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Official Women's MMA Discussion Thread #9
- Thread starter Leek
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despite that, SFL has a female roster with a good number of fighters and some of them have pretty bolded records too.
Also I'm not sure but I think japanese were into WMMA earlier and more than western countries.
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Yeah, in Japan Shinobu Kandori was putting on MMA fights as early as 1995. It has regressed since the days of Fujii/Tsuka/Matsumoto/Watanabe though; the scene in general. Maybe I'm just depressed by that Hamasaki interview & the Jewels show though.
I think you're right, it's a case of involution instead of evolution. That's pretty sad.
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Interesting read there
I watched a few of the early SFL events but haven't seen any in a while, hope Jeet's fight goes well on the weekend
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I'm really looking forward to that fight as I'm interested in seeing how her opponent Alyona will fare against a more seasoned opponent than she's been used to thus far in her career
Also cool to see Karolina Kowalkiewicz fighting on the same weekend
Too cool
Earlier I remembered that Jennifer Maia also has a fight coming up this month:
5-10 at Circuito Talent de MMA 9
125 Jennifer Maia (7-3-1) BR vs. Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR
135 Luciana Pereira (4-3-0) BR vs. Deise Lee Rocha (5-4-0) BR
125 Bianca Daimoni (3-1-0) BR vs. Yelka Torres (1-1-0) PE (BR)
Decent fights planned. I read that Yelka Torres is now training with Jessica Andrade's camp. I will be interesting to see how she may have improved since her fight with Carina Damm.
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Aitek Emadi (1-1-0) DE vs. Anne Merkt (2-2-0) DE at RESPECT.11 (Fought at 132lbs.)
I saw this fight the other week but I don't recall posting it. A decent showing of some developing German bantamweights.
5-10 at Circuito Talent de MMA 9
125 Jennifer Maia (7-3-1) BR vs. Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR
135 Luciana Pereira (4-3-0) BR vs. Deise Lee Rocha (5-4-0) BR
125 Bianca Daimoni (3-1-0) BR vs. Yelka Torres (1-1-0) PE (BR)
Decent fights planned. I read that Yelka Torres is now training with Jessica Andrade's camp. I will be interesting to see how she may have improved since her fight with Carina Damm.
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Aitek Emadi (1-1-0) DE vs. Anne Merkt (2-2-0) DE at RESPECT.11 (Fought at 132lbs.)
I saw this fight the other week but I don't recall posting it. A decent showing of some developing German bantamweights.
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^^^ enjoyable fight there
First time I've watched a full ref cam encounter
on a side note, I thought the ref didi a very good job of not following the ring girls betwen rounds, don't know if I could be so well disciplined myself Lol
First time I've watched a full ref cam encounter
on a side note, I thought the ref didi a very good job of not following the ring girls betwen rounds, don't know if I could be so well disciplined myself Lol
Agreed. I've seen a few ref cam videos but this one is pretty stable by comparison. I caught this fight after seeing and posting Aitek Emadi's fight with Fran Vanderstukken, a Belgian. Emadi looks like she is developing pretty quickly, much better then in her fight against Vanderstukken although Vanderstukken's strength is in ground fighting so it was a different kind of fight.
Anne Merkt is also looking better in her fights since her first ones back in May, of 2013, in the German Featherweight tournament held by NCFC - No Compromises Fighting Championship 2.
Merkt picked up a win against Jessy Schwarz (1-4-0) DE and a loss against Alexandra Buch (8-3-0) DE in her first two pro bouts during that tournament.
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I was in another thread and decided to write up a little bit on fighters looking to fight at strawweight in the near future along with TUF 20 hopefuls. I have gone through a few updates and finally feel semi-okay about the list but I don't think it is anywhere near perfect. I decided people might be interested in it here, even if they saw version of it earlier.
Here is a decent cross section of the better strawweights looking to fight within the next several months or trying out for TUF 20. You'll notice a number of Flyweights and Atomweights present.
