Ronda Rousey defends title, reputation with another dominant opening-minute win

Ronda Rousey defends title, reputation with another dominant opening-minute win

SAN DIEGO - If Ronda Rousey's armbar is not yet regarded as the most devastating single move in all of sports, it probably should be.

The Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion ran her professional record to 6-0 Saturday night against former title holder and challenger Sarah Kaufman at the Valley View Casino Center. It was Rousey's sixth win via first-round submission.

Ronda Rousey works Sarah Kaufman for her armbar on Saturday. (Tracy Lee for Y! Sports)

This time, her thus-far-unstoppable armbar forced a tap

in just 54 seconds. Kaufman fell to 15-2 in her career with

the loss. Each win of Rousey's has been by armbar, a proven formula she said is in no need of shaking up.

“[A ground-based, submission style] works, so I don’t know why everyone says I have to do something else,”

she said.

A bronze medalist in Judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rousey’s applied that background to her MMA career. Critics have questioned her striking ability, but against Kaufman, Rousey said she “did test [her] hands a little bit.”                    

The less experienced Rousey applied an aggressive approach out of the gate, throwing a series of punches to which the veteran Kaufman had no time for response. “I’m extremely embarrassed by my performance tonight,” Kaufman said in the ring after the fight. “I didn’t underestimate [Rousey] at all.

“She’s a top athlete and judo player,” she added. “Ronda fought an amazing fight tonight, really smart. I can’t take anything away from her.”

The fast pace of the match is symbolic of Rousey's career thus far, as her rise has been meteoric. She needed just five bouts to claim the title, but proving that quick ascent was no flash in the pan was an obvious theme entering Saturday's match.

"I can't call myself champion until I defend my belt," Rousey had said before the fight. She can indeed start calling herself champion now. And until someone has an answer for her armbar, she will be able to do so for a while.

The next to try is yet to be determined, but if Rousey gets her way it will be Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, who the champion called out in her post-match interview.

Santos was stripped of her title and is serving a one-year suspension for failing a performance-enhancing drug test in December 2011.

Rousey was asked if she considered moving up in weight class to challenge Santos when her suspension is lifted, but the notion was flatly rejected.

“When I knew she was doping and couldn’t prove it, I would have had to come to her [at 145 pounds],” Rousey said. “The champ doesn’t go to you, you go to the champ. Come down to 135.” Should the Rousey-Cyborg dream match not come to immediate fruition, there is no shortage of challengers who want an opportunity at the championship.

Team Rousey was all smiles after yet another first-round win on Saturday. (Tracy Lee for Y! Sports)

The fighter Rousey defeated for the title on March 3, Miesha Tate, was also in action Saturday night. Tate sustained several powerful kicks from opponent Julie Kedzie, and appeared in danger of losing in the third round.

After taking a knee-buckling shot, Tate found herself on the canvas, which she used to her advantage. The former champion locked Kedzie in an armbar – the same move that Rousey defeated Tate with in March.

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Tate called it ironic.

Moments after earning the submission victory, Tate stoked the flames of rivalry that exist between she and Rousey, predicting a Rousey win in the main event but adding, “I’m looking forward to every second she gets punched in the face.”

A Tate-Rousey rematch is a possibility, but the former champion said she may need some retooling before squaring off with the unbeaten Rowdy one.

“People were saying [the bout against Kedzie] was fight of the night. … but it wasn’t a contention-worthy performance. I don’t feel I deserve [a title shot],” she said.

Kaufman said she wants another shot at Rousey, and as a former champion in her own right, she could get it down the road. Another possible – albeit unlikely – match-up for the unbeaten title holder is Gina Carano, one-time face of the burgeoning women’s division who has since gone on to pursue a lucrative career in the film industry.

Invicta Fights may also produce worthy opponents for Rousey. It puts on regular women's cards and may be able to develop a fighter, or two, who can legitimately test Rousey.

Still, Rousey made it clear who she wanted to face next in the ring.

"First of all, I need to put out a challenge to Ms. Cyborg out there," Rousey said after the fight.

