Fans of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will have to wait longer than originally planned for the unbeaten judoka’s return to the octagon.
Rousey, who was set to compete at UFC 182 in early January, will now make her next title defense against long-time top contender Cat Zingano at “UFC 184: Weidman vs. Belfort” on Feb. 28 in Los Angeles.
UFC officials announced the date change earlier this week. Rousey (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Zingano (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) were first set to clash for Rousey’s title this past year, but a serious knee injury and the tragic death of her husband sidelined Zingano for more than 17 months. While Zingano watched from the sidelines, Rousey submitted rival Miesha Tate in a December rematch and picked up quick stoppage victories over Sara McMann and Alexis Davis this year.
On Sept. 27, Zingano made her long-awaited return to the cage to face Amanda Nunes at UFC 178. She found herself in all sorts of danger early on as Nunes battered her with vicious ground and pound in the opening round. Zingano weathered the storm and she took control of the action as the fight progressed. Nunes slowed way down in Round 3 and Zingano overwhelmed her with strikes on the ground en route to a come-from-behind TKO victory.
Thus far in her pro career, Rousey has often appeared to be bordering on unbeatable in the women’s bantamweight division as she has swiftly dispatched of most of the premier 135-pound female fighters in the sport. A handful of top contenders remain for the champion, however, and Zingano’s strength and unorthodox suplexes could pose problems for Rousey when the fighters finally face off in February.
The Rousey-Zingano title tilt is expected to serve as the co-main event on the UFC 184 card.
UFC books Holm vs. Pennington, Gadelha vs. Jedrzejczyk for December
Former pound-for-pound boxing superstar and undefeated mixed martial artist Holly Holm (7-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) makes her much-anticipated octagon debut on Dec. 6 at “UFC 181: Hendricks vs. Lawler 2″ in Las Vegas. Holm is set to face off against “TUF 18″ semifinalist Raquel Pennington (4-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) in a featured bantamweight bout on the card.
Holm has long been seen as one of the few remaining threats to Ronda Rousey’s UFC title due to her stellar striking pedigree, but she will first have to fight her way to the belt. Standing in her way is Pennington, who made it to the semifinals of “TUF 18″ this past year by defeating Jessamyn Duke. She outpointed Roxanne Modafferi in her official UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale in November and dropped a close decision to Jessica Andrade in March.
Outside of the UFC, Holm has dominated all seven of her opponents, but she has at times faced criticism for competing against outmatched foes.
In April, Holm picked up her most notable win to date and captured her first major MMA title in the process by stopping fellow striker Juliana Werner in the fifth round of a Legacy FC women’s bantamweight title fight. Negotiations between the UFC and Holm’s management repeatedly broke down in the ensuing months, but the two sides eventually came to terms on a deal to bring one of the world’s very best female strikers to the UFC.
The month of December will also feature a strawweight title eliminator bout between undefeated standouts Claudia Gadelha (12-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (7-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC). The 115-pound contenders are set to meet at “UFC on FOX 13: Dos Santos vs. Miocic” on Dec. 13 in Phoenix just one day after the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight champion is crowned at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale.
Gadelha is one of MMA’s most decorated female grapplers. The three-time BJJ world champion picked up back-to-back wins in 2013, but an Invicta FC title bout against Carla Esparza was scrapped for a third time when Gadelha suffered a last-minute illness that forced her out of the fight. She signed with the UFC shortly thereafter and made a successful octagon debut in July by outpointing Tina Lahdemaki at UFC Fight Night 45.
Jedrzejczyk, in contrast to her December opponent, is one of MMA’s most skilled female strikers. The Polish veteran of close to 100 kickboxing matches transitioned to MMA in 2012 and racked up four straight victories including a key win over Russian standout Julia Berezikova. Her 2014 campaign began with a victory over Karla Benitez in May and continued with Jedrzejczyk’s biggest win to date, a second-round knockout of UFC veteran Rosi Sexton, at Cage Warriors 69 one month later. Jedrzejczyk subsequently signed with the UFC and she defeated Juliana de Lima Carneiro at UFC on FOX 12 in July.
