the stops with unique video promos leading up to the fight, all signs point to a smashing success for all involved. Oh, and it helps that Tate and Rousey are verbally sparring before climbing inside the cage to rip each others heads off (or arms, as it were). For her part "Takedown" is looking forward to dragging "Rowdy" into deep waters for the first time and says she'll take great pleasure in watching her drown. Sick sadism aside, who's predicting that as the outcome of the bout? Anyone? Or will Rousey do what she's always done and take Tate's arm home with her, along with the 135-pound title?

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, ronda, she

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Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate has no doubts that she is a fighter, though not simply because she draws a paycheck as a professional Mixed Martial Artist. Tate has weathered numerous storms inside the cage, coming out on top in twelve of her fourteen fights. However, she isn’t so sure about the heart of her upcoming opponent, unbeaten Olympic judoka Ronda Rousey. Tate questioned Rousey’s fortitude in a recent blog entry where she made it clear she plans to test “Rowdy” Ronda’s will when they meet on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. “My March 3 challenger and opponent, Ronda Rousey, has never faced this type of make or break moment during her 4-0 mixed martial arts career,” Tate wrote on Rousey’s experience. “Yes, she was very accomplished as a judo player, winning a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympics, but she has yet to taste her own blood in a grueling MMA bout. She’s yet to prove she can battle back from any adversity at all. Questions have never been asked of her.” “All four of her MMA wins so far have arrived inside the first minute, and she has yet to face anybody that has so much as tested her, let alone come close to disfiguring her face and beating her,” Tate continued, her venom spilling over onto the page. “She’s been carefully matched, she’s been pampered and she’s been protected. The truth is, going into this world title fight with me, Ronda is still to discover whether she is even a real fighter.” In closing, “Takedown” Tate pulled no punches in saying she expects to introduce Rousey to the type of adversity she’s already overcome inside the cage. “On March 3rd, the night we meet for my Strikeforce world bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey will learn just how hard and horrible the sport of mixed martial arts can be. I will take great pleasure in dragging her into deep waters for the first time in her life and then drowning her there.” Strikeforce Releases Preview for Rousey vs. Tate Fans can catch Rousey-Tate on Showtime along with a number of other featured bouts including KJ Noons vs. Josh Thomson and Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, march, rousey, ronda

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Miesha Tate talks about how her first fight in MMA inspired her, and her plans to show opponent Ronda Rousey just how hard MMA really can be.

Posted in: mma, tate, miesha, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Go behind-the-scenes with the cameras of Showtime Sports as Strikeforce women's champion Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey shoot a promo for their upcoming fight.

Posted in: tate, showtime sports, miesha, rousey, miesha tate

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Ronda Rousey writes why she believes she deserves her shot at the Strikeforce bantamweight title in this special blog leading up to her fight with Miesha Tate on March 3 in Ohio.

Posted in: shot, miesha, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

Posted in: tate, photo, miesha, rousey, behindthescene

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Yesterday I wanted to publish the picture that Miesha Tate gave to Ronda Rousey for Valentine's Day, but I was too busy not spending time with some incredibly beautiful chick that lives in West Hollywood. Instead, I spent the better part of the afternoon unclogging my toilet -- which is undoubtedly some ridiculous metaphor for my life. Jokes on you, I unclogged it with ease. The Mario Brothers would be proud. While Scott Coker didn't use the term 'bitch' to describe the imminent match-up between two of the greatest female stars in MMA, he did mention that Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey is the most anticipated female fight in the history of MMA -- second to only Carano vs. Cyborg back in 2009.

Posted in: mma, ronda rousey, spending time, rousey, miesha tate

Read the full article at Middle Easy

One of the most anticipated female fights in a few years is only a few weeks away from going down and now the pairing has an appropriately awesome preview. Set for March 3, Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate is set to put her belt on the line against unbeaten and outspoken Olympian Ronda Rousey in main event action of a card also featuring stars like Paul Daley, Ronaldo Souza, KJ Noons, and Josh Thomson. In the preview both women are shown dolled up in evening gowns before informing unknowing fans, “It’s not just looks that can kill,” before showing highlights from some both fighters. Tate holds a 12-2 record and is on a six-fight winning streak including victories over Zoila Gurgel, Hitomi Akano, and Marloes Coenen. Comparably, Rousey has won all four of her bouts since transitioning from judo with each instance of success involving an opening round Armbar. Tate: “This bitch is not going to beat me.” Check the full preview out below: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: preview, tate, rousey, fans “, event action

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Showtime gets you ready for the main event of their March 3 Strikeforce card with this amazing promo featuring Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, promo, rousey, miesha tate

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” takes place next Saturday, March 3, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will air on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. The latest Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” fight card can be found in our fight cards section.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Showtime finds the mark with this "sexy" promo for the upcoming Strikeforce event on March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, that features Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate defending her title against overnight sensation Ronda Rousey. There's no love lost between these two beautiful badasses and in less than a month they'll finally settle their differences inside the cage. It may not be as big as Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Santos but there's no doubt it's the most heavily hyped women's fight since then. Who takes it, Maniacs? "Takedown" Tate or "Rowdy" Rousey?

Posted in: tate, strikeforce event, rousey, columbus ohio, womens fight

Read the full article at MMA Mania

For the sake of this article and in honor of Valentine's Day, you can replace Cody McKenzie with yourself in the banner picture. That's you with your arms wrapped around Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. I understand why you're giving us two thumbs up. I'm sure Siskel and Ebert would approve of this picture also (RIP Gene Siskel). I wish it was me in that banner, but fortunately for today it's you. Congratulations. You're looking at your reward. Evidence that you were in the vicinity of two of the greatest female fighters in MMA. Backstage at UFC 143 I finally saw Ronda Rousey, but when LayzieTheSavage offered to introduce me to her, I geeked out like a 6th grader at a middle-school dance and declined. I'm not sure what happened that weekend, I had my cootie-shot and everything. I was enchanted with the aura of 'Circle, Circle, Dot, Dot.' Check out this official promo for next month's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey released on the day when all single people will focus on how irresponsible they are to maintain a relationship. Props to Pegson for the tip.

Posted in: day, tate, rousey, ronda, valentines day

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Women's 135-pound champion Miesha Tate will put her title on the line when she meets Ronda Rousey in the Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey headlining bout, set to take place March 3rd from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Also featured will be heavy-handed Welterweight contender Paul Daley taking on Kazuo Misaki in the co-main event, and a Lightweight clash pitting K.J. Noons against Josh Thomson. Photo: Scott Hirano

Posted in: tate, kj noons, comain event, ronda rousey, rousey

Read the full article at Low Kick

The co-main event for March’s Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card has hit a snag, as it appears Mike Kyle will not be able to face Gegard Mousasi due to damage sustained while training for the fight. Kyle (19-8-1) and Mousasi (32-3-2) were first expected to face off against one another last April before a hand injury knocked Kyle out of that bout too. MMAJunkie was the first to report Kyle’s status. A replacement for for the hard-hitting light heavyweight was not revealed nor is it known whether Strikeforce will seek a new opponent at all. The fight promotion is still without a champion at 205 pounds with Dan Henderson vacating the title last year to sign with the UFC. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey takes place March 3 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main event pits champion Miesha Tate against unbeaten Olympian Ronda Rousey for the bantamweight title. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, kyle, mike kyle

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

Mike Kyle vs. Gegard Mousasi appears to be no more. According to a report from MMA Weekly, "MAK" has been injured and forced to withdraw from his Light Heavyweight fight against "The Dreamcatcher" at the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event on March 3, 2012, from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The nature of the injury has not been disclosed and Strikeforce has yet to confirm the change, but an announcement is expected shortly. This is the second time the promotion has tried -- and failed -- to put this fight together. Third time's a charm? The Showtime-televised event will feature newly-minted women's champion Miesha Tate putting her 135-pound title on the line against undefeated Judo specialist Ronda Rousey. Other match-ups booked for "The Discovery City" include K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson, former women's champion Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis and Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. For all the latest news and notes on Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" click here.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Mania

MMA Fighting recently caught up with Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey about her upcoming title fight against Ronda Rousey on March 3. Tate talked about whether she finally thinks Strikeforce made the right call by booking her against Rousey instead of Sarah Kaufman, how she feels about being around Rousey during their press tour, Rousey's overall MMA skills, and much more.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate, sarah kaufman, minute mma

Read the full article at AOL Fanhouse

Ronda Rousey talks her rapid rise in mixed martial arts, her Strikeforce title fight with Miesha Tate and why she had some words with Cyborg Santos.

Posted in: rise, art, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

Read the full article at Heavy MMA

Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate thinks challenger Ronda Rousey is pushy, selfish and immature -- and too pretty.

Posted in: champion, bantamweight, tate, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate thinks challenger Ronda Rousey is pushy, selfish and immature -- and too pretty.

Posted in: challenger, champion, tate, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

Ronda Rousey has no sympathy for former Strikeforce 145-pound women’s champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

Posted in: champion, women, cyborg, rousey, cristiane

Read the full article at Sherdog

Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate recently called Ronda Rousey, who will challenge "Takedown" for her 135-pound title on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio, a "one trick pony." She said this, of course, because Rousey has finished all of her opponents inside the first minute of the first round via judo throw into an armbar. Like clockwork. But Rousey asserts that Tate is only saying that because she has no footage to study and it simply shows her lack of knowledge: "I think it's funny that she says that because it's really because she has no footage to study of me. She doens't know anything that I do. She's only seen one of my tricks. And what she doens't realize is with a lot of those matches I did a different takedown, almost every single time, I did a different entry into the armbar a different time, and I did it from a different position every single time. So it might look like one trick to somebody else but there's a lot of knowledge and training that goes into being able to (do that). If you only see the finish, then you're not seeing the whole thing. I think that her saying that kind of speaks to what she doesn't know." So yes, Rousey is ripping arms off left and right but she's doing it in a completely new and beautiful way each and every time. And Tate's lack of acknowledging as much shows she's uninformed on such things, right? Either way, all this catty talking will come to an end in less than a month when the two meet in the Strikeforce cage to settle their differences. Anyone think "Rowdy" will add another limb to her already large collection?

Posted in: time, tate, rousey, she, trick

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Posted in: interview, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at AOL Fanhouse

Ronda Rousey has been talking mad sh*t at Miesha Tate, calling her 'slow' and 'not dangerous' and dissing her boyfriend / UFC fighter 'Mr Miesha Tate' Bryan Caraway. So it's understandable that Miesha would start firing back sooner or later with some strong words. Here she is showing that she can do more than just complain about the injustice of having to face Ronda. She wants to beat that girl ugly: "I think it's just what I need, actually," Tate said of Rousey getting on her nerves. "I think that I've been fighting for long enough that sometimes I get a little bit comfortable, that's the truth of the matter. And when you don't like someone, the idea of losing to them is just unbearable. Like, I cannot think of losing to this girl, it cannot happen. My pride is on the line here, people. You don't understand. It's not just winning the fight or keeping my title, it's like, this bitch is not going to beat me, there's no way this is going to happen. I think, for me, it's just going to make it that much more exciting because you're going to see a much more exhilarated me, you're going to see a much more pumped and vicious, I think. I don't want to just like fight this girl, I don't want to just beat her, I want to really hurt her. I really do, I want to like mar her face if at all possible, that'd be nice." Like totally disfigure her or something great. What is this, Afghanistan? I am outrage, I say! To me, this is just as bad if not worse than that time Frank Mir waxed poetic on causing Brock Lesnar's death in the octagon. Mainly because unlike Frank, I think Miesha might be serious. And if it becomes a thing where evil champions like Miesha aim to mar the visages of competitors more beautiful than her, where will future sexy female MMA fighters come from?But what will discourage the next generation of fight foxes more? Miesha defacing their good looks or Ronda Rousey breaking everyone's arms backwards? She compares the results to a 'flamingo knee', and if the point she's trying to get across is that both look gross then I'd agree wholeheartedly with that.

Posted in: dont, miesha, rousey, ronda, miesha tate

Read the full article at Fightlinker

Strikeforce bantamweight contender Ronda Rousey has done an excellent job drawing attention from fans and media based on her outspokenness on a number of topics including fellow female fighters Cristiane Santos and Miesha Tate, the latter of whom she faces in headlining action at a Strikeforce event on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. The organization’s divisional champion, Tate has been tuned in since the beginning and even fired back a few times, criticizing Rousey’s selection for a title-shot while pointing to the judoka’s lack of experience inside the cage. However, in the end it appears Tate has been more appreciative than upset regarding Rousey’s trash-talk, as it has lit a fire in her she hadn’t felt burning for some time. “I think it’s just what I need, actually. I think that I’ve been fighting for long enough that sometimes I get a little bit comfortable, that’s the truth of the matter. And when you don’t like someone, the idea of losing to them is just unbearable,” said Tate in an interview with MMA Heat. “I cannot think of losing to this girl, it cannot happen. My pride is on the line here, people. You don’t understand. It’s not just winning the fight or keeping my title, it’s like, this bitch is not going to beat me, there’s no way this is going to happen.” “I think, for me, it’s just going to make it that much more exciting because you’re going to see a much more exhilarated me, you’re going to see a much more pumped and vicious,” she continued. “I don’t want to just fight this girl, I don’t want to just beat her, I want to really hurt her. I really do, I want to mar her face if at all possible, that’d be nice.” Tate-Rousey Talk Future Match-Up The 12-2 Tate has won her last six fights while Rousey is 4-0 with four first round finishes, all by way of Armbar. Other bouts scheduled for the March event include Gegard Mousasi vs. Mike Kyle, Ronaldo Souza vs. Derek Brunson, and Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, hadn ’t, rousey