About 57-58 fighters total.
In spoiler tags so as not to clutter up the post too much.
For those interested:
Strawweight - 115Ibs:
1 Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (17-4-0) US 2/14 WSOF
2 Carla "Cookie Monster" Esparza (9-2-0) US 1/13 UFC
3 Claudia "Claudinha" Gadelha (11-0-0) BR 7/13 UFC***
4 Joanne "JoJo" Calderwood (8-0-0) GB (SCTL) 12/13 UFC
5 Katja Kankaanp
1 Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (17-4-0) US 2/14 WSOF
2 Carla "Cookie Monster" Esparza (9-2-0) US 1/13 UFC
3 Claudia "Claudinha" Gadelha (11-0-0) BR 7/13 UFC***
4 Joanne "JoJo" Calderwood (8-0-0) GB (SCTL) 12/13 UFC
5 Katja Kankaanp
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Love that GIF of Jenny Liou and the instant armbar (and the little fist pump at the end!) That`s the one I was referring to. Thanks for posting it.
I feel this is a spot where I can talk about Japanese women and martial arts, based on my nearly 20 years in Japan...unfortunately, I`m at work and I know my explanation will be long-winded...so it may have to wait a day or two. Sorry. But, I don have some insights to give...
Jarl
I feel this is a spot where I can talk about Japanese women and martial arts, based on my nearly 20 years in Japan...unfortunately, I`m at work and I know my explanation will be long-winded...so it may have to wait a day or two. Sorry. But, I don have some insights to give...
Jarl
Please share. I know most people here will want to know what you have to share.
But take your time in getting your thoughts out. Work and real-life comes first.
And.
I'm glad you enjoy the gif. I figured a number of people would be interested in it so I put it in several different threads for people to enjoy.
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I might as well start the new page off with the gif in question.
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Here is a link to a little clip of extra curricular activities in Las Vegas:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=794677520544809&set=vb.260598693952697&type=2&theater
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JessicaPenne: Found a cave on our hike at Mountains edge park w/ @JustineKish1 @JordanMcDonald #WMMA #TUF20
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Well, Today was a fairly brutal day at work, so I`ll keep it brief...
...Yes, you would think Japanese women would follow a timid, non-aggressive way of doing things...and you`d be right for the most part. I have never seen two women fight (as in "come to blows") here, and I`ve only seen arguments with raised voices (at work) a few times, in nearly 20 years. So, I was also perplexed back in the day when I first saw Smackgirl. "Where do these women come from?", I remember thinking. They don`t look like any women I know!
But, you need to consider a few things. First, still most public schools have kendo and judo teams. And, many parents (i.e. fathers) want their kids to take up the same sports they did, whether those kids are boys or girls. So, you still see little kids (including girls) being dropped off from minivans to judo, kendo, karate, and even aikido dojos. Some schools even teach karate, judo or kendo as part of P.E. class! So, the opportunity is there. A lot of young girls in this country are more or less forced to at least try some combat sport at some point in their life. And, while these sports are not really popular among girls (compared to...volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton...or even, piano, ballet, or "hip-hop dance" - yes, that last one is really big here now), some girls must take to these combat sports.
And, if you get a little girl doing judo and flipping other kids from the time she`s five years old and she`s winning competitions in elementary, junior high, high school and even college, then they get pretty good! But beyond the university level, there are fewer competitions for adults. And, I think it is at this point you get people like Megumi Fujii, Ayaka Hamsaki, and even Rin Nakai. They kicked ass in judo for many years and they just missed that kind of competition. So, they kind of shifted into MMA. I think a lot of girls that learn karate or kempo or shorinji slowly drift into things like kickboxing or shootboxing or even MMA (like Hisae Watanabe).