The Gadelha-Jedrzejczyk fight is expected to serve as a strawweight title eliminator. The victor will then move on to challenge the winner of “TUF 20,” who will be crowned as the first UFC women’s strawweight champion on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.
Late changes made to today’s Invicta FC 9 card
Visa issues have resulted in a pair of short-notice changes to today’s Invicta Fighting Championships 9 event in Davenport, Iowa. The all-female card is headlined by a flyweight title bout between reigning champion Barb Honchak and Deep Jewels titleholder Takayo Hashi, and also features a strawweight contender’s bout between Mizuki Inoue and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
Former Jewels lightweight (52-kilogram/114.4-pound) champion Ayaka Hamasaki had planned to make her return to the Invicta FC cage on Saturday against Brazilian submission specialist Herica Tiburcio, but the bout was scrapped entirely this week when Tiburcio encountered visa troubles and was not permitted to compete on the card. The bout may be rebooked for Invicta FC 10 in December, but an official announcement has not yet been made.
A targeted bantamweight bout between Kaitlin Young and Cindy Dandois also fell apart this past weekend when Dandois, who has recently spent many months living and training in the U.S., was unable to secure a visa to compete. Invicta FC officials managed to find a replacement opponent for Young, who will now face Hawaii’s Raquel Pa’aluhi at 145 pounds.
Invicta FC 9 (UFC Fight Pass):
- Barb Honchak (9-2) vs. Takayo Hashi (15-4-1) – for strawweight title
- Mizuki Inoue (8-2) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (5-0)
- Raquel Pa’aluhi (3-4) vs. Kaitlin Young (7-8-1)
- Jodie Esquibel (4-1) vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc (8-7)
- Amber Brown (3-1) vs. Liz McCarthy (2-1)
- Amanda Bell (2-2) vs. Maria Hougaard Djursaa (5-5)
- Andrea Lee (1-0) vs. Shannon Sinn (1-1)
- Jenny Liou Shriver (2-0) vs. Jamie Moyle (0-0)
- Maegan Goodwin (0-0) vs. Kelly McGill (1-0)
Seven fights set for Deep Jewels 6 in Tokyo
Two days after Invicta FC 9, Japan’s leading all-female promotion, Deep Jewels, stages its sixth fight card in Tokyo. Deep Jewels 6 takes place on Monday night and is headlined by a featherweight (48-kilogram/105.6-pound) championship trilogy bout between reigning champion Seo Hee Ham and rival Saori Ishioka.
Ham and Ishioka first faced off early in their respective careers under the Smackgirl banner in February 2008. Ham prevailed via unanimous decision and she outpointed Ishioka for a second time in the pair’s rematch three years later at “Deep: 52nd Impact.” Both fighters have since dropped down in weight and Ham became the final Jewels featherweight queen champion this past year. Her belt carried over to Deep Jewels and she looks to make her second successful title defense when she takes on Ishioka for a third time.
In other action on the Deep Jewels 6 card, Emi Fujino aims to rebound from her recent loss to WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar when she faces unbeaten grappler Ayaka Miura in a featured matchup, and top Deep Jewels star Shizuka Sugiyama takes on Yurika Nakakura in a rematch from September 2012. Sugiyama handed Nakakura her lone defeat in the pair’s first meeting.
Deep Jewels 6 was initially set to stream live on Ustream. However, as a result of Ustream’s recent decision to shut down its PPV services, the event is no longer expected to be available to a live audience online. The promotion is working to secure a new broadcast partner in order to make future events available to a worldwide audience.