Read the full article at Fighters.com

Fight fans who have watched Strikeforce fighter Ronda Rousey do her thing in the cage have certainly felt compelled to give her a hand for her efforts to this point in her combat sports career. Harmless enough, but what you don't want to do is give her an arm. If you do, she's likely to break it -- out of habit if for no other reason. Rousey has taken the women's mixed martial arts (WMMA) scene by storm, winning all four of her professional fights by way of first round armbar submissions. Accordingly, one wouldn't think there would be a long line of ladies who are dying to get into the cage with her, after seeing the havoc she has wreaked on the limbs of those gone before them. That might ring true for most female fighters, but not Strikeforce's Miesha Tate, who will take on Rousey at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey on Sat., March 3, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio, for the Women's Bantamweight Championship. Tate was a guest tonight (Feb. 6, 2012) on HDNet's "Inside MMA" to discuss her upcoming fight, in which she confidently believes she should be favored: Rousey essentially got her title match by calling out the champion and getting the attention of the Strikeforce matchmakers with her bravado and aggressive tweeting. She's made it known that she thinks she can beat Tate and has even sounded a little cocky at points. According to Tate, she's not bothered by the banter. It just adds more fuel to her fire: "I don't really listen to much of anything that Ronda says. I don't watch her interviews. I get a little bit of that drift that comes through Twitter. When people say, 'Oh, you know she said this, she said that.' Half the time, I honestly think it just makes her sound like an idiot. I mean, that's just being brutally honest. I think she's pretty delusional. I have yet to see Ronda actually fight. I've seen her go out there and do her Judo and whatnot. But she hasn't ever actually brought a fight and that's what I'm gonna make her do...fight. Anything that she says is motivation, definitely." Everyone knows Rousey has ridiculous judo, jiu-jitsu and submission skills. Tate comes from a wrestling background, but she believes it's more than just her wrestling that gives her the edge: "That's why this fight makes for an interesting match up, because our strengths are in similar areas. We're both really great on the ground. I have wrestling, she has judo. I also feel like I have the edge on the feet and the experience overall. I've been doing this a lot longer. I feel like I'll be able to put it together better. When it comes to mixing everything and meshing it, it's gonna make for an awesome fight. I think people are really gonna enjoy and be entertained." On top of what she believes is a skill set advantage, "Takedown" also sees problems for Rousey that will be caused by her having to make the weight cut to 135 pounds; a reduction she's never had to make before in her MMA career: "Yeah and not to mention the weight cut. This is her first drop to 135. Also, no pound allowance. That's gonna change her body dynamics, the way she's used to throwing people around, having that weight behind her is gonna change. So it could even affect her in her training camp. The people she used to throw around...she's gonna be smaller. So, a lot of things are gonna be changing for her, this fight. We're gonna see how that works for her. I just wanna frustrate her. Push her outside that minute and make her second guess and make her wish she never wanted to take this fight." Of course she wants to win for herself and for the sake of successfully defending her recently acquired belt, but she also realizes that this fight is bigger than just her. It's bigger than Ronda Rousey. It's bigger than any of that. It's about putting WMMA on the map and maybe sending a message to UFC President Dana White in the process: "It's a huge opportunity. If the women can deliver, like I believe we're going to, it can say big things for our future -- not only in Strikeforce, but hopefully, eventually in the UFC." White has long said that there will never be WMMA in the Octagon, citing the lack of diversity and the amount of high-level female fighters in the sport as his reason for not wanting to promote it. Even if Tate and Rousey put on an amazing show, it still does not remedy the issue of the need for depth on the roster of really talented female fighters. Let's enjoy this female fight, and all others, while they last.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, tate, rousey, she

Read the full article at MMA Mania

When Strikeforce returns to Showtime on March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, it will do so with a fight card headlined by a women's bantamweight championship bout. Miesha Tate will put her 135-pound title on the line against the Chael Sonnen inspired Ronda Rousey. And because "Rowdy" is doing so much talking, even dragging Tate's boyfriend into the discussion, "Takedown" wants to do more than just retain her belt. "I think it's just what I need, actually. I think that I've been fighting for long enough that sometimes I get a little bit comfortable, that's the truth of the matter. And when you don't like someone, the idea of losing to them is just unbearable. Like, I cannot think of losing to this girl, it cannot happen. My pride is on the line here, people. You don't understand. It's not just winning a fight or keeping my title, it's like, this bitch is not going to beat me, there's no way this is going to happen. I think, for me, it's just going to make it that much more exciting because you're going to see a much more exhilarated me, you're going to see a much more pumped and vicious, I think. I don't want to just like fight this girl, I don't want to just beat her, I want to really hurt her. I really do, I want to like mar her face if at all possible, that would be nice." Tate originally campaigned to defend her title against Sarah Kaufman, a woman she lost to earlier in her career and has been champing at the bit to avenge said defeat. Kaufman was going to get the fight, too, until Rousey stepped in and started popping off at the mouth, creating a firestorm on Twitter that helped reignite interest in women's MMA. In fact, she's been on a press tour the likes of which hasn't been seen since Gina Carano was in her heyday. All this to the dismay of Tate, of course, who is using Rousey's big mouth as all the motivation she needs to get up for their pending clash next month. If all goes well, it will be one of the most watched women's fights in the history of the sport. And, if all goes well for Miesha, Ronda will leave with a disfigured face. Should be fun. Hear more from Tate on her upcoming title defense after the jump.

Posted in: fight, title, tate, dont, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Mania

One of the 10,000+ people packing the seats last night at UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit was unbeaten Strikeforce bantamweight Ronda Rousey, a vicious grappler with a tendency to share her opinion on subjects regardless of how the public may react to them. Her honesty and sharp tongue have endeared her to many fans and ostracized her from others, both factors playing into the 25-year old’s surging popularity as the new face of women’s MMA and immediate title-contender despite only having four professional fights under her belt. As might be expected, Rousey had an opinion on the result in last night’s main event where she, like many, felt the judges took a lead from this weekend’s Super Bowl and “fumbled the ball” as it were. “If I wanted to see a man run for 25 minutes I’d go to a track meet,” wrote the riled up Rousey on her Twitter account. “Diaz is the real champ, what a bullsh*t fight.” Octagon control should count for way more than it does,” she continued in a later post. The judges shouldn’t encourage point fighters.” In terms of how she scored things, Rousey explained she had the first, second, and fifth round for Diaz and felt there was a fairly convincing case for all in comparison to that for Condit taking any of the frames. Needless to say Rousey will no doubt be more motivated than ever to finish Strikeforce 135-pound champion Miesha Tate when the two face off on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio on a stacked Strikeforce card. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, rousey, columbus ohio, ball ”, things rousey

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

The dance card for Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” is now set, as promotion officials Friday announced the nine-fight bill.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, dance card, bill, rousey

Read the full article at Sherdog

With the event just a little less than a month away, Strikeforce officials have confirmed the bout arraignment for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, which goes down March 3 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main event features Miesha Tate defending her bantamweight title against Ronda Rousey. Tate is 12-2 in her career and 5-1 in Strikeforce, while Rousey is a perfect 4-0 and a former Olympian. In other main card bouts, Mike Kyle will square off with Gegard Mousasi in the co-main event, while K.J. Noons-Josh Thomson, Paul Daley-Kazuo Misaki, and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza-Derek Brunson complete the Showtime-televised card. The prelims for the evening, scheduled to be televised by Showtime Extreme, feature Alexis Davis-Sarah Kaufman, Caros Fodor-Pat Healy, Lumumba Sayers-Scott Smith, and Ryan Couture-Conor Heun. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, rousey, showtimetelevised card, bout lineup

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

The lineup, including the preliminary and main cards, is set for next month's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event. The show takes place March 3 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The main card, including a title fight between female bantamweight champion Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey, airs on Showtime. Prelims air on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: title fight, card, tate, rousey, columbus ohio

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

The main card for the upcoming Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey card has been announced, as well as the preliminary card set to air on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, card, tate, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

It's rare in sports, but every now and then sports fans get to encounter something completely unique: athletes with opinions they're happy to share, and possessing the type of wit you might not expect out of someone that spends most of their time in the gym. Ronda Rousey is becoming a poster girl not just for women's MMA, but for an athlete ‘raw and uncensored'. She's defiantly not afraid to say what's on her mind, but unlike Chael Sonnen, we're not observing theatre. We're observing humanity: anger, humor, joy, grit, and Pokemon make up Rousey's stream of consciousness. This past Sunday, Jeff Sherwood (along with Scott Holmes) had a chance to interview Rousey at the LA Fitness Expo. It was a candid interview even by Rousey's standards. The interview started out innocuous enough until Sherwood asked her about her favorite 145 lb champion, Cristiane Santos (on whether or not Cyborg was good or bad for female MMA): "She was a detriment to women's MMA. No little girl is going to watch cris cyborg fight and want to be like her one day. I don't think it's a good example. I think it was obvious all along that she was doping, and I think it sends a bad message to kids that you need to dope in order to be achampion. I think it's better with her gone." While her logic might not be questionable, the "if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck" line of thinking was nonetheless validated in the wake of Cyborg's positive test. Incapable of ruffling the feathers of just the disgraced ex-champ, Rousey didn't stop there, taking a thinly veiled shot at Miesha Tate... "There's a reason why the Olympics is every four years. It's because if they had it every year, they would go bankrupt. The Olympics is the epitome of sport and that's where it's all just about the sport. But with professional sports it's about entertainment. It's about making money. The core of everything is still about the sport, but that's not everything it's about. It's hilarious when these girls are ‘you talked yourself into a title shot!' What you're really saying in a mean way is that I'm smarter than all of you, and I actually have an understanding of how this works and used it to my advantage. " ...nor did Rousey avoid leaving the ring-card-girl-stone unturned... "There's a reason why the ring girls aren't asked to star in movies, and it's because they're pretty but talentless." For context, Rousey was responding to a question about Gina Carano, who Rousey has the utmost respect for, and who she attributes some of her success to. However, Ronda's most scathing attack was directed at the Olympics. Everyone talks about how awesome the Olympics are, but you know what? After the Olympics they give you ten grand a handshake. And you know what, it costs way more than ten grand to get there. The Olympics didn't give a damn about me after I was done. And I gotta do what I gotta do to make a living. If I gotta pose for some magazines...I'm not gonna show my nipples or asshole or anything like that but if I gotta walk around at the beach in a bikini, why not let someone take a picture of me and put it in a magazine? ... All these companies make millions and millions of dollars to put the Olympic rings as like a logo. I walked into 24 hour fitness the other day. They're a multi-million dollar sponsor of the Olympic games. And they have all these Olympic rings all over the place. They know I'm an Olympic medalist. They know I'm an Olympian. They will not let me in there without paying. I have to pay to go into 24 hour fitness. I have to buy every single Gatorade bottle. That money does not go to the athletes. That money goes into a lot of really corrupt national governing bodies that bounce that money around, they give it to all their friends, and almost none of that money makes it to the athletes. USA Judo is the most corrupt organizations ever, and they hated me because I was not afraid to say it, and they always gave me as little funding as possible. At the 2007 worlds they sent more officials and more people from their organization, and then they made most of the athletes pay for themselves to go. They only sponsorerd three athletes to go, and they sent like eleven different people. And I remember at the Pan Am games, or Pan-Am champsionships in wherever we were at, a bunch of the athletes had to pay for themselves to go and then they flew some PR girl at the last minute. Thousands of dollars just to show up and hang around. And they're sending all their people first class, and they're spending all this, you look at their budget and they're spending thousands of dollars on entertainment for each other. All the people that work for this organization are sitting in these amazing hotels, and the athletes, I'm sitting in a hut. A chalet in the middle of Belgium. All that money and none of it goes to the athletes, and the second that you're done fighting they just give you a kick in the ass out the door. There's nothing set in place to help the athletes after they're done. What are you doing while you're training your whole life? You're not getting as much education as you could. You're not getting as much work experience as you could. And so what happens after the Olympics Is that you have all these athletes that have no work experience, no education, and they have no health. And it's all bullshit. And that's why I'm like screw everyone's idea of 'oh what sports are supposed to be like'. I did what sports were supposed to be like, and I was living in my car. So you know what, fine. I'm gonna talk a bunch of shit. I'm gonna pose in a couple of pictures. And I'm gonna break a couple of girl's arms, and I'm not gonna feel the least bit sorry about it because you know what? At least I can feed my dog. It's an extensive interview, but I suggest you listen to the whole thing here. The interview begins at the one hour, and 55 minute mark. Sherwood would later describe Rousey's teary-eyed frustration during the rant.

Posted in: sport, athlete, olympic, im, rousey

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

By Will Gray: Olympic medalist, judoka and rising star of women’s Mixed Martial Arts, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey is not scared to speak her mind. Fight Hub TV was able to catch up with the StrikeForce bantamweight who will be challenging current champion Meisha Tate on March 3rd for the title and she was kind enough [...]

Posted in: olympic, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, strikeforce bantamweight

Read the full article at Fighthub TV

By Will Gray: Olympic medalist, judoka and rising star of women’s Mixed Martial Arts, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey is not scared to speak her mind. Fight Hub TV was able to catch up with the StrikeForce bantamweight who will be challenging current champion Meisha Tate on March 3rd for the title and she was kind enough [...]

Posted in: olympic, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, strikeforce bantamweight

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Ronda Rousey and Rickson Gracie black belt Henry Akins demonstrate in detail how to execute a nasty rolling kimura at Dynamix MMA in Santa Monica, Calif.

Posted in: kimura, rickson gracie, rousey, ronda, dynamix mma

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I get the feeling Strikeforce female fighting sensation Ronda Rousey is a fan of the 209. The "Rowdy" one, who battles Miesha Tate for the 135-pound title on March 3, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio, told the gang at Best of MMA in their Nov. 2011 interview (via MMA.tv) that winning is not enough, you also have to be entertaining. You know, like Nick Diaz. "It's not the Olympics. It's not about just coming home and bringing home a medal, and just having hardware and getting the win. It's about pulling more fans in, and being entertaining. I think that fighters that just try to win by points and come away with a win are actually bad for the sport. If you never saw MMA before, and you walked in and you saw GSP and Koscheck, and all this jabbing out the whole time, it looks like a boring boxing match. And I don't think you gain any fans with a fight like that. And so I really hope that Nick Diaz beats the crap out of him, because Nick Diaz is entertaining, and he's an entertaining character in general. He might not be popular but I mean I can't help but watch every video he puts out on YouTube. I think it's funny as hell. And every single one of his fights is a brawl. It's not like a pitter-pat match where afterwards he goes 'Were friends, were all friends, buy Gatorade and let's go home.' I think that's boring. GSP was good for the sport for a while. He brought in some big sponsors like Gatorade and UnderArmor. But I think he's done everything he can in a positive way and he needs to step aside and let Nick Diaz kick his ass." St. Pierre is currently on the sidelines rehabbing a bum knee; however, he is expected to face the winner of Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, who fight at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas for the Interim strap. Hear more from Rousey after the jump. GSP talk starts at the 3:45 mark. How about it Maniacs, anyone think she makes a fair point?

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, nick, gsp, rousey

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Strikeforce bantamweight Ronda Rousey has always been crystal clear in her belief that she’s the top female fighter in MMA but now the surging star has taken it to another level, claiming she’s the baddest woman on Earth. Rousey’s playful admission came during an interview on G4’s Attack of the Show where “Rowdy” Ronda discussed a number of topics including her upcoming bout with divisional champion Miesha Tate, her rivalry with Cristiane Santos, and an incident in a movie theater where she beat up a group of guys. During her conversation with host Kevin Pereira, Rousey joked that she could kill all of the people in the studio with her bare hands if she wanted after saying, “I think I’m the most dangerous unarmed woman in the planet.” Rousey Has Harsh Words for “Cyborg” Santos The Olympic judoka’s sense of humor was evident throughout the segment where she kidded, “I fit this in the schedule between punching stuff,” in relation to her time on the show and referred to learning Armbars as a little girl instead of playing with Barbies. Tate-Rousey fight in the main event of a March 3 card in Columbus, Ohio. Check out the video below: Video Game – E3 2012 – MMA Chokehold Tweet

Posted in: i ’m, rousey, movie theater, ” ronda, stuff ”

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Luke Thomas talks to Scott Coker about Rousey vs Tate, King Mo and Cyborg's failed steroid tests and more. Read it at MMA Nation.

