Saturday, September 7, 2013

Mma's Toughest Women

By Nolan Barias


Mixed martial arts is dominated by men, and while a few believe it should remain that way, women's professional MMA competitions have been going strong since the 2006 bout between Elaina Maxwell and Gina Carano. These women are tough competitors who bring the same level of dedication to the sport as the men and aren't leaving the arena anytime in the near future.

While several organizations promote women's fighting, Strikeforce arguably has been the top promoter of mainstream women's MMA. The Carano-Santos bout in 2009 drew in nearly a million viewers, so the women can definitely attract some attention from MMA fans.

While Carano has not fought since her loss against Santos during that high-profile 2009 fight, she is still known as the face of women's mixed martial arts and has a 7-1 pro record. Her only loss was against Santos. She also has a pro kickboxing record of 12 wins and two losses.

Cristiane Santos is a terrifying presence in women's MMA with a record of 10 wins, one loss and one no contest. Born in Brazil, Santos trained at the Chute Boxe Academy before coming to the states and joining the team at The Arena in San Diego. Her last fight was in 2011 against Hiroko Yamananka. The fight was originally a TKO, but was changed to no contest after Santos failed a drug test and was suspended from competition. While she did appeal the conviction, she will not be eligible to fight until December, 2012.

Ronda Rousey is absolutely one of the top competitors of women's pro MMA, and she has an impressive, if brief, career so far. The former Olympian holds an undefeated 5-0 MMA record including wins against Miesha Tate, which earned her the Women's Bantamweight Championship title. She also has three wins as an amateur.

While Miesha Tate might have lost her title to Rousey, she still boasts a strong 12-3 pro record and is consistently on top ten lists when considering women fighters. A former champion high school wrestler, she also has an impressive MMA amateur career, winning five of her six bouts before turning pro.

Despite her lack of Strikeforce experience, Tara LaRosa is considered to be one of the best female mixed martial artists ever. Her 21-2 record is impressive, but because she weighs in at only around 125, there are no weight classes for her in Strikeforce. Despite this she has defeated tough opponents such as Megumi Yabushita and Shayna Baszler.




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