Alexis Davis
Since the inception of its inaugural women’s division in early 2013, the UFC has often faced criticism for a lack of female fights on its cards. In recent weeks, however, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby has put together seven new bouts that will help to develop new contenders at both 115 and 135 pounds.
In arguably the highest-profile addition, former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman (17-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Alexis Davis (16-6 MMA, 3-1 UFC) meet for a third time when they meet at UFC 186 on April 25. The Canadian standouts have faced off twice before, with Kaufman emerging victorious both times. She stopped Davis late in the pair’s first fight in April 2007 and narrowly eked out a majority-decision win in a March 2012 Strikeforce rematch. Kaufman is coming off of her second win over Leslie Smith this past April, while Davis looks to upset Kaufman and get back into title contention following a 16-second loss to champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 175.
Sticking with the bantamweight division, muay Thai world champion Germaine de Randamie (4-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) faces 20-year-old Brazilian rising star Larissa Pacheco (10-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 185 on March 14 in Dallas. De Randamie has not fought since November 2013, when Amanda Nunes stopped her. She had previously won four of five fights and totaled a key victory over Julie Kedzie along the way. Pacheco became Jungle Fight’s women’s bantamweight champion in late 2013 by stopping current Invicta FC star Irene Aldana, but her UFC debut in September ended in a disappointing submission loss to fellow Brazilian Jessica Andrade.
Amanda Nunes
Speaking of Nunes (9-4 MMA, 2-1 UFC), the Brazilian knockout artist next fights on March 21 when she battles submission specialist Shayna Baszler (15-9 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 62 in Rio de Janeiro. Nunes began her UFC career with back-to-back TKO victories before succumbing to second-round strikes from Cat Zingano at UFC 178. Baszler, one of the most experienced female fighters in the bantamweight division, remains in search of her first UFC win. After a brief tenure on “TUF 18,” she made her official UFC debut in August and came up short against Bethe Correia.
Following her third serious knee injury, “TUF 18” winner Julianna Pena (5-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) makes her long-awaited return to action against Russian finisher Milana Dudieva (11-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 63 on April 4 in Fairfax, Va. Pena, who suffered two torn ACLs earlier in her career, sustained a myriad of knee injuries, including a third ACL tear in a January 2014 training accident. The devastating setback kept Pena out of action for more than a year. She made history in late 2013 by becoming the first female winner of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Now fully recovered, she faces one of the most aggressive fighters in the division. Dudieva earned her third straight win in August when she edged Elizabeth Phillips in her UFC debut. She has knocked out or submitted nine opponents to date.
The UFC women’s strawweight division will also be featured prominently in the coming months. In addition to the previously announced title bout between Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 185, three more 115-pound fights have also been booked for future cards.
Decorated BJJ black belt Claudia Gadelha (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who was seen as one of the biggest threats to Esparza’s title, looks to rebound from her split-decision loss to Jedrzejczyk in December when she takes on Irish veteran Aisling Daly (15-5 MMA, 1-0 UFC). The contender’s bout takes place April 11 at UFC Fight Night 64 in Krakow, Poland. Injuries and illness scrapped a planned Invicta FC bout between Gadelha and Esparza on three occasions, and both later signed with the UFC. Gadelha won her debut in July, but her takedowns and top control against Jedrzejczyk were not enough to sway the judges. Daly advanced to the “TUF 20” quarterfinals before suffered a loss to Jessica Penne. She missed weight for her official UFC debut, but she submitted Alex Chambers at the TUF 20 Finale.
Rounding out the recent fight announcements is a double bill of strawweight bouts in the UFC’s debut card in Adelaide, Australia. UFC Fight Night 65 takes place on May 10 and includes a pair of must-win matchups featuring two cast members from “TUF 20.”
Former Deep Jewels featherweight champion Seo Hee Ham (15-6 MMA, 0-1 UFC) seeks her first octagon victory when she faces outspoken Australian star Bec Rawlings (5-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Ham moved up in weight and vacated her Deep Jewels title prior to her UFC debut in December, which ended in a competitive decision loss to Joanne Calderwood. Rawlings was eliminated early on “TUF 20” and lost a decision to castmate Heather Clark, who entered the fight with a torn ACL, at the TUF 20 Finale. She has dropped three of her past four bouts.