"If you still want to go out in the parking lot … I'll be right there," she shouted, working the crowd at the Valley View Casino Center into a frenzy"

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Ronda Rousey Threatens to Tear Off Sarah Kaufman's Arm

Ronda Rousey Threatens to Tear Off Sarah Kaufman's Arm

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Aug 16, 2012 - SAN DIEGO -- Ronda Rouseyis a part of Saturday night's main event, so it's only fitting that she went straight to the pro wrestling playbook for a little trash talk.

The Strikeforce bantamweight champion from Venice, Calif., is no stranger to outlandish comments, and she didn't hold back on Thursday when telling Sarah Kaufman what she plans on doing at the Valley View Casino Center when the two meet with Rousey's title on the line.

"She might not know it, but she should thank her lucky stars that MMA is properly regulated in California," Rousey (5-0) said. "Because I respect her so much that I'm not taking any chances. If I get her in an armbar, I'm going to rip it off and throw it at her corner. If I get her in a choke, I'm going to hold on until she's actually dead. And if I get her in a knock out all the way, I'm going to pound her face into the ground, and she's depending on the competence of the California Athletic Commission in order to be able to walk out of that cage alive."

Kaufman, for her part, smiled and laughed her way through Rousey's comments, and her reply made it clear she doesn't plan to let Rousey get in her head the way the champion has with previous opponents.

"That's great," said Kaufman. "That's a fight, and that's what you want to do. You don't want to come in and play pattycakes. That's not what we're here for. We're here to show up and do everything we possibly can to win. Hopefully no one dies in the process, but its a fight and anything can happen. It's great. People are excited, and people want to see two athletes show up and fighting."

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The avalanche of publicity for Saturday night's bout makes this the biggest women's MMA fight since Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos defeated Gina Carano in front of a near-sellout crowd in San Jose four years ago this weekend. Both fighters maintain that they've been able to keep their focus on Saturday despite the media circus.

Kaufman (15-1) noted that Rousey has gotten the lion's share of attention. But the former 135-pound champion from Victoria, B.C. doesn't believe it will serve as a distraction once the cage door shuts.

"There has been a certain amount of focus on Ronda," said Kaufman. "I think she's dealt with it well. I have no doubt she's trained fully for this fight, the pressure hasn't affected her at all. And I really feel the same thing. I focus on my camp, I focus on my team, whatever fight I have coming up, I train harder than I would for any other fight. I feel really confident coming into this fight, Ronda's gonna bring it. She's going to show up to fight, she's gonna try to kill me, but that's alright. At the end of the day, someone's going to walk off with the belt and it's going to be me."

As for Rousey, she still maintains that unlike with some of her previous opponents, she likes Kaufman as a person, but that won't get in the way of getting business done.

"It has nothing to do with whether I like her or respect her, she seems like a nice chick," Rousey said. "Every single time I go in to fight I fight like my little sister's life is depending on it. And in that kind of situation, no one can beat me."

EYE VS MAGANA HEADLINES 6TH ANNUAL ROCK N RUMBLE

EYE VS MAGANA HEADLINES 6TH ANNUAL ROCK N RUMBLE

6^TH ANNUAL ROCK N RUMBLE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2012

JACOBS PAVILION AT NAUTICA

DOORS OPEN 4:30 – FIRST BOUT 6:00 PM

What she has accomplished in a little less than 4 years is something worth talking about.  It’s something worth noticing.  It’s something extraordinary.Jessica Eye is a woman making her way in a sport dominated by males.  She’s doing more than just making her way.  She is leading the way.

Visit the Official UFC collection at Century MMA Allow me to take you back to June of 2008.  The NAAFS held its 4^th annual Fight Night in the Flats.  For those who live in a hole, Fight Night in the Flats was and continues to be kind of like the Super Bowl of Midwest MMA.  At the Fight Night in the Flats 4 event many of the fans in attendance weren’t there to watch already established NAAFS and MMA stars.  They were there to witness something new to the sport of MMA, something that would become historic.

On that night, Jessica Eye was one half of the very first Women’s fight in the NAAFS.  As you can guess, she defeated her opponent and her career was set in motion.  And it has been an amazing career so far.  Jessica later became the first female to win an amateur title in the NAAFS and Ohio MMA.  She then became the first woman to fight professionally in the NAAFS and the first women’s bout to be televised.  She was the main event of the first All Women’s fight card in Ohio.  She won a professional title with Ring of Combat.  She picked up a national sponsor and has been ranked nationally in Woman’s MMA.  She’s been featured in newspaper articles, magazines, commercials, news programs and even co-hosted a radio show.  But with all this success in her young career, every bit of her attention is focused on one thing, continued success.