Also, every kid who has wanted to grow up and become a police officer knows that they have to become bad-ass in judo and/or kendo. Police officers train their whole careers in judo and kendo, and most start their police careers as black belts (I could tell you a funny story about a time I went to the police station to renew my license and I got off on the wrong floor - it was the judo dojo! and a bunch of dudes in judo gis were just staring at me like "We gotta fight you next?!" - I`m 6`6", 245 lbs - but I was looking at them thinking, "Oh shit, I hope none of these guys flips me on my head!" Anyway, a lot of young women want to join the police force and the Japanese police force is now realizing the importance of having female officers. Since some cops don`t even carry guns here, they (including the ladies) have to be able to take down perps and subdue them "manually". If you ever watch women`s judo in the Olympics, World Championships, or even at the national level here, a lot of the judoka are full-time police officers. They maintain top-level judo skills as part of their jobs. I think there has probably been more than one aspiring female police officer who gave up on that career path along the way to take up MMA.
The last part I`ll confess I still don`t understand completely; and that is, Why do Japanese women dominate in wrestling? I have never seen a women`s wrestling club, team or circle here in Japan. Even for men it`s kind of a rare sport (too many rivals - judo, karate, etc.) here. But if you watch the Olympics, Japanese women own! Sara McMann has an Olympic silver medal because she ran into Kaori Icho. But, I don`t know why or where or how Japanese women have gotten so good at this sport. My only theory is that they probably have more male training partners of a similar size (Dudes here just aren`t that big for the most part). But, I think we`ll see more wrestlers here making the leap to MMA eventually.
So, there you have it; a brief synopsis :redface: of how and why normally timid and non-aggressive (maybe, "Non-confrontational" would be a better term) Japanese women get into MMA and other combat sports. Everyone have a nice weekend!
Jarl
...Yes, you would think Japanese women would follow a timid, non-aggressive way of doing things...and you`d be right for the most part. I have never seen two women fight (as in "come to blows") here, and I`ve only seen arguments with raised voices (at work) a few times, in nearly 20 years. So, I was also perplexed back in the day when I first saw Smackgirl. "Where do these women come from?", I remember thinking. They don`t look like any women I know!
But, you need to consider a few things. First, still most public schools have kendo and judo teams. And, many parents (i.e. fathers) want their kids to take up the same sports they did, whether those kids are boys or girls. So, you still see little kids (including girls) being dropped off from minivans to judo, kendo, karate, and even aikido dojos. Some schools even teach karate, judo or kendo as part of P.E. class! So, the opportunity is there. A lot of young girls in this country are more or less forced to at least try some combat sport at some point in their life. And, while these sports are not really popular among girls (compared to...volleyball, basketball, tennis, badminton...or even, piano, ballet, or "hip-hop dance" - yes, that last one is really big here now), some girls must take to these combat sports.
And, if you get a little girl doing judo and flipping other kids from the time she`s five years old and she`s winning competitions in elementary, junior high, high school and even college, then they get pretty good! But beyond the university level, there are fewer competitions for adults. And, I think it is at this point you get people like Megumi Fujii, Ayaka Hamsaki, and even Rin Nakai. They kicked ass in judo for many years and they just missed that kind of competition. So, they kind of shifted into MMA. I think a lot of girls that learn karate or kempo or shorinji slowly drift into things like kickboxing or shootboxing or even MMA (like Hisae Watanabe).
Also, every kid who has wanted to grow up and become a police officer knows that they have to become bad-ass in judo and/or kendo. Police officers train their whole careers in judo and kendo, and most start their police careers as black belts (I could tell you a funny story about a time I went to the police station to renew my license and I got off on the wrong floor - it was the judo dojo! and a bunch of dudes in judo gis were just staring at me like "We gotta fight you next?!" - I`m 6`6", 245 lbs - but I was looking at them thinking, "Oh shit, I hope none of these guys flips me on my head!" Anyway, a lot of young women want to join the police force and the Japanese police force is now realizing the importance of having female officers. Since some cops don`t even carry guns here, they (including the ladies) have to be able to take down perps and subdue them "manually". If you ever watch women`s judo in the Olympics, World Championships, or even at the national level here, a lot of the judoka are full-time police officers. They maintain top-level judo skills as part of their jobs. I think there has probably been more than one aspiring female police officer who gave up on that career path along the way to take up MMA.