Posted in: luke, tate, scott coker, king, rousey

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

The meteoric rise of unbeaten female fighter Ronda Rousey continued yesterday when the Strikeforce bantamweight contender appeared as a guest on G4′s Attack of the Show where she talked about her upcoming fight with champion Miesha Tate in addition to her rivalry with Cristiane Santos and an episode from her earlier days where she beat up a group of guys in a movie theater after watching Juno of all films. The segment was capped off by Rousey flipping host Kevin Peireira over onto a mat in a demonstration of from bread-and-butter discipline, judo. However, Peireira fortunately avoided the experience of an Armbar. “My mom liked snapping arms, actually,” Rousey joked when asked about her success on the mat. “She taught me how to Armbar things instead of giving me Barbies.” Check out the video below: Video Game – E3 2012 – MMA Chokehold

Posted in: show, rousey, miesha tate, armbar things, movie theater

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A little trivia for everyone out there: a video I recorded of an RC car crashing into a single lonely tree was played on Attack of the Show back in 2006. So actually, I was on the show well before Gina Carano or Ronda Rousey. Bam. How awesome is that? Not really. Thinking about 2006 is pretty wild though; Overeem was on a losing streak, I was playing Final Fantasy 11 and it was years before Ronda Rousey would start snapping arms and stealing hearts like no one we've ever seen before. Watch this charming interview from G4's Attack of the Show. The more I learn about Ronda Rousey, the more I'm convinced she's the female Judoka version of Good Guy Greg. [Source]

Posted in: show, attack, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Strikeforce women's bantamweight champ Miesha Tate readily admits she doesn't think Ronda Rousey is deserving of a shot at her belt. That said, she also realizes Rousey does possess legitimate grappling skills that must be addressed in their March 3 headlining contest. But Tate also believes her own skillset is being greatly underestimated by many MMA fans and pundits, not to mention Rousey. And while "Takedown" earned her fighting nickname due to her wrestling pedigree, she thinks "Rowdy" best be ready to throw hands.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, mma fans, ronda rousey, rousey

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Ronda Rousey made an appearance on G4TV’s Attack of the Show to promote her upcoming fight against Miesha Tate on March 3. Rousey also explained that her recent Twitter beef with Cris Cyborg was mostly about defending her “girl” Gina Carano. HT: Cage Today

Posted in: miesha, rousey, miesha tate, cris cyborg, twitter beef

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Strikeforce 135-pound women's number one contender Ronda Rousey makes an appearance on "Attack of the Show" in advance of her March 3 title fight against Miesha Tate at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The "Rowdy" one talks about her pending battle against "Takedown," the Twitter war against "Cyborg" and getting jumped in a movie theater. More on Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" by clicking here.

Posted in: tate, rousey, columbus ohio, show video, twitter war

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Now that Gina Carano is exploring her new career in Hollywood, is Strikeforce bantamweight contender Ronda Rousey already the new face of women's MMA?

Posted in: face, gina carano, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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A lightweight bout is headed for Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey with Conor Heun taking on Ryan Couture.

Posted in: tate, conor heun, heun, rousey, conor

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A lightweight bout between Conor Heun and Ryan Couture has been added to March's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event. MMAjunkie.com today confirmed the bout with event sources. "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" takes place March 3 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Columbus, and coincides with the annual Arnold Sports Festival.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, conor heun, rousey

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: gegard mousasi, tate, mike, rousey, mike kyle

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Part of Ronda Rousey’s meteoric rise in 2011 from unknown former Olympian to the most popular female Mixed Martial Artist in the sport has had to do with her willingness to speak openly about her peers and chosen profession. While Rousey verbal attacks on Cristiane Santos and Miesha Tate may seem personal, and her stance on the importance of looks could appear to be aimed at insulting others, the 24-year old sees her unfiltered honesty as being part of the job rather than a means of trying to actually degrade others. Rousey addressed the issue in a recent conversation with MMAJunkie where she revealed the motivation behind her candor. “It’s not personal to me at all,” Rousey began. “I’m sure it’s personal to Miesha. I really think (other female fighters) should be grateful to me because they’ve gotten more press, more interviews, (and) more exposure than they ever have before in their entire careers. I don’t want to pat myself on the back too much, but a lot of it is the result of me purposefully trying to get on everybody’s nerves. So they take it personally, but I don’t.” Given the entertainment factor involved in promoting MMA, Rousey may have a point as a number of her popular male counterparts employ the same strategy when it comes to drawing the attention of fans/media. “I’ve had so many girl fighters come up to me and tell me they appreciate me and thank me. The only girls that seem to have a problem with me are either current champions or are former champions,” Rousey continued. “I just think they have this sense of entitlement that everyone should kiss their ass and respect them all the time…they’re not used to dealing with any kind of confrontation.” The judoka’s next bout will come against one of those title-wearing women, Strikeforce bantamweight Tate, who Rousey has notoriously feuded with in the months before their match-up was even made. The fight will also serve as a headlining affair, again adding some weight to Rousey’s mindset when it comes to selling cards on smack-talk. “From watching her fights, she’s a very slow and cautious fighter, and I think that the kind of pace I’m going to set is extremely outside of her comfort zone,” said Rousey of the 135-pound champion. “A lot of people don’t know that I can sustain that pace for 45 minutes if I have to. But because have gone so quickly, a lot of people are skeptical of that. I think what she’s probably going to try to do is drag the fight out…pull it into later rounds, and try to wear me down and get me in the end. But if that’s her plan, she’s got another thing coming.” “Rowdy” Ronda is 4-0 in his career after submitting all four of the opponents she faced last year, the most memorable of which came in November when she snapped Julia Budd’s arm after Budd’s refusal to tap. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: fight, champion, lot, rousey, others rousey

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Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsRumors of a bout between Gegard Mousasi and Mike Kyle have spread at various times over the last year. In fact, the duo seemed destined to meet in both April and September of 2011 before various issues sidetracked the pairing from being made. Now, it's on again. Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Mousasi-Kyle matchup has been agreed to as the co-main event of March 3's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event. Mousasi (32-3-2) was last seen just over one month ago, showing improved takedown defense to go with his usual aggressive striking game en route to a unanimous decision over Ovince St. Preux. Meanwhile, Kyle (19-8-1, 1 no contest) is coming off a unanimous decision victory of his own, this one coming against Marcos Rogerio de Lima in September. The winner of the bout may eventually earn a chance to fight for the vacant Strikeforce light-heavyweight title. Mousasi-Kyle is the co-headliner just underneath a women's bantamweight title bout with Miesha Tate against Ronda Rousey. As MMA Fighting reported earlier Monday, a lightweight fight between Conor Heun and Ryan Couture was just added to the event as well. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, event, comain event, rousey, kyle

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The outspoken, silver-tongued Ronda Rousey has likely saved women's MMA due to her antics. Can trash talk really save a sport, you ask? Undeniably.

Posted in: mma, ronda rousey, womens mma, rousey, ronda

Read the full article at Low Kick

MMAWeekly Radio Weekend Edition returns for a huge show with UFC on Fox headliner Rashad Evans, Diego Sanchez and a new segment called 'Ask Ronda Rousey'.

Posted in: diego, sanchez, mmaweekly, rousey, ronda

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Ronda Rousey says she comes from a family of quick-witted, accomplished women who don't back down. For those aggravated by her approach to the MMA business, she has one thing to say: you're welcome. "I don't think any girl can grasp what I'm trying to do," Rousey told MMAjunkie.com.

Posted in: mma business, i dont, dont, rousey, ronda

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A lightweight bout between Caros Fodor and Pat Healy has been added to March's "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" event. Strikeforce officials today announced the matchup. "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" takes place March 3 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Columbus, and coincides with the annual Arnold Sports Festival.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, caros fodor, rousey, columbus columbus

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Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” is official. Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” is scheduled to take place at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, March 3, and will air on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT. The card will be headlined by a women’s bantamweight title fight between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey. “The energy in the city of Columbus is always incredible during the weekend of the Arnold and we can’t wait to get back there with this championship fight,” STRIKEFORCE CEO Scott Coker said. “Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey is the title fight fans wanted and we were happy to give it to them. Miesha made a big statement when she submitted Marloes Coenen for the title last year. Now she meets one of the fastest-rising stars in all of mixed martial arts, unbeaten judo ace Ronda Rousey. Columbus, get ready, because we’re bringing a great night of fights to your city once again.” “I feel like Ronda will definitely be a challenge for me, but not one that I can’t handle,” said Tate. “Her Olympic experience is great, but this is MMA and her MMA career has been short. She hasn’t truly been tested yet and I plan on doing just that when we meet in Columbus.” “Miesha is a seasoned and respectable fighter, but she’s not a dangerous fighter,” said Rousey. “If she thinks she’s going to submit me, she’s got another thing coming. She’ll have her chance on March 3 and we’ll all find out who the best female MMA fighter in the world is.” A Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix final bout between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier was expected to headline the card, however Strikeforce officials had been waiting on Cormier’s medical clearance before they could make it official. Apparently they didn’t get it in time. Other bouts announced for the card include Josh Thomson vs. KJ Noons, Kazuo Misaki vs. Paul Daley and Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis. Ticket release dates: UFC Fight Club Presale: Wednesday, Jan. 18, 10am ET Public On-Sale Date: Friday, Jan. 20, 10am ET Tickets will be priced at $125, $75, $45 and $25. They can be purchased at the Nationwide Arena Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster locations, at ticketmaster.com or 1-800-745-3000. The latest Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” fight card and event info can be found in our fight cards section.

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey

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Tickets for Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey," which was recently made official for March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, will go on sale to the general public this Friday (Jan. 20) at 10 a.m. ET. UFC Fight Club members and Strikeforce Newsletter subscribers, naturally, will be able to scoop up tickets prior to them being available for public consumption. The Showtime-televised event will feature newly-minted women's champion Miesha Tate putting her 135-pound title on the line against undefeated Judo specialist Ronda Rousey. Other match-ups booked for "The Discovery City" include K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson, former women's champion Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis and Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki. Here is the Strikeforce tickets sales schedule (All times ET): UFC Fight Club presale: Weds., Jan. 18, 2012, at 10 a.m. Strikeforce Newsletter presale: Thurs., Jan. 19, 2012, at 10 a.m. General tickets sale: Fri., Jan. 20, 2012, at 10 a.m. Strikeforce tickets can be purchased through StubHub.com (Note: StubHub often has seats available even if the event is "sold out"). It will also be available to watch on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET on fight night. For all the latest news and notes on Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" click here.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, ticket, rousey, strikeforce tickets

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Strikeforce on Tuesday made its March 3 event for Columbus, Ohio, official. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey takes place at the Nationwide Arena the same weekend as the Arnold Sports Festival.

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, tate, rousey, strikeforce firms

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Tickets for the next Strikeforce event go on sale this week. With a heavyweight grand-prix finale between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier still in doubt and not currently slotted for the March 3 card, the show now has been dubbed "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey." The event, which takes place at Ohio's Nationwide Arena in Columbus, features a title fight between women's flyweight champ Miesha Tate and undefeated challenger Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, daniel cormier, rousey, columbus features

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From the files of "Them fightin' words" comes this latest gem from fearless female fighter Ronda Rousey, who wasn't too pleased that former Strikeforce women's champion Cristiane Santos was posting photos of Gina Carano's battered face in an attempt to intimidate her. Santos was recently popped for using steroids in adavance of her 145-pound title defense against Hiroko Yamanaka, who crumbled under the juice of the Brazilian "Cyborg" just last month. Following her suspension, the "Rowdy" one was vocal about the damage Santos did to the state of women's MMA by "cheating" to get a competitive edge. Cyborg was not amused. What followed was a war of words on Twitter, with Rousey dropping today's bomb: @criscyborg you don't just have a dick, you are a dick for posting that picture of Gina, you cheater. Wow Cris Cyborg aka Lou Feriggno has no fucking class. I can't believe this idiot, after they prove she cheats and that she's half man she still talks shit. That's hitting below the belt. Literally! Rousey (4-0) burst onto the scene with four straight armbar finishes and has yet to see any bout go longer than 49 seconds. In her spare time, she makes a mockery of the male ego by no-selling balls to the stomach. The former Olympian will try to prove she can walk the walk in less than two months at the Strikeforce event booked for March 3, 2012, in Columbus Ohio, opposite women's 135-pound champion Miesha Tate. And if Cyborg ever makes her way back to Strikeforce following her suspension, expect an epic grudge match to be waiting for her.

Posted in: strikeforce, cyborg, womens mma, rousey, edge cyborg

Read the full article at MMA Mania

submitted by alphahouse44 [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: dick, cyborg, rousey, cris cyborg, rousey youre

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submitted by jonbuchan [link] [comment]

Posted in: drug test, cyborg, weakness, rousey, jonbuchan link

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Alright, here's what just happened. Ronda Rousey was roaming the land of Skyrim for the entire weekend and located a Dragon Shout that has the magical ability to completely destroy Cris Cyborg's self-esteem. Ronda Rousey has learned every word to her shout, and now that she's unleashed it just hours ago -- the world of MMA will never be the same. We just witnessed perhaps the most lethal verbal dagger to ever be tossed around in the history of mixed martial arts -- and it all happened on Twitter! This morning, Cris Cyborg posted the following picture of Gina Carano on Twitter with the words 'Next victim... Ronda!!! No mercy!!!.' The photo was captured by Esther Lin just after Carano's August 2009 title bout against Cris Cyborg. Of course one would naturally have to assume that since Cris Cyborg was busted for steroids in her most recent fight (which came with a one-year suspension and a hefty fine), that perhaps all of her fights including her bout with Gina Carano could be under the influence of performance enhancing drugs. Ronda Rousey saw Cyborg's tweet, and retorted with this gem that will be inscribed and placed on a shelf in the Hall of Trash Talk. We're looking at the female incarnation of a circa 2010 Chael Sonnen. Let's hope she also has a Hispanic doppelganger hiding somewhere out there.

Posted in: cyborg, cri, rousey, ronda, cris cyborg

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submitted by radaroffline [link] [comment]

Posted in: weighin, rousey, ronda, radaroffline link, radaroffline

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If you were surprised to hear that former Strikeforce women's champion Cristiane Santos was popped for steroids, then you're functioning with less than half a brain. That's according to female fighting sensation Ronda Rousey, who has done such a good job of promoting herself and staying in the spotlight, even Chael Sonnen is at home taking notes. That includes her recent appearance on "The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo," where she got a lil' "Rowdy" when it came to the subject of "Cyborg's" failed drug test. Here's what she said: "I feel like anyone with half a brain isn’t surprised. I have mixed emotions of Cyborg being caught cheating because I know everyone knew she was cheating and I wanted to make an example of her because you don’t need to take steroids to win. I think her getting caught is a great thing too. I don’t have the least bit respect for her because I always knew she was a cheater, and now everyone else knows too. If she ever comes back to fight again, she won’t be the same beast she was before. She might even try doing different things like HGH that are harder to get caught for. Who knows if Strikeforce even wants her back?" Rousey (4-0) burst onto the scene with four straight armbar finishes and has yet to see any bout go longer than 49 seconds. In her spare time, she makes a mockery of the male ego by no-selling balls to the stomach. The former Olympian will try to prove she can walk the walk in less than two months at the Strikeforce event booked for March 3, 2012, in Columbus Ohio, opposite women's 135-pound champion Miesha Tate. And if Cyborg ever makes her way back to Strikeforce following her suspension, expect an epic grudge match to be waiting for her.