        In all of Jessica’s aforementioned success, she hit one MAJOR road bump along her journey.  It was last year.  Jessica was fighting for the 1^stProfessional Women’s MMA title in Midwest.  Her opponent was Ireland’s Aisling “Ash the Bash” Daly.  The stage for the fight was in Cleveland and in front of all of her fans.  Cable networks providers were there.  Photographers from Sherdog and The Fight Nerd were on hand.  The fight was streaming on Pay-Per-View.  The world was watching AND expecting Jessica to drive right through Ms. Daly as she had done her previous 8 opponents and all the other challenges that she had faced.
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The atmosphere that night was electric.  Fans were going bananas.  The cameras were recording and the cage door was locked from the outside leaving Jessica and Aisling on the inside, left to fight for the historic title.

Jessica dominated Ash “the Bash” during the first round and much of the second.  She was the better striker and was clearly the stronger fighter.  Jessica was on her way to another win and achieving another significant accomplishment.  But something happened that very few, and I mean very few, people expected.  The fighters were scrambling on the ground , Aisling slipped to Jessica’s back and sunk in a rear naked choke in what was just seconds.  Jessica had no option but to submit as Aisling Daly swiped title right out from under her, while displaying the heart and skill of a champion.

Now Jessica did what champions and leaders do after a loss.  She got right back in the mix and went back to work.  She was gracious in her defeat and promised the world that she would come back better than ever.  And she has delivered on that promise.centurymma.com

Since that defeat, Jessica has collected 4 straight wins including 2 wins on Bellator’s grand stage.  And she will look for a fifth win when she fights this coming August at Rock-N-Rumble.  Eye is scheduled to take on Angela Magana who will bring her 8-4 fight record to town.  Angela has been slugging it out in Women’s MMA for some time.  She debuted in 2007.  She holds a notable win over Jessica Aguilar.  Magana, in her 8 wins, has stopped 6 opponents mostly by submissions and will enter enemy territory looking to make Jessica Eye her next victim.

August 17^th will be the day these two lady pugilists will step into the cage.  It’s a Friday night fight in the Flats of Cleveland and this will be your main event.  Get your tickets now and stay tuned for details on the rest of this stacked fight card ! WWW.NAAFS.TV

Jessica “Evil” Eye

Angela Magna

Ronda Rousey Blasts Cris Cyborg: Stop Doping And Meet Me at 135

Aug 16, 2012 - Cris Cyborg wants to fightRonda Rousey. The Brazilian said so much on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, but the desire comes with a catch. Cyborg has never fought lower than 145 pounds, and she says it would be impossible to meet Rousey at 135 pounds, the division that Rousey currently reigns over.

So, she said, she would like to either fight Rousey at 145, or at a catch weight of 140 pounds.

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On Wednesday, in no uncertain terms, Rousey said that the request is a non-starter. Blasting Cyborg for her previous steroid use, Rousey demanded that any fight between them would take place at 135.

In an interview on TSN Radio's "The MMA Report with John Pollock," the outspoken bantamweight champion, who already has her hands full with Sarah Kaufman on Saturday night, spoke hypothetically about Cyborg's challenge.

She did not hold back on her feelings.

"If she wants to fight me than she is going to have to find a way to come down to 135," she said. "We'll see how she does in a fair fight for once in her life. She has a history of coming in overweight to fights and I wouldn't doubt that if we agreed to some sort of catchweight at 140, she’d show up at 145 anyway and be like 'ah whatever, fight or not.' She’s done this many times before. I don't owe her anything. She's completely defamed, and anything she’s ever done is nothing because she is a big old cheater and she's been doping her whole life. And I think part of the reason why people like Dana [White] think there is a lack of depth in all these divisions is because this girl is doping and making everybody look like they aren't in her league. And I think the reason why people look at women's MMA like that was because of her. She is nothing but a detriment to the sport and the only positive she could play is an Ivan Drago bad guy that gets beat to hell by a Rocky. So no, she can come down and fight me at 135 because I have a whole line of other people that want to fight me already and I don’t owe her anything. 