On the same UFC Fight Night 65 card, Hawaiian prospect Kailin Curran (3-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) squares off against Australia’s Chambers (4-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC). Curran followed up on her stellar amateur run by winning three straight fights for Pacific Xtreme Combat before making her UFC debut in November. However, after starting strong, she was ultimately overwhelmed by third-round punches from current UFC poster girl Paige VanZant. Chambers scored a quick submission win in her lone appearance for Invicta FC, but she was defeated in the “TUF 20” elimination round this past year. Her official UFC debut ended in a first-round tap-out loss to Aisling Daly at the TUF 20 Finale.
Tate re-enters UFC title picture, calls out Correia
Miesha Tate
One year ago, Miesha Tate’s days as a UFC title contender appeared to be numbered following her second submission loss to Ronda Rousey. Today, the former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion is riding a three-fight winning streak that includes one of her biggest victories to date. On Jan. 31, Tate (16-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) rallied back from the brink of defeat to earn a majority decision win over Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (8-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 183 in Las Vegas.
Following a shaky first round, during which she was dropped and nearly finished on the ground, Tate began to take control of the fight in the late stages of Round 2. She stunned McMann with a combination on the feet and locked on a tight guillotine choke that appeared to be enough to steal back the round. The final stanza was all Tate, who surprised some by out-grappling McMann on the mat. She attacked with punches and submission attempts until the end of the close fight. One judge scored it even at 28-28, but the remaining two had it 29-27 and 29-28 for Tate, who walked away with a huge victory. She has now set her sights on securing a potential title eliminator bout with unbeaten Brazilian Bethe Correia.
Budd mauls Holloway at Bellator 133
Julie Budd
After winning four straight Invicta FC fights, top-ranked featherweight Julia Budd (7-2) made her Bellator MMA debut on Feb. 13 at Bellator 133 in Fresno, Calif. Budd smothered short-notice replacement opponent Gabrielle Holloway (4-2) on the ground for three rounds en route to a lopsided unanimous-decision win.
The fight was certainly not the most action-packed one on the Bellator 133 card, but Budd clearly showed that she was on a completely different level from Holloway, who struggled to mount any offense at all.
Budd took her down at will and landed punches and knees to the body. She never came close to finishing Holloway, but her positional dominance and top control weighed heavily with the judges. Scores were 30-26, 30-25 and a rarely-seen 30-24 for Budd, who cruised to victory. She will likely move on to face her original Bellator 133 opponent, Talita Nogueira, or former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen this year.
Strawweight title bout highlights Saturday’s KSW 30 card
Kalindra Faria
Fresh off of her victory over Mizuki Inoue at Invicta FC 9, KSW women’s strawweight champion Karolina Kowalkiewicz (6-0) puts her title and her unbeaten record on the line against Brazilian contender Kalindra Faria (15-4-1) at “KSW 30: Genesis” on Saturday night in Poznan, Poland.
Kowalkiewicz became KSW’s first female champion in June 2013, and she won two more fights for the promotion before signing with Invicta FC this past year. In her November debut, Kowalkiewicz impressed many by outstriking Inoue en route to a well-deserved split-decision win. She remains one of Europe’s top female fighters.
Faria won 11 straight fights in both the flyweight and strawweight divisions leading into her November WSOF title bout against Jessica Aguilar. The fight was a competitive one, but Aguilar emerged with her hand raised after five rounds, and Faria now looks to get back on track by upsetting Kowalkiewicz for KSW gold.
Deep Jewels grand prix kicks off Saturday in Tokyo
With the Deep Jewels featherweight (48-kilogram/105.6-pound) championship vacant due to Seo Hee Ham’s move to the UFC, Deep Jewels officials have put together an eight-woman title tournament to crown a new champion. The single-elimination grand prix kicks off on Saturday afternoon at Deep Jewels 7 in Tokyo.