Posted in: strikeforce, cyborg, ronda rousey, rousey, brain isnrsquot

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Strikeforce's next show isn't until March but they've already got a nice portion of the card booked up and it's looking good. I think we can all agree the matchmaking for last weekend's event wasn't the best we've ever seen but if the March card is any indicator then maybe we'll be able to chill out on the Strikeforce hate and start giving it some tentative love: Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey for Women's 135 pound title K.J. Noons vs Josh Thomson Paul Daley vs Kazuo Misaki Alexis Davis vs Sarah Kaufman I don't think I need to upsell you Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey. We blab about Ronda Rousey enough on here that I'm sure you're excited. I'm so hyped I'm already wearing my Ronda shirt, Ronda wig, and Ronda panties in anticipation. WAR RONDA!Noons vs Thomson is a legit contender match for a shot at Gilbert Melendez and should be a great fight. Plus Scott Coker's brain seems to be stuck on Thomson / Melendez 3 so getting that out of the way should allow us to tell if his obsession is the sign of an earlier stress related stroke. What's next for Gil now, Scott? "Thomson / Melendez 4!" Uh-oh.Misaki has technically been a Strikeforce fighter since 2008 but only fought once because mumble mumble awkward shrug Strikeforce whaddaya gonna do. He's fighting at a much saner weight of 170 pounds now and it should be interesting to see if Paul Daley has finally escaped the first dimension. Can he keep on his feet against his wily Japanese opponent? Booking Sarah Kaufman in a fight ASAP is probably a good idea - it'll give her something to do other than go on press tours complaining about how unfair it is that Ronda Rousey got a title shot. Alexis Davis was on my list of potential opponents for Cris Cyborg - low low low down on that list, but it was on the strength of her quiet work(wo)manlike abilities. She's won against a lot of people who were supposed to beat her handily, so Kaufman better keep her eye on the ball here.Adding to the intrigue of the card, Scott Coker said Tate vs Rousey may not even be the main event, implying that maybe ... just maybe ... they'll finally be wrapping up the SFHWGP with the Barnett vs Cormier finals. That fight is still not official, but considering the event has already been labeled STRIKEFORCE: BARNETT VS CORMIER, I'd say it's a possibility. Oh, and that thing Dana White said about the 145 pound division being folded? Scott's got opinions on that as well: read more

Posted in: strikeforce, vs, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Imagine the amount of malpractice lawsuits Ronda Rousey would accumulate if she was a chiropractor. Ronda fights like she spent her entire childhood angrily ripping off the limbs of every G.I. Joe action figure she's owned. That's right, G.I. Joes because I can't imagine a young Rousey playing the role of caretaker to a miniature plastic female. I've never met her, but I'm fairly certain that's not her style. It's also important to note that while I haven't met Rousey, LayzieTheSavage has on numerous occasions and the majority of times it ends up with Layzie being injured in some capacity. For those of you who resided under a rock for the past year, Ronda Rousey is dangerous. So dangerous in fact that in this outtake clip from the Joe Rogan Experience, Rousey says she has no problem fighting Miesha Tate and her boyfriend.

Posted in: joe, rousey, ronda, miesha tate, rousey layziethesavage

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Event: Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" Date: Sat., March 3, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET on ShowtimeLocation: Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio Main card (Showtime): 135 lbs.: Miesha Tate vs. Ronda Rousey155 lbs.: K.J. Noons vs. Josh Thomson170 lbs.: Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki135 lbs.: Sarah Kaufman vs. Alexis Davis Preliminary card (May not be televised): TBA* *Fight card and line-up subject to change Note: The Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier heavyweight grand prix final has been rumored for this event but Cormier's hand is taking some time to heal and it appears entirely possible the bout won't be taking place on this card. If it does, however, it will be the main event of the evening. For all the news and notes surrounding the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" Showtime card check out our extensive news archive by clicking here.

Posted in: vs, lb, card, tate, rousey

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It will be a grudge match in Ohio when Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate faces Ronda Rousey on March 3rd at the promotion's next major event.

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, ohio

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Rumors have been swirling for some time now that Miesha Tate would be defending her women's bantamweight championship against Ronda Rousey on March 3 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. And now it's confirmed. Strikeforce announced the bout last night (Sat., Jan. 7, 2012) during the "Rockhold vs. Jardine" telecast on Showtime, noting that Tate vs. Rousey would be the main event of the evening. That wasn't the plan originally, as the idea was to headline the annual show that coincides with The Arnold Sports Festival with the finale of the heavyweight grand prix. Unfortunately, Daniel Cormier, one half of that final, still hasn't healed up enough from his recent hand injury to lock his bout against Josh Barnett in for that date. Something tells me the lethal ladies will do just find in their place. These two have been going at it for some time now, both on Twitter and in interviews, most notably when they made a joint appearance on The MMA Hour where Ariel Helwani gave them the opportunity to air their grievances against one another. Rousey's main point was simple: she's a beautiful women who can tear opponents to shreds and she can give a damn good interview afterwards. That's enough to market a great fight and help women's MMA along in the process: "Sarah Kaufman kind of gives boring interviews, she's not a supermodel and the way she fights, she doesn't finish matches in extraordinary fashion. It's just kind of being realistic. I'm sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women's title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and you could, too. I think the two of us could do a better job of that than you and Sarah Kaufman. I really feel 100-percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen. It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title." Tate, meanwhile, still doesn't believe Rousey should be able to move down to a weight class she's never fought in with just three wins under her belt as a professional and earn a title shot. "Takedown" wanted a rematch against Sarah Kaufman, not a showdown against the "Rowdy" one. "What happens when she gets a failed arm bar and someone ends up on top pounding her face in? Is she going to tap out or quit? We don't know. We haven't seen that yet. I think it's kind of silly to put her in with me because that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take it to her. A lot of people are underestimating me. That's fine. That always seems to be the case. Make no mistake; if Ronda is my next fight, I'm going to come in with a vengeance you've never seen before, because to be quite honest, it's probably going to piss me off." Sounds juicy. Considering how wonderfully this fight has been marketed in social media circles, just think of the potential it has once the marketing gurus at Zuffa get their hands on it and start pushing. From now until March 3, it's all about Miesha Tate defending her title against Ronda Rousey. Anyone complaining?

Posted in: fight, title, tate, women, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsContrary to what Miesha Tate and Sarah Kaufman may think, Ronda Rousey is officially Strikeforce's No. 1 contender female bantamweight contender. During Saturday night's Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine telecast on Showtime, it was announced that Rousey will meet current 135-pound champion Tate on March 3. News of the fight was first reported by MMAWeekly.com earlier in the week. The announcement comes after weeks of debate from all corners of the MMA world about who Strikeforce should match Tate up against next. In the end, matchmaker Sean Shelby chose Rousey, the former Olympic judo bronze medalist who's 4-0 as a professional and has undeniably breathed new life into women's MMA due to her bravado. Tate (12-2) won the Strikeforce title in July when she submitted Marloes Coenen in the fourth round via arm-triangle choke. She enters the bout riding a six-fight winning streak. While not officially announced, the fight is expected to take place in Columbus, OH. Both Rousey and Tate appeared together on a recent episode of The MMA Hour to discuss who truly deserved a shot at the title. You can relive the episode here. As for Kaufman, she spoke to MMAFighting.com earlier this week about being passed over for Rousey. You can read her side of the story here.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, tate, rousey, miesha tate

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Loretta Hunt has an awesome profile on our favorite arm-snapping judo-slinging female fighter, Ronda Rousey. There's a lot of interesting stuff you don't know about her in there, some awesome, some really messed up, and some just surprising like this: Of any fighter, it's fitting that Rousey knows the value of making her voice be heard -- she couldn't put together coherent sentences until the age of six.Rousey was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck; her body was blue and she wasn't breathing. She was revived in the delivery room, but when her communicative skills quickly fell behind the norm, the doctors thought she'd suffered brain damage or that she might be deaf.When she began to talk, Rousey's words were jumbled and she was sent to speech therapy classes. Frustration was a daily occurrence, as nobody could understand her.Rousey's father saw the potential bubbling beneath his daughter's stifled communication, though. He often called Ronda a "sleeper," and told her that she'd show everybody someday. Rousey's speech gradually improved. Just one more way Ronda and I are totally alike. They thoght I was ratarded to, but i showed them.

Posted in: rousey, ronda, delivery room, brain damage, umbilical cord

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Ronda Rousey hits up Twitter with a little gem reacting to the Cyborg news.

Posted in: twitter, hit, rousey, ronda, gem

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Cage Potato had an excellent piece today describing Loretta Hunt's SI piece on the rising Judoka. There's really not much to add, so instead, here's the piece: We’ve all read stories about how Ronda Rousey became a beast on the mats training with the tough Armenians like Karo Parisyan and Manny Gamburyan as a girl at Gokor Chivichyan’s gym, but few actually know the real battles the bubbly Strikeforce number one bantamweight contender has gone through in her life. In a recent feature by SI's Loretta Hunt, Rousey revealed that her precarious life path began early in life as she could not speak until she was six due to complications at birth. Of any fighter, it’s fitting that Rousey knows the value of making her voice be heard — she couldn’t put together coherent sentences until the age of six. Rousey was born with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck; her body was blue and she wasn’t breathing. She was revived in the delivery room, but when her communicative skills quickly fell behind the norm, the doctors thought she’d suffered brain damage or that she might be deaf. When she began to talk, Rousey’s words were jumbled and she was sent to speech therapy classes. Frustration was a daily occurrence, as nobody could understand her. Soon after Ronda began speaking and had overcome one of her biggest challenges, one of the most important people in her life was struck with a double-whammy. She watched her father break his back after crashing into a snow-covered log at the bottom of a hill on a family sledding trip. He was later diagnosed with Bernard-Soulier syndrome, a rare blood disorder that made a full recovery from his back injuries impossible. What came next would change Rousey’s life forever. When doctors told him he’d be paralyzed and would die within two years, Rousey’s father committed suicide in 1995 rather than have his family watch him deteriorate. Rousey was only eight years old. "He said he didn’t want our last memories of him laying in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of him," Rousey told Hunt. "He was a proud man, a provider. He didn’t want to drain the family anymore." As if we needed another reason to root for "Rowdy". Now we have one. Do yourself a favor and check out Hunt’s story. It’s worth the read. That story about her dad is incredibly sad to hear about. On another note, while I definitely think that Sarah Kaufman got hosed in this whole debacle, hopefully she gets next against whoever wins and that will be the end of that.

Posted in: life, story, ronda rousey, rousey, delivery room

Read the full article at Head Kick Legend

Filed under: StrikeforceSarah Kaufman heard the internet rumors about a Miesha Tate-Ronda Rousey title at about the same time the rest of the MMA world did. She wasn't terribly surprised, she told MMA Fighting on Thursday, but neither was she particularly pleased. "I think it's terrible news," the former Strikeforce 135-pound women's champ said, and you can probably guess why. "I put in my time and, being the former champ and having had two fights since the only loss of my career, I've definitely earned the right to fight Miesha Tate and fight for the 135-pound title with Strikeforce," Kaufman explained. "Then there's Ronda, who's only been fighting for a year. Granted, she has her judo experience, but she hasn't fought anyone of a high caliber. She's fought at 145 pounds -- hasn't even competed at 135 pounds at all -- and for her to be given the opportunity to fight for the title, it's pretty ridiculous." The good news, if there is any for Kaufman, is that the fight is not yet official. Though first reported by MMA Weekly on Wednesday evening, both Tate -- the current 135-pound women's champ -- and the unbeaten Rousey took to their Twitters to explain that the rumored March 3 title fight wasn't yet signed. Kaufman said she was still holding out hope that her phone might ring with a fight offer before Rousey's does, but noted that "usually when rumors happen it's for a reason." The way Kaufman sees it, if Rousey has earned herself a title shot in any division it's the 145-pound class, where most of her professional bouts have taken place. That Rousey is angling for a shot at Tate rather than at Strikeforce 145-pound champ Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos can only mean one thing, Kaufman said. "She's scared to fight Cyborg, for sure, and understandably. Cyborg is a formidable fighter. But if you're saying you want a title, it shouldn't matter whether it's at 145 [pounds] or 135 [pounds]. Now she's backpedaling and saying, 'Oh, I want Cyborg to come to 135.' Or maybe she'll do it as a catchweight. Or maybe in four or five fights. She's pretty much just pushing the fight off, clearly running from it." Kaufman's not the only one to question whether Rousey deserves a crack at the title. Tate had a memorable confrontation with the Olympic bronze medalist in a recent episode of The MMA Hour, during which Tate accused her of trying to leverage her looks for an opportunity she hadn't earned in the cage. "It's frustrating to see," Kaufman said. "Gina [Carano] is a prime example, but she didn't push her own looks. Everyone else pushed her looks, and she fought. She had good fights that she looked impressive in. Miesha's been a little bit the same. She's definitely pushed her looks and marketed herself in that manner, but she's also put her time in and worked her way up in the fighting game. Ronda's just the opposite. She's had a couple impressive wins, and really fast, and then just told people, 'I'm pretty so I deserve it.'" While there's no official word on whether Rousey will get the next shot at Tate, all signs seem to be pointing in that direction, and even Kaufman seems resigned to it. She might have nearly four times as many fights as Rousey, and five years more experience in MMA, but with the fickle nature of the women's division she knows that doesn't guarantee her a title shot. What she's left wondering is, what will? "I've been pushing for the Miesha fight since I fought her," said Kaufman. "That's all I can do, is get in interviews and say what I think, which is that I deserve the fight. Maybe that's not what they want to hear. They want to hear, 'I'm the prettiest and you can market me and sell me to guys.' That's not my thing, and I won't do that. I'll present myself as an athlete and be feminine in my own way without being over the top." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: fight, pound, title, rousey, kaufman

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Few fighters have experienced as fast a rise in popularity as former Olympian Ronda Rousey did in 2011, going from a relative unknown to the hottest commodity in women’s MMA since Cristiane Santos debuted in 2008. The featherweight’s ferocious appetite for arms coupled with her cute looks and personality proved themselves to be a combo fans couldn’t resist, yet rather than use her increased profile into for a crack at the belt in her own division she decided to go after bantamweight title-holder Miesha Tate instead despite having zero victories at 135 pounds. Now news has surfaced indicating “Rowdy” Ronda’s next fight will indeed involve Strikeforce gold. According to a report on MMAWeekly citing sources close to the bout, Rousey is set to scrap with Tate, not 145-pound champion Santos, at a yet-to-be-announced event on March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. The event will tie in with the annual Arnold Sports Festival event in the area as has been done in past years. Tate will enter the match-up with 3X Rousey’s in-ring experience, boasting a 12-2 record including triumphs over Zoila Gurgel, Hitomi Akano, and Marloes Coenen. She is currently on a six-fight winning streak. The 24-year old Rousey is 4-0 with all four wins coming last year and most recently snapped Julia Budd’s arm in two. The performance was not only her fourth instance of success via Armbar but also her fourth sub-minute victory. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: marloes coenen, ronda rousey, rousey, featherweight ’s, years tate