The last part I`ll confess I still don`t understand completely; and that is, Why do Japanese women dominate in wrestling? I have never seen a women`s wrestling club, team or circle here in Japan. Even for men it`s kind of a rare sport (too many rivals - judo, karate, etc.) here. But if you watch the Olympics, Japanese women own! Sara McMann has an Olympic silver medal because she ran into Kaori Icho. But, I don`t know why or where or how Japanese women have gotten so good at this sport. My only theory is that they probably have more male training partners of a similar size (Dudes here just aren`t that big for the most part). But, I think we`ll see more wrestlers here making the leap to MMA eventually.
So, there you have it; a brief synopsis :redface: of how and why normally timid and non-aggressive (maybe, "Non-confrontational" would be a better term) Japanese women get into MMA and other combat sports. Everyone have a nice weekend!
Jarl
ICF All female Card Adds Howard vs. Woods; Corso vs. House
ICF will be live in Great Falls, MT May 16 with online streaming
Cassie Robb (0-1 pro, 3-2-1 amm) vs. Liz McCarthy (1-1 pro, 6-0 amm)
Katie Howard (1-1 pro, 3-4 amm) vs. Robin Woods (0-0 pro, 4-1 amm)
Emily Corso (0-0 pro, 5-0 amm) vs. Lynnell House (2-1 pro, 2-1 amm)
ICF will be live in Great Falls, MT May 16 with online streaming
Cassie Robb (0-1 pro, 3-2-1 amm) vs. Liz McCarthy (1-1 pro, 6-0 amm)
Katie Howard (1-1 pro, 3-4 amm) vs. Robin Woods (0-0 pro, 4-1 amm)
Emily Corso (0-0 pro, 5-0 amm) vs. Lynnell House (2-1 pro, 2-1 amm)
That Nagaowa girl at One FC. What bodywork
indeed
Jeet Toshi vs. Jujeath Nagaowa
RESULT: Jujeath Nagaowa def. Jeet Toshi via TKO (punches)
Thanks for your thoughts and observations JarlSkuld on women in martial arts in Japan.
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The MMA Corner Women’s MMA Rankings: April 2014
Riley Kontek
May 1, 2014
With the growing popularity of women’s MMA, it is important to recognize these women with a rankings system similar to the men.
Between the UFC’s inclusion of a bantamweight division, its upcoming addition of a strawweight division and the all-female promotion of Invicta FC, more and more women are being exposed to casual and hardcore fans alike.
Every month, The MMA Corner compiles the staff’s individual rankings from featherweight to atomweight to create The MMA Corner Women’s MMA Rankings.
Last month’s rankings are indicated by the number in parentheses next to the fighter’s name. Some women were taken out of the rankings due to an 18-month or longer period of inactivity.
http://themmacorner.com/2014/05/01/the-mma-corner-womens-mma-rankings-april-2014/
(Good to see.)
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Congrats to Zoila.
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Marq P mentioned that he has more interviews for next from TUF 20. Worth keeping an eye out for them when they turn up.
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I've been keeping an eye out for this one. Haven't seen it yet so posting it blind.
Iman Darabi Sweden vs. Veera Nykanen Finland IRFA 6
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Invicta FC veteran Jennifer Maia is fighting fellow Brazilian Mariana Morais, who is 4-0, on May 10th at Talent MMA Circuit 9. Since Mariana Morais has a decent (looking) record but is fairly well unknown I figured I'd post a number of her fights. (At flyweight.)
Some of Morais' fights in spoiler tags for those interested as this post is getting cluttered.
Mariana Morais
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HL of Amanda Bell vs. Brittney Elkin (Fought at 155lbs)
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The MMA Corner Women’s MMA Rankings: April 2014
Riley Kontek
May 1, 2014
With the growing popularity of women’s MMA, it is important to recognize these women with a rankings system similar to the men.