"I don't need to come up and it’s just like, why would I even want to come up to her weight?" she continued. "Stop doping, lose the weight. She can either do the drugs and fight me at 135 and have the drugs be just as much a detriment as a help to her during the weight cut, or she can cut out all the doping and make the weight easily. It's just whatever. As long as she makes 135, I don't care if she's injecting horse semen into her eyeballs but that’s the only way I feel it would be a fair fight. She’s never had a fair fight in her life and I see how the prospect of that would scare the hell out of her and why she would insist at fighting heavier."

Cyborg's year-long suspension for the steroid stanozolol does not end until December.

          

At that time, it's possible she won't have a 145-pound division to return to.

There has not yet been a single Strikeforce women's featherweight match contested in 2012, and none have been scheduled. The last time two women fought at 145 in a Strikeforce cage? It was Cyborg's final bout before being suspended. Afterward, UFC president Dana White seemed to cast doubt on the future of the division. To date, no public announcements have been made about its fate.

Buy MMA Boxing Gear at Century MMA If Rousey can cement her status as the 135-pound champion, that might further force Cyborg's hand in moving down. There's always been a noted dearth of talent at the higher weight class, and with more competition among bantamweights, Cyborg might be made to adapt or move on.

READ MORE: Sarah Kaufman (MMA), Cristiane Santos (MMA), Ronda Rousey (MMA), Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman

Former UFC and Pride Fighter Frank Trigg Arrested in Las Vegas

Former UFC and Pride Fighter Frank Trigg Arrested in Las Vegas

August 12, 2012 @ 11:37 AM

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Former UFC and Pride fighter                               

 Frank Trigg was arrested on Wednesday in Las Vegas after a 2011 incident with his ex-wife.

According to Clark County Detention Center records, Trigg was arrested on domestic violence (battery/strangulation) charges and remains at the jail pending $15,000 bond to be posted.

Sources have indicated to that Trigg’s arrest stems from a 2011 incident involving his ex-wife and not any new charges related to the fighter.

A photograph was released to the media with claims of domestic violence that had occurred while the couple was still married.

The former UFC 

http://www.hardcoremmagrapplinggloves.com/mma_training_gloves.html

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fighter then released a brief statement through his management and public relations team regarding the photo and charges made by his ex-wife, categorically denying any wrong doing but could not state more due to a gag order placed on both Trigg and his ex-wife by the courts.

“First and foremost, we would like to make it very clear that the reports are completely false. Although Frank would like to personally address every detail of what has been said, a court order prevents both Frank (and his ex-wife) from talking about their pending divorce in this light. Despite what appears to be an obvious breach by his ex-wife, Frank will continue to abide by the order instituted. More importantly, Frank has three young children whose interests are paramount to any form of this he-said she-said trial by public opinion. He asks that the public please respect his privacy and that of his children as they transition into their lives post-divorce. Frank would also like to thank his fans, friends and family for their support during this extremely difficult time.”

Trigg remains in custody at this time at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas

Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida: Head-to-Toe Perdiction

Machida looked impressive in the first round of his bout with Jones, but I believe Jones was able to sort of time and figure out what Machida was trying to do and that led to Jones simply dominating Machida in the second and finishing him at the end of the round.

If Machida wants to knock off Jones, he'll have to figure out a way to get inside the ridiculous reach and use his karate to offset Jones unorthodox style.

                      

  

At the end of the day, there are just too many factors for Machida to overcome and though I don't see Machida being choked unconscious again, I see the ultimate outcome remaining the same.

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Prediction: Jon Jones defeats Lyoto Machida by TKO around the four minute mark in the 3rd round.

Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida: Head-to-Toe Experience

Jon Jones shot up the ranks from top prospect to champion faster then anyone else in MMA history, and since becoming Champion, he's fought the best the UFC's light heavyweight division has had to offer.

Machida has also faced the who's who of top light heavyweights in the UFC, so it's hard to give one man an advantage over the other.

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I'll give the slight nod to Machida, due to the fact he's fought all over the world and has even fought at open-weight.