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

According to MMAWeekly.com, Miesha Tate (12-2) will return to the Strikeforce cage against no other than "The Queen of Armbars" Ronda Rousey (4-0). The fight will take place on March 3rd, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Rousey is currently 4-0 in her Mixed Martial Arts campaign, finishing every single one of her fights via a highlight reel armbar. Officially nicknamed "Rowdy", Ronda Rousey has a strong background in Judo, with 3 Gold Medals in Pan-American games, Silver Medal in 2007 World

Posted in: strikeforce cage, arts campaign, rousey, ronda, reel armbar

Read the full article at Low Kick

It’s looking like a much-anticipated Strikeforce women’s bantamweight championship bout between champion Miesha Tate and rising star Ronda Rousey is going to happen sooner rather than later. MMA Weekly reported earlier this evening that the bout is set for a March 3 Strikeforce event, however Rousey responded on Twitter claiming she hasn’t signed anything yet. Nevertheless, MMA Junkie is reporting that although it’s not finalized, Strikeforce has the bout is in the works. MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed with multiple sources that Rousey and Strikeforce 135-pound female champion Miesha Tate (12-2 MMA, 5-1 SF) are in ongoing discussions to meet at an as-yet-unannounced event expected to take place March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. However, at this time bout agreements have not been finalized and the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. Assuming it comes together, it would mark the most hyped women’s bout in quite some time. Tate recently stated that Rousey doesn’t deserve the shot with only four professional wins, however women’s MMA needs all the big fights it can get these days and this is certainly one of them. Rousey may not deserve it on record alone, but you can’t dismiss the buzz she’s generated by winning each of those four fights in under a minute via violent armbars. I’ll admit it. I’ve struggled to get excited for women’s MMA in the past year, but this is definitely one fight I’m looking forward to. Image via Esther Lin for Strikeforce/Showtime

Posted in: mma, strikeforce, bout, tate, rousey

Read the full article at MMA Convert

The most discussed women's MMA match since Gina Carano vs. Cristiane Santos has been booked for Strikeforce's March event in Columbus, OH, as 135-pound champion Miesha Tate will defend against Ronda Rousey. MMA Weekly reported the news Wednesday night, but there have been no confirmations from either side as of this writing. Rousey (4-0) has risen to prominence by finishing all of her opponents by armbar in less than three minutes combined. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo asked for the Tate fight following her 39 second victory over Julia Budd in November, setting off a slew of social medial discussion on whether Rousey was ready and the state of women's MMA. Tate (12-2) has won six in a row, but hasn't fought since defeating Marloes Coenen by fourth round submission in July 2011. It was expected at one point that Tate would defend her title against former champion Sarah Kaufman, but that fight never materialized. Kaufman (14-1) hasn't competed since winning a decision over Liz Carmouche in July. On Twitter Wednesday night, Rousey said, "I haven't signed anything nothing is official everybody calm down" Wednesday while Tate alluded to the fight in some conversations with fans without any confirmation. The March event is expected to be on Saturday, March 3rd -- the same night as the Strikeforce Grand Prix Finals. With Strikeforce set to return to action this Saturday, a formal announcement could come this week.

Posted in: strikeforce, event, tate, march, rousey

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

With just four professional fights under her belt, it appears Ronda Rousey will compete for Strikeforce gold. MMAjunkie.com has confirmed with multiple sources that Rousey and Strikeforce 135-pound female champion Miesha Tate are in ongoing discussions to meet at an as-yet-unannounced event expected to take place March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. However, at this time bout agreements have not been finalized and the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.

Posted in: strikeforce, ronda rousey, rousey, columbus ohio, asyetunannounced event

Read the full article at MMA Junkie

Top Strikeforce 135-pound female fighter Ronda Rousey posts a video of her impact conditioning as she waits on the sidelines for her next fight. The "Rowdy" one is 4-0 with four armbar finishes and has yet to see any bout go longer than 49 seconds. While a fight against division champion Miesha Tate is probably the most likely choice for her next appearance, fans and pundits have also been campaigning for a battle against Brazilian "Cyborg" Cristiane Santos. Says Rousey: "I'm sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women's title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and [Tate] could, too. I think the two of us could do a better job of that than [her] and Sarah Kaufman. I really feel 100-percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen. It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title." How about it fight fans, who do you want to see Rousey fight next? Or does it not matter, so long as she keeps releasing training videos such as these?

Posted in: fight, i dont, ronda rousey, rousey, impact conditioning

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Current Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate spoke to our Fight Hub TV cameras recently in Las Vegas. Tate who was all dolled up for a MMA awards show, voiced her opinions on Ronda Rousey and a few other topics. Tate believes that Rousey has not earned a title shot at her belt and believes [...]

Posted in: title shot, tate, ronda rousey, rousey, topics tate

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Strikeforce Women's 135-pound Champion Miesha Tate, who was last seen in action submitting Marloes Coenen in July, discusses the ongoing challenges issued by Ronda Rousey, and explains why she feels "Rowdy" has not yet earned a title shot. Tate insists that, like herself and many other contenders in the division have had to do, Rousey must first pay her dues, and says that once she has done so, she'll have no problem accepting the fight.

Posted in: tate, marloes coenen, ronda rousey, rousey, miesha tate

Read the full article at Low Kick

Yesterday you watched Nick Diaz and Ronda Rousey head battle against the cage. You were fascinated, you were excited and hypothetical scenarios consisting of merging the Diaz and Rousey DNA were extrapolated upon in the comment sections. Now, the venerable LayzieTheSavage has exclusive footage of Ronda Rousey breaking down exactly what the sage Nick Diaz has taught her, and it's all for you guys. All of it. I suggest you follow Layzie on Twitter so you can thank him. And while you're at it you could follow his lady Jessica Dawn, who I hear has a pretty baller Team Stockton shirt signed by Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez that she just has to give away to someone...

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, ronda rousey, rousey, rousey dna

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker talks about who gets the next crack at champion Miesha Tate. Is it Sarah Kaufman or Ronda Rousey?

Posted in: tate, miesha, rousey, sarah kaufman, sarah

Read the full article at MMA Weekly

At just 24 years old and with a mere 138 seconds of professional fighting experience, Strikeforce's Ronda Rousey is certainly not lacking in confidence. As such, Rousey already has her eyes set on a future meeting with current Strikeforce 145-pound champion Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, a woman widely regarded as the best - and certainly most dangerous - female in the sport. But not just yet, Rousey says. Timing is imperative.

Posted in: strikeforce, rousey, future meeting, strikeforces rousey, cyborg fight

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submitted by lumbugg [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: lumbugg, eddie bravo, bravo, ronda rousey, rousey

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Cyborg laughs at my attempt to update MiddleEasy with a summary article immediately after a fight. Oh wow, some fan just asked for Evangelista's hat and he gave it to him. That just happened. Perhaps this tactic should be used more often instead of the 'hover hand/jack hat' combination that we always see when fighters pass a group of fans. What could be said about Cyborg's dominance over women's MMA that hasn't already been said about every nuclear testing site in the Nevada desert? I couldn't really get a good view on press row but did Cyborg just knockout Yamanaka, wake her up with another punch and then knock her out again? I'm fairly certain that's what I just witnessed, and if so, that is simply amazing. Ronda Rousey is in the crowd somewhere at the Valley View Casino Center. I'm sure she heard when Cyborg stated that 'Rousey talks too much', and ironically Ronda Rousey didn't say a thing about it. We all know that Cyborg and Rousey will cross paths at some point in 2012, but for tonight let's all remember that Cyborg just destroyed Hiroko Yamanaka in sixteen seconds. Amazing.

Posted in: yamanaka, press row, cyborg, ronda rousey, rousey

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Ronda Rousey may very well get her wish to fight Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate after all.

Posted in: fight, champion, tate, rousey, ronda

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [5 comments]

Posted in: tate, mattyblayze, finale, rousey, tuf finale

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Jonathan Snowden asks "Is Ronda Rousey Vs. Miesha Tate A Money Match For Strikeforce?" Read it at MMA Nation.

Posted in: money, jonathan snowden, snowden, tate, rousey

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Ronda Rousey has sparked a lot of discussion about women's MMA since she stepped into the Strikeforce cage for the first time earlier this year. Two armbar wins in under a minute have earned him a lot of accolades, but Rousey's directness and honesty have earned her a lot of detractors. Namely, pretty much every other WMMA fighter. She has made no secret of the fact that she she's willing to market her looks in addition to her skill to get herself ahead of the pack. Last week Ronda was a guest on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, and she mades no bones about the fact that she wanted a shot at 135 lb. champion Miesha Tate, and she thinks she would beat her. Rousey believes, despite never competing at 135 pounds and only having four career fights, that a bout between her and Tate would sell better than a a second bout between Tate and Sarah Kaufman, despite Kaufman being the number one contender. This week, Ariel invited both Tate and Rousey onto the show. And as expected, they disagreed on just about everything. Tate believes that Kaufman and Alexis Davis should be ahead of Rousey, and Ronda needs to fight and win at 135 first. Rousey believes it's a better business idea to fight now: "I really feel 100 percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen," Rousey said. "It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title." Tate stated that people only care because Rousey's attractive: "I think it's working because she's pretty," Tate said. "If you weren't pretty, it wouldn't matter what you said or didn't say. That's why you're getting this attention. I don't know, I guess I personally like more of a humble approach. You can say you want to be the Chael Sonnen of women's MMA, and Chael gets a lot of press and everything like that, too, but no one likes him." Rousey had a pretty obvious response to that: "Yeah, but he makes a lot of money and he gets a lot of title shots, too, doesn't he?" After some back and forth about what's fair and honorable, the topic switched to the real top contender at 135, Sarah Kaufman. And Ronda didn't hold back: "Sarah Kaufman kind of gives boring interviews, she's not a supermodel and the way she fights, she doesn't finish matches in extraordinary fashion," she said. "It's just kind of being realistic. I'm sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women's title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and you could, too. I think the two of us could do a better job of that than you and Sarah Kaufman." Kaufman had a pretty curt response to that when told about it later: "It would be way smarter for the longevity of the division to work her way up," she said. "If she runs through people -- which I don't think she will -- then I'll be happy to beat her face in. She wants to be pretty? She won't be as pretty after our fight." Does Rousey deserve the shot right away? I don't think so, but she makes some solid points. Promoters make bouts that people want to see, and people would be much more interested in Rousey/Tate than Tate/Kaufman 2. Still, she's no Brock Lesnar in terms of drawing money. Basically, I believe she's not valuable enough to skip the line, no matter how pretty or skilled she thinks she is.

Posted in: fight, tate, lot, rousey, kaufman

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Ronda Rousey has definitely been living up to her "Rowdy" moniker in recent days, ruffling some feathers in the Strikeforce women's division. After winning her fourth professional mixed martial arts fight in as many tries back on Nov. 18 at Strikeforce Challengers: "Britt vs. Sayers" (while snapping Julia Budd's limb in the process with a sickening armbar), Rousey believes she deserves the next title fight against the current women's Strikeforce bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate. In her four professional bouts and three amateur bouts prior, Rousey has barely broke a sweat as she has finished all seven of her opponents via armbar submission and all under a minute. Can you blame her for wanting to up the stakes and level of competition? On the other hand, if you ask Miesha Tate, the current women's Strikeforce bantamweight champion and Alexis Davis, another Strikeforce 135-pound contender; Rousey hasn't earned a title shot yet. Rousey has yet to compete in the bantamweight division as she calls the 145-pound weight class home. While campaigning to get a title shot, Rousey has not been making any friends, nor is she trying to. Now it seems that the entire female division is gunning for her. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Tate and Rousey got a little bit testy with one another as both made their claims as to who deserves the next title shot: Tate says if she gets matched up with Rousey, it won't be pretty: ‘What happens when she gets a failed arm bar and someone ends up on top pounding her face in? Is she going to tap out or quit? We don't know. We haven't seen that yet. I think it's kind of silly to put her in with me because that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take it to her. A lot of people are underestimating me. That's fine. That always seems to be the case. Make no mistake; if Ronda is my next fight, I'm going to come in with a vengeance you've never seen before, because to be quite honest, it's probably going to piss me off." Let's not forget about Sarah Kaufman, who many believe she is the rightful number one contender. Tate has no problems with a fight against Sarah, in fact, she wants a rematch with Sarah before any other fight: "I want my rematch against Sarah Kaufman and I think there is a story to be built off of there. You don't always have to have to attractive women you know? It's nothing against Sarah, but I feel like I work my butt off and I want that rematch and I want to avenge a loss. You know Cyborg is one of the most popular women fighters ever and she's not a beauty queen but it's because of her style of fighting, there are different ways to market different women and different ways to market every fight and I don't consider ours to be so special." Rousey on the other hand disagrees: "Sarah Kaufman kind of gives boring interviews, she's not a supermodel and the way she fights, she doesn't finish matches in extraordinary fashion. It's just kind of being realistic. I'm sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women's title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and you could, too. I think the two of us could do a better job of that than you and Sarah Kaufman. I really feel 100-percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen. It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title." Tate believes Rousey "Rowdy" attitude stems from her aspirations of trying to follow in the footsteps on none other than the master fight promoter, Chael Sonnen: "I think its working because she's pretty. If you weren't pretty, it wouldn't matter what you said or didn't say. That's why you're getting this attention. I don't know, I guess I personally like more of a humble approach. You can say you want to be the Chael Sonnen of women's MMA, and Chael gets a lot of press and everything like that, too, but no one likes him." Rousey's response: "Yeah, but he makes a lot of money and he gets a lot of title shots, too, doesn't he?" Lurking on the sidelines is Alexa Davis, who tells MMAWeekly.com that maybe they need to focus on training instead of talking: "I've been watching a bit, back and forth, I haven't quite seen it all. I'm busy training in the gym, maybe these girls should be working out and getting ready for their next fights before they're talking all this smack about how much damage they're going to cause. I don't think she's (Rousey) really fought anybody who has been able to give her a challenge, that's had like a serious ground game She talks a lot of smack and on one side that's great, well some of the things she's said, for women's MMA. It's really got everyone's attention. But some of the things she's said, and I think she has talent in there, but has she fought anybody? Let's get to the bottom line. Does she deserve a title shot? Sure, she's doing great and the press and everybody's talking about it, but has she earned it? I don't think quite yet. Sarah Kaufman, she's right up there, she's the top contender right now. I'd like to see Ronda walk all over her, it's not going to happen when you get to that level of fighter. If I can't have Miesha Tate, obviously I'm going to want her first or Sarah Kaufman, then I'll take Ronda." And what does the current number one contender Sarah Kaufman have to say about all this? "I think that a fight between Miesha and I is an exciting fight and I think that it could be marketed in a very exciting way. Miesha's kind of that prettier girl and I am definitely more on the serious sporty side and I'm ready to smash Miesha's face and that can be marketed as much as me smashing Ronda's face." Tate, Rousey, Davis, Kaufman...I have Mrs. "Cyborg" Santos on line one. It seems as if business is picking up in women's MMA, thanks in large part to up-and-coming contenders and great back-and-forth banter between future opponents. Tate is trying to give the rightful number one contender their due, while postponing a fight for Rousey at a future date once Rousey has developed further as a mixed marital artist with a stronger fan base. Rousey on the other hand, believes she has done enough to get a title shot in fight that would definitely be more marketable due to good looks and great storylines. All Alexis Davis and Sarah Kaufman want is someone to fight. What do you say Maniacs, are you riled up for these potential matches? And has Rousey done enough in your eyes to contend for the Strikeforce bantamweight title, or is she biting off more than she can chew? To listen to the full back and forth between Rousey and Tate, as well as Kaufman's thoughts, click here.