Between the UFC’s inclusion of a bantamweight division, its upcoming addition of a strawweight division and the all-female promotion of Invicta FC, more and more women are being exposed to casual and hardcore fans alike.
Every month, The MMA Corner compiles the staff’s individual rankings from featherweight to atomweight to create The MMA Corner Women’s MMA Rankings.
Last month’s rankings are indicated by the number in parentheses next to the fighter’s name. Some women were taken out of the rankings due to an 18-month or longer period of inactivity.
http://themmacorner.com/2014/05/01/the-mma-corner-womens-mma-rankings-april-2014/
(Good to see.)
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Congrats to Zoila.
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Marq P mentioned that he has more interviews for next from TUF 20. Worth keeping an eye out for them when they turn up.
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I've been keeping an eye out for this one. Haven't seen it yet so posting it blind.
Iman Darabi Sweden vs. Veera Nykanen Finland IRFA 6
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Invicta FC veteran Jennifer Maia is fighting fellow Brazilian Mariana Morais, who is 4-0, on May 10th at Talent MMA Circuit 9. Since Mariana Morais has a decent (looking) record but is fairly well unknown I figured I'd post a number of her fights. (At flyweight.)
Some of Morais' fights in spoiler tags for those interested as this post is getting cluttered.
Last fight:
Mariana Morais def. Mariana Leonardo (2-1-0) BR by Armbar at :44 of rd. 1 at Talent MMA Circuit 8
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Margarete Margo (Soares) (0-3-0) BR
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Bruna Godoy (0-1-0) BR
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Juliana Cristina (0-1-0) BR
She's been making short work of her opponents but only one of them has a winning record. Morias' fight with Maia will be a real test for her. Morias seems to be fairly explosive so I will be interested to see if Maia can shut her down like she did to Zoila Gurgel. Maia's ground game is pretty solid too so we might get a chance to see how Morais is on the ground with someone who can hang with her.
Mariana Morais def. Mariana Leonardo (2-1-0) BR by Armbar at :44 of rd. 1 at Talent MMA Circuit 8
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Margarete Margo (Soares) (0-3-0) BR
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Bruna Godoy (0-1-0) BR
Mariana Morais (4-0-0) BR vs. Juliana Cristina (0-1-0) BR
She's been making short work of her opponents but only one of them has a winning record. Morias' fight with Maia will be a real test for her. Morias seems to be fairly explosive so I will be interested to see if Maia can shut her down like she did to Zoila Gurgel. Maia's ground game is pretty solid too so we might get a chance to see how Morais is on the ground with someone who can hang with her.
Mariana Morais
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HL of Amanda Bell vs. Brittney Elkin (Fought at 155lbs)
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Yep. I have posted in both of her threads, the first being her fight with Randamie. Only a few people have discussed her skills so far, including myself, but I have been hundreds, even thousands, more people watching the videos I posted of her fights. There's no way to know if people from Sherdog are contributing to the views but I'd guess there are a number of them.
I ought to do a comparison by looking at the videos I haven't put up and see if there are similar increases in views on them.
I just looked at five different videos of other fights of hers, there are only a handful of new views on them by comparison to those I posted which have anywhere from 500 new views to 1,500 (at least, now 2,000+, there were less then 300 views on that first one I posted) new views.
I guess the posts have been helpful to some degree.
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Angela Hill (1-0-0) US vs. Stephanie Skinner (2-5-0) US
I know people have been looking for this one, so here it is. This is the second time this fight has been booked over the past year, good to see it happen.
Reports suggested that this fight happened at 115 but it appears it happened at 105 as it was originally planned before their first fight was cancelled.
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I found Shannon Sinn's pro debut, off the same card as Amanda Bell's first pro win.
Shannon Sinn vs. Courtney Himes (Fought at 125lbs)
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