Deep Jewels 6:
- Seo Hee Ham (14-5) vs. Saori Ishioka (13-7) – for 48kg title
- Emi Fujino (13-8) vs. Ayaka Miura (1-0)
- Yurika Nakakura (3-1) vs. Shizuka Sugiyama (11-4-1)
- Tomo Maesawa (3-4) vs. Yuko Oya (8-3)
- Mina Kurobe (3-0) vs. Satomi Takano (3-4)
- Brittany Ann Decker (0-1) vs. Pan Hui (0-0)
- Yukiko Seki (12-24) vs. Naomi Taniyama (1-2)
Team Pettis keeps perfect record intact, now 6-0 on “TUF 20″
UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis’ team continues to steamroll Gilbert Melendez’s squad of female strawweights on “The Ultimate Fighter 20: A Champion Will Be Crowned.” Pettis’ team extended its lead to 6-0 with three more victories this month.
During Episode No. 4, former Invicta FC strawweight champion Carla Esparza (seeded No. 1) advanced one step closer to becoming the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight titleholder by submitting Angela Hill (No. 16) of Team Melendez. Esparza took Hill down right away and she used ground and pound to set up a rear-naked choke attempt. Hill escaped from one submission and briefly got back to her feet, but Esparza dragged her back down and secured another rear-naked choke for the tapout win at the 3:41 mark of Round 1.
Episode No. 5 featured a grudge rematch between bitter rivals Felice Herrig (No. 6) and Heather Clark (No. 11). Herrig avoided an early guillotine choke from Clark and spent most of Round 1 working from top position. She dominated the second round with ground and pound and submission attempts and the two-round bout went to the scorecards. All three judges scored the fight for Herrig, who kept Team Pettis’ unblemished record intact and earned her second win over Clark, who attempted to make peace following the bout.
This past Wednesday, Team Pettis’ Aisling Daly (No. 5) scored a big victory over Angela Magana (No. 12) in a back-and-forth fight. Magana controlled most of Round 1 on the ground and she threatened with rear-naked choke attempts until referee Chris Tognoni bizarrely stood the fighters up. Daly rallied in the second round and she landed punches on the ground and attempted a neck crank before the bell. The fight went to a third and deciding round and Daly took a fatigued Magana down. She mounted her soon after and dropped punches until the fight was stopped at the 2:26 mark of Round 3.
Next week’s episode features a bout between No. 10 Alex Chambers of Team Pettis and No. 7 Rose Namajunas of Team Melendez. “TUF 20″ airs each Wednesday night on FOX Sports 1 in the U.S. and on Sportsnet 360 in Canada. The grueling competition comes to an end on Dec. 12 when the two finalists face off to determine the first UFC women’s strawweight champion at The Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale in Las Vegas.
Marloes Coenen submits Annalisa Bucci in Bellator debut
Former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen (22-6) made a successful Bellator debut this past Friday night at Bellator 130 in Mulvane, Kan. Coenen submitted Italy’s Annalisa Bucci (7-4) early in the third round of a one-sided bout on the Spike-televised main card.
Coenen joined the Bellator roster earlier this year after receiving her release from Invicta FC, where she fought twice and managed a 1-1 record. She immediately took Bucci down in Round 1 and spent most of the round working for a rear-naked choke. Bucci eventually scrambled into top position, but Coenen tied her up and landed some solid shots from the bottom. She finished the round by threatening with a kimura attempt.
The second stanza was more of the same and Coenen once again controlled the action by landing punches on the ground and working for submissions. Bucci defended well and managed to escape into Coenen’s guard again, but she was only able to land a handful of short punches from top position before the end of the round.
Coenen quickly took Bucci back down in Round 3. From side control, she used her legs to trap Bucci’s left arm, then reached her own arm across Bucci’s throat. Seconds later, Coenen locked on a modified rear-naked choke from side control and Bucci was forced to submit at the 57-second mark of Round 3.
Coenen’s win got her back on track following a lopsided TKO loss to Cristiane Justino in an Invicta FC title rematch this past year. She is expected to face off against fellow Invicta FC alum Julia Budd under the Bellator banner in 2015.
MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.
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