Posted in: fight, title, women, rousey, sarah

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FYI, the "7 wins by armbar" everyone's talking about include her amateur fights. Amateur fights: Rousey vs Munoz: Double leg, easy mount, then a risky-looking armbar attack diving in from the back. Rousey vs Richardson: Mount, Strikes, grab the arm. Done deal. Rousey vs Stratford. Rousey goes for mount but it's too high. Arbmar from guard, but it's a gift. Stratford derps at least once by leaving her arm halfway across Rousey inside her guard, and then seemingly again by rolling right into where Rousey wants her to finish the armbar. Pro fights: Rousey vs Gomes: Trip, mount, strikes, takes the back, armbar as Gomes is rolling. Similar armbar to Munoz but a little less risky. Rousey vs Tweet: Throw, Mount, strikes, S-mount, armbar. Earlier in the fight Rousey appears to decently defend Tweet's attempt to take the back. Hard to see from the vid though. Rousey vs D'Alelio: Is that a flying armbar I see? Rousey vs Budd. Great trip (Same one as the Gomes fight), strikes from mount, S-mount, armbar. While everyone else is talking about the 7 armbars, it should be notes that she got to mount in 5 fights, and it should have been six. Nasty. submitted by Mattyi [link] [comment]

Posted in: fight, vs, strike, armbar, rousey

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The war of words between Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate and undefeated Olympian Ronda Rousey heated up yesterday when the two talented females faced off to debate the issue of divisional contendership. Rousey, who has looked dominant in all four of her fights since crossing over from a career as a decorated Judoka, recently came forward to say she wanted a shot at Tate’s belt based on the buzz the bout would create, while the 135-pound title-holder has been adamant regarding Rousey’s need to wait her turn. “I really feel 100 percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen,” said the 24-year old Rousey on an edition of The MMA Hour. “It’ll be great for women’s MMA. It’ll be the first highly anticipated fight in women’s MMA for a long time … We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don’t want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title.” Rousey supported her stance by referring to her ability to sell a fight to the public in comparison to other challengers, especially based on the marketability involved from an aesthetic standpoint. “Sarah Kaufman kind of gives boring interviews, she’s not a supermodel and the way she fights, she doesn’t finish matches in extraordinary fashion,” Rousey explained. “It’s just kind of being realistic. I’m sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women’s title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and you could, too.” Tate responded to Rousey’s claims by agreeing looks would play a significant role in the match-up being made if things go that route. “If you weren’t pretty, it wouldn’t matter what you said or didn’t say,” replied Tate. “That’s why you’re getting this attention. I don’t know, I guess I personally like more of a humble approach.” However, when it came to actual experience, Tate pulled no punches in her assessment of Rousey’s lack thereof. “What happens when she gets a failed arm bar and someone ends up on top pounding her face in? Is she going to tap out or quit? We don’t know. We haven’t seen that yet. I think it’s kind of silly to put her in with me because that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to take it to her.” “A lot of people are underestimating me. That’s fine. That always seems to be the case,” Tate continued. “Make no mistake, if Ronda is my next fight, I’m going to come in with a vengeance you’ve never seen before, because to be quite honest, it’s probably going to piss me off.” For now their rivalry will continue to simmer with no definitive indication of how Strikeforce will handle the female division in 2012 since the company hasn’t announced any events beyond December. That being said, with both being supremely skilled and under the age of 25, chances are this week’s run-in won’t be the last between the two talented ladies whether in terms of verbal exchanges or an eventual physical one. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: fight, mma, strikeforce, tate, rousey

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Filed under: StrikeforceStrikeforce 135-pound women's champ Miesha Tate doesn't think it's fair for Ronda Rousey to leverage her looks into a title shot, and she's got a point. Rousey thinks that, when it comes to selling a fight and getting MMA fans interested in what's happening with the women's division, fair doesn't enter into it. She's also got a point. It's an argument that -- especially among female MMA fighters -- isn't new and isn't unique. The fact is, when you're trying to scratch out a living in the women's division of a sport marketed primarily to young men, it helps to be pretty. It might not be fair, and it might not be right, but we need only look at who's getting paid and who's getting ignored to know that, at least for now, it's the way things are. But watching Tate and Rousey present their respective sides of the issue while my colleague Ariel Helwani struggled to get a word in, I couldn't help but wonder if it's always going to be this way, and whether we'll ever stop arguing over it. And if we don't, is that necessarily such a bad thing? To be fair, this particular iteration of the argument isn't as simple as beauty versus the beast. You might look at Rousey and see Judo Barbie, but there's more to her than just eye candy. For starters, she's an Olympic bronze medalist. If you want to hear about that, just ask her. If you don't want to hear about it, fine, but she'll probably tell you anyway, and who can blame her? Sure, she's only had four pro fights in MMA, but none of them have been even the least bit competitive. You could call her career one long armbar clinic, except that a) it hasn't even been that long, and b) any clinic that injures that many people isn't going to get a whole lot of repeat customers. Still, Rousey knows what she's doing. She's attractive, she's got an attitude, and she's using both to get herself noticed. When Tate told her, "If you weren't pretty, it wouldn't matter what you said or didn't say," she's probably right. But then, is that so wrong? If Tate thinks so, she must have come around to that conclusion pretty recently. Seems like she's had no problem playing up her own good looks when it served her purposes (exhibit A: the background of her Twitter page). Then again, as Tate pointed out, she also won a bunch of fights. Being good-looking is, as she tells it, "just a bonus" for a female fighter, since at the end of the day each woman still has to acquit herself in the cage, where a pretty face won't help you. But then, the problem for women's MMA hasn't been a lack of skill from the fighters -- it's a lack of interest from the fans. For whatever reason, a lot of the same people who love to see two men beat each other up just aren't into watching two women do the same thing. I don't know why that is, honestly, and I'm not sure it matters. You can tell people that they should like and support women's MMA. You can tell them they're a bunch of jerks if they only want to see pretty girls fighting. That might make a few people feel bad about themselves, but it won't create many new fans. You know what will, though? Stuff like this Tate-Rousey rivalry. Already it's produced what might be the best segment in MMA Hour history (no offense to "The Mitrione Minute"). For the first time in a long time, the MMA world is buzzing about women's MMA. And, contrary to how it might seem on the surface, it's not their looks that's driving the interest (though, okay, it doesn't hurt). Really, it's the argument over their looks and over how much it matters, and it's the same argument women's MMA has been having with itself for years. It shouldn't be enough to be pretty. I don't just mean in MMA, either. Whether you're a man or a woman, good looks might be a minor win in the genetic lottery, but they don't make you a good or talented or even worthwhile person. We know this, even if we don't always act like it. To give a good-looking person special considerations just because we like looking at their face is embarrassingly dumb, not to mention unfair. That's why it makes for such a fascinating internal conflict for a women's division that's still struggling with its own identity. No one wants to see women's MMA become a sideshow where untalented, untrained pretty girls fight it out in sports bras for the sexual satisfaction of a caveman crowd. At least, I hope no one wants that, and if they do there are websites specifically for them (I've heard there are, anyway). At the same time, just as in the men's division, promote-ability matters. Brock Lesnar got a title shot after three fights -- which, in retrospect, still seems insane -- because he sold tickets and pay-per-views. Some fans and fighters might want to see MMA become an egalitarian utopia where none of that matters, but in the meantime promoters still have to market their product to the world that is rather than the world that could or should be. The good news is, MMA has a built-in lie detector to keep anyone from skating by on looks or attitude or popularity for too long, and that's the same for the women as it is for the men. If you can't fight, we'll find out soon enough. Eventually some ugly, boring person will punch you in the face until you can't stand up, and that will be that. Facial symmetry might be a useful gift, but it doesn't hold up too well in a sport that allows elbow strikes on the ground. By forcing this discussion, both Tate and Rousey have done women's MMA a favor, whether either of them realize it or not. As much as female fighters love to frame their sport as a battle for attention and respect that they're all waging together, they don't always act in their own self-interest. It doesn't help them at all to be nice or to be friends or even to be fair to one another. What helps them is selling fights. What helps them -- just as it helps the men -- is getting fans interested in what's about to happen a few Saturday nights from now. That's the business of fighting. As Josh Barnett likes to say, the business of fighting has very little to do with actual fighting, but that doesn't mean it isn't important. This conflict -- trying to give fans what they want but without losing your identity or self-respect in the process -- might turn out to be an ongoing and inescapable struggle for women's MMA. And maybe that's okay. In a sport that's all about conflict in its various forms, you could do a lot worse than have public arguments that lead to publicized fights. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: mma, women, dont, rousey, she

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Filed under: Strikeforce, MMA Fighting ExclusiveJust four fights into her professional fight career, Strikeforce's Ronda Rousey insists that she is ready to face reigning women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, and that the fight should be signed imminently. Tate, however, says that the young upstart is not quite ready for the increase in opponent caliber, and that she should wait her turn. The debate between the two stems from the fact that Strikeforce has yet to announce its intended direction for the division's future. For her part, Tate hopes to bypass Rousey's challenge in order to face Sarah Kaufman in a rematch of their May 2009 fight. In a charged, joint interview on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, the two debated their opposing viewpoints on the 135-pound weight class. While Rousey believes that a title fight with Tate would be the most marketable women's fight available, Tate is skeptical about Rousey's experience level and thinks it would be unfair to see her leapfrog more seasoned fighters simply because she asked the loudest for a title shot. Tate opened up the proceedings with the first shot. "What happens when she gets a failed arm bar and someone ends up on top pounding her face in?" she said. "Is she going to tap out or quit? We don't know. We haven't seen that yet. I think it's kind of silly to put her in with me because that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take it to her. A lot of people are underestimating me. That's fine. That always seems to be the case. Make no mistake, if Ronda is my next fight, I'm going to come in with a vengeance you've never seen before, because to be quite honest, it's probably going to piss me off." Tate said that she believes either Kaufman or Alexis Davis is more deserving than Rousey by virtue of their respective experience levels and longer histories of success. Kaufman -- a former divisional champ -- is 14-1 while Davis is 11-4. Rousey, meanwhile, is 4-0 after turning pro less than nine months ago. Despite her relative neophyte status in MMA, Rousey's early performances have been so dominant -- each win has come in less than one minute, and finished in arm bar submissions -- the thought of Rousey-Tate has grown steam as Rousey has continued her campaign for the slot. Rousey responded by noting that Strikeforce does not use a ranking system and simply looks for the fights that will make them the most money. In her mind, Rousey-Tate is the money fight. "I really feel 100 percent that a fight between her and me needs to happen," Rousey said. "It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title." Tate said that Rousey's approach to it has been insulting to the other fighters in the mix, but Rousey justified her tactics, noting the attention it's gotten them in recent weeks. "I think it's working because she's pretty," Tate said. "If you weren't pretty, it wouldn't matter what you said or didn't say. That's why you're getting this attention. I don't know, I guess I personally like more of a humble approach. You can say you want to be the Chael Sonnen of women's MMA, and Chael gets a lot of press and everything like that, too, but no one likes him." "Yeah, but he makes a lot of money and he gets a lot of title shots, too, doesn't he?" Rousey responded, pointing out how much Sonnen's profile has grown since changing his promotional approach. After Tate pointed out that Rousey hasn't even yet competed at 135 pounds a single time, and should have to do so before fighting for the belt, Rousey made a different comparison, one to former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who captured his title in his third fight in the octagon. That led to an interesting exchange between the two about a possible matchup. "What happens if I go out there and I just cream you?" Tate asked. "Then all your hype is just over. Then Ronda was just another pretty face." "That's a risk I'm wiling to take, and you should be willing to take some risks, too," Rousey said. "I'm willing," Tate said. "The longer you wait, the more of an advantage I'll have," Rousey said, predicting that she'll be improving at a faster rate than Tate in the future. Moments later, Tate shot back, saying, "I feel like you're being really selfish and only thinking about yourself." "If you want to be an idealist, go to the Olympics," said Rousey, herself a former judo Olympic bronze medalist. "Go do wrestling in the Olympics. There is no ranking system in the UFC or Zuffa. It's completely up to powers that be, and I think that us debating about it is kind of a moot point, because they're the ones who make the decision when it comes down to it, and they don't care about any rankings. They only are about what's going to sell tickets. You want to be an idealist? Go to the Olympics. I did that. I didn't make anything." Of course, there is at least one other side to this story, and it's Kaufman's. The former champion wasn't a part of the debate between the two although she did give her take later on. While Tate said that a rematch between her and Kaufman could sell based on the revenge angle, Rousey doubted it would be a big hit with audiences, saying it probably wouldn't gain much more interest than their first go-around. "Sarah Kaufman kind of gives boring interviews, she's not a supermodel and the way she fights, she doesn't finish matches in extraordinary fashion," she said. "It's just kind of being realistic. I'm sorry that I have to say things bluntly and offend some people. I just want there to be a highly marketable, exciting women's title fight, and I want to be part of that because I feel like I could do a really good job, and you could, too. I think the two of us could do a better job of that than you and Sarah Kaufman." The two ultimately agreed on little except that in the end, they would abide by the decision of the Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby. That, and the fact that they hope to increase the number of eyeballs on women's MMA, though they disagreed on the method to do so. As for Kaufman, she is expecting the fight she was promised against Tate, and has no qualms about dealing with Rousey at a future date. "It would be way smarter for the longevity of the division to work her way up," she said. "If she runs through people -- which I don't think she will -- then I'll be happy to beat her face in. She wants to be pretty? She won't be as pretty after our fight." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: fight, title, tate, rousey, kaufman