In one of four quarterfinal matchups, former Valkyrie champion Mei Yamaguchi (12-8-1) takes on late-replacement opponent Miyoko Kusaka (5-8-1) in the Deep Jewels 7 main event. Yamaguchi rebounded from a pair of controversial split-decision losses by winning her Deep Jewels debut in May, but she was most recently defeated by former Jewels champion Ayaka Hamasaki on New Year’s Eve. Kusaka earned a second-round submission win in August.
Former Deep Jewels interim lightweight champion Emi Tomimatsu (8-9) drops down in weight to face unbeaten prospect Mina Kurobe (4-0) in another tournament quarterfinal. Tomimatsu is 1-1 since losing her Deep Jewels title to Mizuki Inoue in an August rematch. Kurobe has finished all but one of her fights to date and holds wins over three other tournament competitors.
Rounding out the grand prix quarterfinals, Masako Yoshida (18-20-5) battles Satomi Takano (4-5), and Yukiko Seki (13-24) squares off against Tomo Maesawa (4-4). The winners of the quarterfinal fights will move on to the semifinal round at a Deep Jewels event later this year.
Deep Jewels 7 also features a unique tag-team grappling match. Recent WSOF title challenger Emi Fujino teams with Sachiko Fujimori against former Jewels champion Ayaka Hamasaki and her AACC teammate Yuko Oya.
Eight fights set for Invicta FC 11 in Los Angeles
Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino
One night before UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends her title against Cat Zingano at UFC 184 in Los Angeles, Invicta FC holds its latest all-female card in the same city. “Invicta FC 11: Cyborg vs. Tweet” takes place Feb. 27 and is headlined by an Invicta FC featherweight title bout between reigning champion Cristiane Justino and challenger Charmaine Tweet.
Justino (12-1) became Invicta FC’s first 145-pound champion in July 2013 when she stopped former Strikeforce rival Marloes Coenen for a second time. She has not competed in MMA since then and briefly flirted with the idea of moving down to 135 pounds this past year. However, after announcing that she would be unable to make the weight, Justino instead set her sights on defending her Invicta FC title.
Her challenger this month, Tweet, has won five of her past six fights – all inside the distance – and most recently stopped Veronica Rothenhausler in the inaugural Invicta FC lightweight bout. She enters the title fight with Justino as a massive underdog but plans to upset the champion and further derail plans for a future Justino-Rousey showdown in the UFC.
The Invicta FC 11 co-main event features a potential strawweight title eliminator between undefeated Mexican striker Alexa Grasso (6-0) and Japanese prodigy Mizuki Inoue (8-3). Grasso has become a breakout star for Invicta FC by winning her first two fights for the promotion, and she most recently stopped Alida Gray at Invicta FC 10. Inoue’s path to Invicta FC title gold was sidetracked by her close decision loss to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in November, but the reigning Deep Jewels champion can get right back into contention with a win over Grasso.
The remainder of the Invicta FC 11 card has undergone four major changes due to injuries. In another featured strawweight bout, DeAnna Bennett (6-0) makes her 115-pound debut against short-notice replacement Norma Rueda Center (3-1). Bennett is coming off of a controversial decision win over flyweight Jennifer Maia and is 2-0 inside the Invicta FC cage. Center’s lone defeat occurred in her Invicta FC debut, which also came on short notice, when she was outpointed by Joanne Calderwood at Invicta FC 6.
Grasso’s teammate, fellow Xtreme Kombat champion Irene Aldana (4-1), squares off against late replacement Colleen Schneider (6-5) in bantamweight action on the Invicta FC 11 main card. Aldana, who is one of the most devastating strikers in the division, battered “TUF 18” alum Peggy Morgan before ultimately finishing her with a rear-naked choke at Invicta FC 8. Schneider most recently became a two-division champion for Super Fight League by defeating Brenda Gonzales in early October.
Invicta FC 11’s preliminary card showcases the lighter weight classes. In strawweight bouts, Jamie Moyle (1-0) meets J.J. Aldrich (1-0), and Brianna VanBuren (3-1) takes on Amy Cadwell Montenegro (5-1). In flyweight action, knockout artist Christine Stanley (3-1) battles Rachael Cummins (2-2), and Ana Carolina Vidal (0-0) meets fellow debutant Aspen Ladd (0-0).
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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