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Filed under: Strikeforce, Bellator, Rankings, Women's OverallRonda Rousey is the next big thing in women's mixed martial arts. The undefeated Rousey, who beat Julia Budd on the Nov. 18 Strikeforce Challengers card, has been running through her competition like few fighters, male or female, we've ever seen: Rousey is 4-0, and incredibly all four of her wins have come in less than a minute, all by armbar. Before turning pro she had three amateur fights, and she won all three of those by armbar in less than a minute, too. And so, although she's still new to the sport and still hasn't been tested against the best women Strikeforce has to offer, Rousey makes my Top 5 as we rank the top pound-for-pound fighters in women's MMA. She looks that good. What we don't know yet is whether Rousey is more than just a one-trick pony: If she faces an opponent who's able to keep the fight standing, will she be able to hold her own exchanging punches? And although she's not going to face anyone who's on her level as a judo player, will she be able to execute more than just her go-to arm bar if she faces an opponent who's sophisticated enough on the ground not to let Rousey get her arm? It remains to be seen. But I think she's a future champion, and I think she deserves her place on the list of the top women in the sport, which is below. Top 10 pound-for-pound women in MMA (Editor's note: The ranking from the last time we ranked women are in parentheses) 1. Cris Cyborg (1): After more than a year away, Cyborg returns to defend her women's 145-pound title against Hiroko Yamanaka. That's an interesting matchup; Yamanaka has a 12-1 record and will have a height and reach advantage over Cyborg. But Yamanaka has never fought outside Japan before, and Cyborg has been so dominant that at this point it's very tough to see anyone beating her. 2. Zoila Gurgel (2): It's unfortunate that after Gurgel's huge win over Megumi Fujii, she's only been able to fight once. She's currently nursing a torn ACL and won't be back any time soon. It would make sense for Bellator to arrange another women's tournament for the right to take on Gurgel, although it's not clear whether that's in the promotion's plans. 3. Miesha Tate (7): Tate turned in a great performance against Marloes Coenen to win the Strikeforce 135-pound women's championship. What really worked for her in the Coenen fight was her superior wrestling, and it's her wrestling that would make her a favorite to beat almost any female fighter in the world. 4. Megumi Fujii (3): In the year since suffering her one and only loss to Gurgel, Fujii has gone back to Japan and won a couple of unanimous decisions. I'd like to see her back in the Bellator cage in 2012, and a rematch with Gurgel would be the biggest women's fight Bellator could make. 5. Ronda Rousey (NR): Rousey has been calling out Tate, and although the next shot at Tate's 135-pound title was supposed to go to Sarah Kaufman, Zuffa may decide that Rousey is too hot to hold off on right now. Rousey is an easy sell for promoters because she's smart and articulate and an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, and putting her in the cage with Tate would be one of the most marketable female fights that Strikeforce could arrange. 6. Marloes Coenen (4): First Coenen lost her Strikeforce title to Tate, then she lost her contract when her management at Golden Glory feuded with Zuffa. Now it's anyone's guess when or where she might fight next; she's with an organization called BlackEye Promotions, which has no events scheduled. 7. Sarah Kaufman (5): Kaufman's only loss was to Coenen, and since then she's won two in a row, supposedly earning a title shot against Tate, whom Kaufman beat in 2009. The question is whether Strikeforce will push Kaufman aside to put Rousey in the cage with Tate. 8. Jessica Aguilar (8): Aguilar looked great in her unanimous decision win over Lisa Ellis-Ward at Bellator 58. Aguilar has now won seven of her last eight fights, with the only loss coming by split decision to Gurgel. 9. Tara LaRosa (6): LaRosa has been inactive since her great heel-hook submission of Carina Damm in March, and as a result a couple of more active fighters have leapfrogged her in the rankings. LaRosa is one of the real pioneers for women's MMA. Let's hope she's back in the cage soon. 10. Alexis Davis (NR): Davis has had a couple big wins since we last updated our women's rankings, beating Julie Kedzie by unanimous decision in July and then beating Amanda Nunes by TKO in September. I hope Zuffa keeps Strikeforce's 135-pound women's division alive, because Davis could be a great opponent for Tage, Kaufman or Rousey. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, tate, women, rousey, she

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Strikeforce featherweight Ronda Rousey may only be 5’6” and possess a bubbly exterior capped off by long blonde hair and infectious smile but make no mistake – she’s as dangerous an opponent as can be found in her respective division. That point was driven home last weekend at Strikeforce Challengers 20 when “Rowdy” Ronda locked opponent Julia Budd into an Armbar and snapped her elbow in two after Budd refused to tap. Rousey was recently a guest on Inside MMA where she explained what the grotesque submission felt like, comparing it to a familiar feeling typically taking place at this time of year. “Oh yeah…you know like, when you’re…well, its Thanksgiving…you know when you’re preparing a turkey and kind of like, tearing things off? It felt like that except in like a very sensitive area,” Rousey explained to the panel when asked if she knew she’d disassembled Budd’s arm. Rousey Says She’s Not Out to Make Friends in the Ring On the topic of Turkey Day, Rousey also explained she was especially excited this year because she’ll actually get to eat for once instead of dieting for judo/MMA. Check out the full video below along with a demonstration from Rousey on how she approaches Armbars with host Bas Rutten serving as her willing victim… PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE Tweet

Posted in: strikeforce, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda, budd

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Women's MMA can be a strange thing sometimes. It's a mix of some great talents, some inexperienced fighters, an internal conflict of selling sex vs. athleticism and a constant self-evaluation of where the sport is to date. That's why I've been so fascinated as to what's happened this week following Ronda Rousey's much-discussed victory at Strikeforce Challengers and the subsequent fallout from her post-fight callout of current 135-pound champion Miesha Tate. In case you missed it, Rousey (4-0) continued her dominant run with a 39-second armbar win over Julia Budd. In four fights, the 24-year-old Rousey has needed just over two minutes combined to garner four armbar submission wins. Following the win over Budd, she said she wanted Tate and would even fight top contender Sarah Kaufman first to prevent anything from messing that up. The Rousey victory went viral within MMA circles, an impressive kickoff to one of the best MMA weekends in years. In just her fourth pro fight, Rousey was put in the co-main event slot and is the only thing anyone is talking about from a show that featured four quick finishes (even with virtually no one watching).This set off a bit of a firestorm within the women's MMA community with many current fighters unhappy with the attention Rousey got, ripping the idea that she's the new 'face of women's MMA' and that she was brazen enough to suggest she be given a title shot at this stage of her career. Tate, in particular, has been on the Twitter offensive most of the week about the possibility of Rousey getting an opportunity this soon in her career. Here's where my fascination turns into advice: people want to see Tate vs. Rousey and women's MMA needs it to happen.I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there simply isn't the widespread market for women's MMA as some of those competing within it may think. If you need some proof, take a look at the recent activity for five of the most well-known names: Gina Carano: The former 'face of women's MMA' last competed over two years ago, teased a 2011 comeback and is preparing to revel in the spotlight of her first major movie role. Cris Santos: The current Strikeforce 145-pound champion finally has a fight booked in December against Hiroko Yamanaka, who makes her promotional debut and therefore will be unknown to most watching. Santos hasn't fought since June of 2010 because, well, they didn't have anyone for her to fight. Kaufman: After losing her Strikeforce 135-pound title in October 2010, the Canadian was last seen beating up Liz Carmouche in July and may have earned a title shot against Tate with the win…we think. It's been five months and nothing has been mentioned, said or discussed about it since then. Tate: Since defeating Marloes Coenen in late-July for the 135-pound title, there's nary been a mention of her on Strikeforce either. She's apparently healthy and there's been events, so apparently they forgot about her as well. Coenen: After losing her title and being cut from Strikeforce due to the Golden Glory fiasco, she signed a deal with a regional promotion and may debut early next year. How Zuffa didn't bring her back or Bellator not make an offer, I'm not quite sure. The above are just five names that don't include Tara LaRosa (one of the more well-known names that has never appeared in Strikeforce or Bellator), Zoila Frausto-Gurgel (current Bellator champion that is hurt) and...who else that the casual MMA fan might have possible heard of? When one of your main names is someone that is essentially retired, that's a problem for women's MMA. It can be fixed and I have a potential solution, but more on that later this week.Of course, the promotions aren't exactly making an effort to build female challengers either. We know what the UFC and Dana White's stance is on female fighters. Bellator has shown exactly one female fight on air this season. Strikeforce has aired a small handful of fights in 2011, but it may be less than five. There are talents out there, but no one is willing to put the effort in to build anything on the mainstream stage.Given all of that information, women's MMA needs any help it can get to sustain itself and draw interest when it has the opportunity to do so. That's why Tate vs. Rousey needs to happen as it's the only fight other than a rematch of Santos/Carano that would pop any type of viewer rating and ultimately, the viewers and paying public drive the sport. (Yes, Carano is retired but she's still a star. Deal with it.)So what about Tate/Kaufman, you ask? I would be interested in seeing it, but I'm a hardcore fan at heart that watches every UFC, Strikeforce and Bellator show regardless of quality. I really don't count in this equation. Kaufman has earned the opportunity to get a title shot, but there's a reason why we haven't seen it. It's because Strikeforce doesn't see the value as there's no steam behind seeing these two go at it. Tate can talk up a fight but Kaufman has practically disappeared from the MMA public eye. She's talented, but she doesn't have that "come see me fight!" charisma that can make or break a career. Why else would Strikeforce just abandon a recent champion like this?If and when Strikeforce is interested in promoting a Tate title fight, they will likely look to Rousey, who has that charisma, the good looks that bring in the 18-34 male demographic, the Olympic background that attracts mainstream media and plenty of steam behind her thanks to how she's winning. That might not be fair to "rankings" but c'mon now. Everyone knows there is no such thing as rankings in the UFC or Strikeforce. It's about what draws interest with a nod toward win streaks and competitive fights. To think otherwise is naive. Unfair? Yep. That's the fight game. Ask Carlos Condit about fairness. Tate should be thrilled that there's a legit buzz about a challenger to her belt and that she might actually get to defend it someday. I asked her about this on Twitter and while she said her pay stays the same no matter who she fights, she felt it would be a buzzkill to have the fight so soon without having more hype behind it. By 'more hype', I assume she meant more wins for Rousey, but in this situation, I think that's irrelevant which leads into my final point. People need to stop complaining about Rousey calling out the champion. That's what she should be doing. Doing the meek "Well, I'll take anyone Strikeforce has to give me" is boring and doesn't get anyone anywhere. She's been running through opponents at a blistering pace and took an opportunity in a co-main event spot to move the needle. People are now talking about her and are talking about women's MMA. In other words, it worked.Lest we forget another title challenger in 2008 that many said was underqualified for a title shot. That person was just 2-1 and got a shot at one of the biggest names in MMA for one of the biggest prizes in the sport. That person was Brock Lesnar and he did just fine in beating Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship.While no one is suggesting Rousey will be anywhere the level of draw Lesnar is, the UFC knew they had something and he jumped the line in front of a few more qualified contenders thanks to a fanbase that wanted to see him fight and with the athletic background to back it up. Rousey getting a shot after just four pro bouts isn't unprecedented and frankly, women's MMA could use the attention.It might not be fair, but it's business. The alternative of women's MMA disappearing from all major promotions is much worse.

Posted in: fight, mma, strikeforce, womens mma, rousey

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submitted by jonbuchan [link] [3 comments]

Posted in: ba, rutten, ronda rousey, rousey, jonbuchan

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Strikeforce featherweight Ronda Rousey is a lot of things, an Olympic medalist in Judo, and an undefeated Mixed Martial Artist being two of them. However, Rousey believes she possesses a characteristic as important as her credentials making her a logical choice to face bantamweight champion Miesha Tate rather than giving the shot to Sarah Kaufman as had been originally planned – good looks. Rousey explained herself earlier today on The MMA Hour where the 4-0 grappler laid it all out on the table. “I’m not dumb, you’re not dumb,” said Rousey. “Really, if we push the ‘hot chicks’ to fight each other for a title, it’s going to get a lot of attention. That’s why I’d rather fight Miesha for a title instead of Sarah Kaufman. Because she’s good looking and she’s marketable. More marketable than the vast majority of the girls in women’s MMA. I think that’d be a huge fight and it would lead to an eventual fight between me and Cris Cyborg (Santos) being an even bigger deal. I’m just trying to figure out the right way to do things so us girl fighters have some job security a few years from now.” The 24-year old called Tate out after snapping Julia Budd’s arm this past weekend at Strikeforce Challengers 20 and is adamant in her ability to drop down to 135 pounds if given an opportunity to face “Takedown” or Kaufman with a top contender’s spot on the line. Check Out Rousey Demonstrating/Teaching One of her Devastating Armbar Techniques “Style-wise I think I would do the best against Miesha,” Rousey revealed. “I think that a very good striker that has very good footwork and deals with distance well would probably give me the most trouble. But I think a girl with a grappling style like Miesha would be perfect for me, because I don’t think she’s better than me in any category.” Tate went on Twitter shortly after Rousey’s public challenge and also responded to today’s comments, writing, “I’m hoping (fans) appreciate me for more than just that, it doesn’t win me fights to look good,” adding, “If you add up all four of (Rousey’s) fights it’s a 14-8 record. Marloes Coenen by herself is 19-5 against tougher girls,” while referencing her own title-win against the former Dutch champion. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: fight, girl, miesha, rousey, sarah kaufman

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Mixed martial arts fans tend to have odd perceptions of female MMA. I don't know if it's the potent mixture of homophobia and misogyny that permeates the 'Just Bleed' culture of MMA, but observers tend to be hyper critical of their female brethren. It's the ole' redneck 'stay in the kitchen' logic. 'We trust you women to walk around half naked, and tell us what round it is in case we can't count to three, but don't you dare pretend you can be a symbol for athletic prowess', you can almost hear them saying.  That's not to say the criticism of female MMA boils down to some simplistic Freudian soundbite. After all, it's a young sport, and there are clearly participants in female MMA that require us to ask some of its members to simply exit stage left: just as we did with James Toney, Kimbo Slice, and Kyle Maynard with the men. But you can't say female MMA lacks a bright, shining young star. Most stars are made of plasma, hydrogen, and helium. Ronda Rousey is made up of awesome, enmity, and armbars (was that just a bad Mauro Renallo impression?). This is unique even by the standards of stardom. Consider Tito Ortiz. I actually like the guy, but it was his attitude more than his style that intrigued fans of the sport. He was a brash, young, dominant LHW. But you couldn't pay me to watch his fight with Vladimir Matyushenko again. Given the chance, I'm not sure Rousey is the type of fighter to caress her opponent for five rounds.  In fact, Rousey has a unique ability to maim her opponents. Specifically, their arms. I suspect there's something pathological there, though I can't prove it. Something about the arm from its humerus to the ulna fills her with a rage that demands its extinction. How else to explain how she's armbarred all of her opponents in every one of her fights, professional and amateur, in under a minute each? At the Strikeforce: Challengers show this weekend against Julie Budd she was in sort of typical, but always impressive form. Seconds into the fight, Rousey shoots in and clinches Budd. After digging her hips into Budd to position for a throw, she switches to a kneetap, passes Budd's guard, and slips her right leg over Budd's left arm as she gets mount. It's a brilliant split second sequence that we haven't even gotten from fighters who we suspected would thrill us with their ground games, but who have either fizzled out (Jacare), or gone bust (Garcia). The fight ended with Budd's right arm looking like, as Pat Militech would say, a "flamingo knee". If there's a challenge ahead for Rousey it's twofold. First, will there be competent refs around to know what to look for when Ronda is securing an arm? Referees need to know the fighters in the cage that way they're prepared for what's probable. Although I admit it's asking entirely too much to demand that referees be educated. The second is more broad: can Rousey save women's MMA? There's a raw intensity to her attitude and performance that makes her more interesting than Gina Carano. Gina was exciting, but there was always the sense that she fought in a bubble: somewhat protected, and a little coddled, though still legit. However, the biggest problem for Carano is that she's been distracted by the bright and shiny objects of Hollywood. Miesha Tate, another good candidate, doesn't have a crowd pleasing style despite having the crowd pleasing look. Who will give Rousey the stage she deserves? In astronomy, stars don't always have enough pressure, mass, or temperature to achieve nuclear fusion. When this happens, they become sub stellar bodies called brown dwarfs, which are not really planets, and not really stars. Scientists use a diagram called the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram to classify stars: and those brown dwarfs fall below the "main sequence". It would be a shame for Rousey's talents to fall below MMA's main sequence, if you will. She deserves to occupy that territory. The problem is that she's in a world in which the scientists don't know how to operate their calculators. Video after the jump... Strikeforce Challengers: Ronda Rousey vs Julia Budd (via tzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzlol)

Posted in: mma, star, arm, rousey, budd

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2008 Beijing Games bronze medalist "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey needed just 39 seconds to claim victory at Strikeforce Challengers 20 on Friday night in Las Vegas. The talented judoka now has set her sights on new challenges and is planning a drop down to 135 pounds in 2012. In our latest Women's MMA Report, MMAjunkie.com's Robert Sargent discusses Rousey's plans, Jessica Aguilar's latest win, Ashley Cummins quick rise, and other happenings in the WMMA world.

Posted in: las vegas, friday night, ronda rousey, rousey, eyes challenges

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Filed under: Strikeforce, MMA Fighting Exclusive, NewsRonda Rousey's ascent up the women's MMA rankings can literally be timed with a stopwatch. In four professional and three amateur fights, she is unbeaten, and has never required more than one minute to put an end to an opponent's night. Her Friday night Strikeforce Challengers fight against Julia Budd lasted just 39 seconds, and like every one of her fights, it climaxed with an arm bar victory. Her abilities and charisma have forced the MMA world to take notice, and Rousey is angling to capitalize on the attention. On Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, Rousey confirmed that she is considering a drop to bantamweight and hoping to match up with that division's champion, Miesha Tate. Rousey said that while former champion Sarah Kaufman may have been promised a title shot, she would accept the chance to face her for the right to be the No. 1 contender. Or, if it was offered, she would fight Tate. "Style-wise I think I would do the best against Miesha," she said. "I think that a very good striker that has very good footwork and deals with distance well would probably give me the most trouble. But I think a girl with a grappling style like Miesha would be perfect for me, because I don't think she's better than me in any category." Any fighter with a grappling-based style would be at a disadvantage with her, she said. When asked by host Ariel Helwani if any female fighter could hang with her in terms of grappling, she was quick with her answer. "No way," she said. "Not at all." A 2008 judo Olympic bronze medalist, Rousey credited her early training for preparing her for the opportunities that are now coming her way. Her mother Ann Maria Rousey DeMars was a world-class judoka who won a world championship in 1984, and from an early age, Rousey was training. Among her daily drills: arm bars, by the dozens. Having participated in the contact sport for most of her life, Rousey spent many of her early days training with stronger boys, and many of her current hours training with bigger men, a situation which she believes benefits her when competing against female fighters. "I just think I lucked out having this background I do and having the right set of skills at this exact time," she said. "It's kind of like first-come, first-served with women's MMA right now. It's kind of like how it was with men's MMA at the beginning. If you happen to have the right skill set at the time it's getting big, you're going to do really well right away." Rousey doesn't think she would have any trouble shifting down to the lower weight class, saying she usually walks around at 150 pounds without doing any dieting. To make the move, she plans on hiring a nutritionist. And just because she's planning the move down doesn't mean there's not a chance she can't eventually match up with Cris Cyborg Santos. Rousey said that the marketing aspect of a fight with Tate could eventually help lead to that fight, and could also help women's MMA in general. "I'm not dumb, you're not dumb," she said. "Really, if we push the 'hot chicks' to fight each other for a title, it's going to get a lot of attention. That's why I'd rather fight Miesha for a title instead of Sarah Kaufman. Because she's good looking and she's marketable. More marketable than the vast majority of the girls in women's MMA. I think that'd be a huge fight and it would lead to an eventual fight between me and Cris Cyborg being an even bigger deal. I'm just trying to figure out the right way to do things so us girl fighters have some job security a few years from now." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: fight, mma, right, rousey, she

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If Ronda Rousey decides she wants your arm, your smartest course of action is to go to the hospital and have a doctor surgically remove it.  Otherwise, that sucker is coming off in the cage, and Rousey – whose Olympic bronze medal in judo has given her the ungodly power to take any arm she desires when she desires – doesn’t use anesthesia.  Why am I extolling the submission prowess of this young lady so much?  Because above all others, she was the star of last night’s Strikeforce Challengers 20, and her knack for saying something along the lines of “Yeah, I’m going to snap off opponent Julia Budd’s arm in under a minute and take it home with me,” and then actually doing it, makes her the raison d’etre of female MMA right now.  There were, of course, other bouts on the card, so let’s get those out of the way before we discuss “Rowdy” and her performance. The opening bout of the evening was a middleweight pairing between Derek Brunson and Nate James, two guys who have a ways to go before they’re ready to eat at the table with the adults.  In Round 1 Brunson put his explosiveness on display, which translated into him being able to dump James to the canvas and, when they were standing, to lunge in and land blows.  James continued flying high in the second, although a sweet rolling kneebar attempt helped keep it from being a total blowout in Brunson’s favor.  Brunson added a lot of dancing to his routine in the third –  maybe more out of boredom than strategy – but that dancing enabled him to catch James with a punch while his guard down and put him on his butt.  When time ran out, there was no doubt Brunson had done enough to warrant the unanimous decision. Light-heavyweights Trevor Smith and TJ Cook were next up at bat, and though Cook came into the cage with a reputation for brawling (at least, as much as a Strikeforce Challengers greenhorn can have a “reputation”), Smith seemed undaunted.  Taking things to the mat as soon as the leather started flying, Smith nestled into top position, and over the course of the next few minutes went for everything from a D’Arce to an armbar to an arm-in guillotine.  It was the arm-in guillotine that did it, and Cook tapped out at 4:28 of the first round. Anthony Smith failed to make the middleweight limit for his bout against Adlan Amagov, but those three extra pounds gave him no advantage whatsoever.  From the Chechen fighter’s determined takedown early on to his wild and wooly bolo-swinging late, it was him constantly thrusting Smith into danger.  The end came when one of Amagov’s right hands connected with the American’s chin and sent him stunned to the canvas, and the follow-up punches had the referee stepping in at 2:32 of Round 1, giving Amagov the win via TKO. In the main event, Lumumba Sayers and Antwain Britt did their best to make their follow-up act to Rousey (which was the bout preceding) entertaining.  And for sure, thanks to Sayers’ crushing power, it was.  Welcoming the usually light-heavyweight Britt to 185, Sayers shrugged off his foe’s attempt at clinching, spun him to the fence, and flurried unerringly until Britt was slumped against the cage.  Twenty-eight seconds was all it took. As female fighters go, Budd is no slouch.  She can fight on the feet courtesy of her Muay Thai background, and when facing strikers in MMA, she can take them down and control them.  But Rousey… damn.  Just damn.  In a 145-pound division ruled by Brazilian Cris “Cyborg” Santos, there’s someone out there who doesn’t give a damn about ultra-aggressive striking ability, someone who could very well be the one to take from the champ her belt.  It took about two seconds for Rousey to tie up with Budd, only a few more seconds for her to trip Budd to the ground, and from the mount Rousey fluidly transitioned into an armbar.  Budd’s elbow was very visibly dislocated after that, and the ref waved it off at the 39-second mark.  What on Earth is Cyborg going to do prevent that from happening to her?  I tell you what: nothing.  Her arm – and any other arm the American judoka so chooses – belongs to Rousey.  That’s all there is to it. Results: -Lumumba Sayers def. Antwain Britt via KO (Punches) at :28 in Round 1 -Ronda Rousey def. Julia Budd via Submission (Armbar) at :39 in Round 1 -Adlan Amagov def. Anthony Smith via KO (Punches) at 2:32 in Round 1 -Trevor Smith def. TJ Cook via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:28 in Round 1 -Derek Brunson def. Nate James via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Posted in: round, arm, smith, rousey, budd

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In case you missed it last night (and based on the numbers, it sure looks like you did), here's the video of the short but sweet fight (if you can call it that) pitting Ronda Rousey vs. Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada. For those of you that can't watch video, here's a short play-by-play, courtesy of yours truly: Round one: Budd opens with a few short shots, to which Rousey answers by clinching and pushing her into the fence. Rousey gets a trip takedown into half guard and wastes roughly one second before moving to full mount. She throws three punches to open Budd up and turns over to lock in an armbar. She does, Budd battles valiantly but ultimately to no avail, and Rousey breaks her arm. This all took about 38 seconds, folks. Rousey now has four wins, all four of them via her now trademark armbar, each one happening inside the first round. Afterward, she continued to say she wants to move down to 135-pounds to take Miesha Tate's belt before moving back up to 145-pounds to take Cristiane Santos' strap. Speaking strictly as a fan -- yes, please.

Posted in: video, rousey, budd, rousey answers, trip takedown

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Former Olympic judo medallist Ronda Rousey submitted Canadian Julia Budd in just 39 seconds at a Strikeforce Challengers event Friday.

Posted in: canadian, rousey, budd, exolympian rousey, canadian budd

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I'm never shaking Ronda Rousey's hand. I never want to put my arms at a risk from evacuating from my torso. My arms are valuable to me. Without them, I would no longer be able to wave at passing cars if I were ever stuck on the side of the road. My urban survival skill level will automatically drop to zero if Ronda Rousey steals my arms. In San Jose, ZUFFA announced they would have a 'Strikeforce viewing party' at a local bar. We went there, and the owner of the place told us he didn't have Showtime. We were all stranded in the middle of San Jose, surrounded by $3 Well Drinks. Some time passed and I received a text message on my phone from Jason Nawara with the words 'OMG' and 'Ronda Rousey' in the same sentence. I stopped everyone's conversation at the table and said something alone the lines of 'Something crazy just happened tonight.' For all everyone knew, the moon must have fell off its axis. That would have been crazy. I forgot to finish off my statement with '...in Strikeforce' so people started to panic and call their loved ones. I reassured everyone that it had to do with Ronda Rousey's fight in Strikeforce Challengers, then Jason called me up to give me a quick summary of the bout. As he told me, my mouth continued to drop. By the time the call ended, everyone at the table wanted to know exactly what happened in the fight. The only thing I could say (with the limited amount of brain cells that were operating at the time) was 'Ronda Rousey Shinya Aokied Julia Budd!' Immediately after the bout, LayzieTheSavage caught up with Ronda to see what super power she activated during the bout in this post-fight interview. Props to Esther Lin for the picture.

Posted in: arm, everyone, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Posted in: rousey, ronda, ouchy

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LAS VEGAS - Lumumba Sayers and Ronda Rousey obviously do not get paid by the hour. Competing in the featured contests of Saturday night's Strikeforce Challengers 20 event in Las Vegas, middleweight Sayers needed just 28 seconds to score a knockout win of Antwain Britt and Rousey needed a mere 39 ticks to finish Julia Budd via armbar. The card took place at The Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort and aired on Showtime.

Posted in: ronda rousey, rousey, julia budd, sayer, pearl theater

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Ronda Rousey you horrify me, but I would let you tear my arm off any day. After the wacky tapout ending against Sarah D'Alelio last August, Ronda Rousey promised next time she was in the cage an appendage would be coming home with her fashioned as some sort of ceremonial necklace and holy crap she called it! Called it with a chilling perkiness. Horror movie prototypes are made exactly from the mold Ronda Rousey inhabits: charming, beautiful, and absolutely terrifying. Rowdy Ronda has now officially fought for a grand total of one minute and thirty eight seconds through four professional MMA fights. In those four fights she has collected four arms, four souls and countless hearts. Watch her almost tear off Julia Budd's arm in 39 seconds below. Ronda Vs. Shinya Aoki in a grappling exhibition at Dynamite or whatever it's called this year. That's what I want and that's what we need. Thanks to IronForgesIron for the video.

Posted in: mma fights, arm, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Ronda Rousey breaks down her controversial armbar victory over Sarah D'alelio not long after their fight in August, and explains why she didn't keep going until the referee intervened. Rousey fights tonight against Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers: Britt vs Sayers on Showtime.

Posted in: rousey, julia budd, armbar victory, sarah dalelio, rousey fights

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Filed under: StrikeforceIn a fight with major implications for the future of women's mixed martial arts, former Olympic judo competitor Ronda Rousey needed just 39 seconds to submit Julia Budd with an arm bar at Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers event. Rousey's ground game is simply on a different level from Budd -- and from just about every other woman in the world -- and it didn't take her long to establish that: As soon as she got Budd down, Rousey effortlessly transitioned into mount, then cranked on Budd's arm and forced her to tap. "I got tagged a couple more times than I would like to, but I'm stoked," Rousey said afterward. Rousey is now 4-0 in her professional MMA career, with all four wins coming by first-round arm bar in less than a minute. Rousey could be a good future opponent for Strikeforce 145-pound champion Cris Cyborg, but she said after the fight that she'd rather move down to 135 pounds and fight for the title there. "I really want to have a title shot at Miesha Tate," Rousey said. Whatever weight class she's fighting in, Rousey is a force. She has the potential to be a great crossover star for women's MMA. In other Strikeforce Challengers action: -- Adlan Amagov got a highlight-reel knockout of Anthony Smith in the first round, swinging wildly and connecting with a huge overhand right and then finishing him off with four more bombs on the ground. The always exciting Amagov is now 9-1-1 in his MMA career. -- Trevor Smith submitted T.J. Cook with a guillotine choke in the first round. Smith put on a solid showing and improved his pro record to 9-1, with eight of his nine wins coming by submission. -- Derek Brunson beat Nate James by unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges' scorecards, in a fairly dull battle to get the Showtime televised card started. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: strikeforce, arm, rousey, budd, arm bar

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Posted in: title, socaldan, bantamweight title, rousey, rousey i

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Ronda Rousey is out to do more than win a fight, she wants to make a point for female mixed martial artists, proving they belong in the UFC.

Posted in: ufc, point, ronda rousey, rousey, ronda

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Ronda Rousey will close out her first year in MMA on Friday when she takes on Julia Budd at Strikeforce Challengers 20.

Posted in: mma, friday, rousey, ronda, julia budd

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Ronda Rousey was a bona fide judo star. But the young American walked away from the sport to take up mixed martial arts.

Posted in: art, judo, olympic, rousey, judo star

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Strikeforce women's phenom Ronda Rousey discusses the latest happenings in her career and her upcoming fight with Julia Budd.

Posted in: fight, career, rousey, ronda, budd

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