Weekly Women’s MMA Wrap-Up

By Yael Grauer on Feb 02, 2010

“Fast Eddie” Memorial Scholarship

I was kind of at a loss for words when I found out Eddie Constantine had passed away. I loved his video interviews and I’ve spent some time on facebook chat with him talking women’s MMA, which he was a huge fan and supporter of. I was struck by his sincerity and humor, and lthough I never had the opportunity to meet him, I definitely want to take the time to pay my respects.

Eddie’s video interview with Lana Stefanac was the first one that really captured my attention, so it is fitting that Trinity BJJ will be offering a FULL Scholarship along with Tussle Fight Gear providing gear for The “Fast Eddie” Memorial Scholarship. This scholarship will be for a female to train with Lana Stefanac in MMA and BJJ for a year. “Fast Eddie loved to support female’s BJJ/MMA and would have loved to see a female rise to a level of high competition under his name,” said Trinity student Sam Wilson. “It is with great honor and pride that we at Trinity can keep his spirit and love for FeMMA alive,” she sad. To apply for the scholarship, e-mail Sam at pow203@sbcglobal.net.

UPCOMING FIGHTS

Zoila Frausto (4-0) is fighting Jessica Rakoczy (0-1) at Tachi Palace Fights 3: Champions Collide. Frausto has a very flashy fight style (lots of high kicks and Superman punches) and Jessica Rakoczy is a former boxing champ.

Best known for her startling upset win against Marloes Coenen in her professional MMA debut, Cindy Dandois (1-0) will be taking on Maria Hougaard (1-1) at M-1 Global: Europe Edition

On the Shark Fights 8 roster, Jessica Miramontes (1-0) is fighting Yadira Anzaldua (0-1).

Aisling McLarnen and Amanda English are both making their debuts at Cage Contenders in Northern Ireland.

FIGHT RESULTS

Cris Cyborg (9-1) handily defeated contender Marloes Coenen (17-4) by 3rd round TKO at Strikeforce: Miami. Cyborg admitted Coenen was her toughest opponent to date, showing a solid defense and skill both standing and on the ground. Cyborg was not phased, however, and decisively won each round.

Roxanne Modafferi (14-5) defeated Molly Helsel (8-9-1) by 2nd round RNC at King of the Cage: Toryumon

Cat Albert (3-0) scored a unanimous decision win vs. Barb Honchak (1-1) at Fight to Win: Phenoms.

Hiroko Kitamura defeated Yuko Kagoshima by decision at Jewels: Rough Stone – 2nd Ring

FCF 39: Ladies Night

AJ Jenkins vs. Schneider was quite a ground battle. In the first round, Schneider attempted a guillotine, heelhook and oma plata while AJ attempted a triangle and armbar, and scored a takedown and some ground and pound.

In the 2nd round, AK scored a nice kick. Schneider followed that with a takedown but AJ ended up in mount, going for a rear naked chokle and then transitioning to some ground and pound from mount. Schneider got a nice sweep and went for a toehold and AJ got top position and then transitioned to back mount and a sweet rear naked choke, which won the fight in 3:07.

Liz Carreiro fought Jan Finney next. Finney stalked Carreiro the entire fight, landing kicks and hard punches. In the first round, Liz did manage to get some takedowns, ending up in Jan’s closed guard and going for some knees. She threw some punches and got a few body shots in, but Finney’s heavy punches were much more effective. Liz came out in the 2nd round with a good leg kick and body shot, but Finney responded with slow punches and a few leg kicks. Liz got Jan against the fence at the end of the round, as the two pummeled for position and both scored some punches (with Jan’s causing far more damage). The final round was more of the same, with Finney scoring some big rights and Liz responding with a few log kicks and takedown attempts. Finney won by unanimous decision.

Jen Tate gave the most impressive performance of the night when she fought Kaitlyn Young, showcasing some nice kicks in the 1st round a good takedown and elbows, advancing to mount and locking Young in a rear naked choke. Young was saved by the bell, but Tate managed another takedown in the 2nd round, followed by an armbar.

And in the last fight, Shayna Baszler defeated Megumi Yabushita via Twister at 4:50 of R1

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Last week we reported that Trinity BJJ black belt Lana Stefanac defeated Tammy Griego in the championship match of the 139lb+ Abu Dhabi Pro West Qualifying Tournament in Santa Cruz, qualifying her for the Abu Dhabi Pro event. (This information was startlingly absent from Gracie Magazine, which was covering the event. I guess it’s not that surprising, though, since the magazine is notorious for only covering a few token female winners of each event they “cover”, along with tons of detail on every single male win, senior division win, children’s win and recipients of door prizes.) Anyway, Lana won the over 139 division and Saulo Ribeiro purple belt Kiri Liao won the under 139 division. On the East coast Hillary Williams (a Westside JJ brown belt) won the over 139 division and Gracie Barra purple belt Tammy Griego won the under 139 division.

“FAST EDDIE” MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

I was kind of at a loss for words when I found out Eddie Constantine had passed away. I loved his video interviews and I’ve spent some time on facebook chat with him talking women’s MMA, which he was a huge fan and supporter of. I was struck by his sincerity and humor, and although I never had the opportunity to meet him, I definitely want to take the time to pay my respects.

Eddie’s video interview with Lana Stefanac was the first one that really captured my attention, so it is fitting that Trinity BJJ (in Oakland, CA) will be offering a FULL Scholarship for a female student to train with Lana Stefanac in MMA and BJJ for a year. Tussle Fight Gear will also be providing gear for the scholarship recipient. ”Fast Eddie loved to support female’s BJJ/MMA and would have loved to see a female rise to a level of high competition under his name,” said Pro Matchmaker, Ladies of Pain manager and Trinity student Sam Wilson. “It is with great honor and pride that we at Trinity can keep his spirit and love for FeMMA alive,” she sad. To apply for the scholarship, e-mail Sam at pow203@sbcglobal.net.

FIGHT RESULTS

Cris Cyborg (9-1) handily defeated contender Marloes Coenen (17-4) by 3rd round TKO at Strikeforce: Miami. Cyborg admitted Coenen was her toughest opponent to date, showing a solid defense and skill both standing and on the ground. Cyborg was completely unphased, however, landing power punches and decisively winning each round.

Roxanne Modafferi (14-5) defeated Molly Helsel (8-9-1) by 2nd round RNC at King of the Cage: Toryumon. Since no media was present, they made their own post-fight video interview.

Cat Albert (3-0) scored a unanimous decision win vs. Barb Honchak (1-1) at Fight to Win: Phenoms.

Hiroko Kitamura (2-0) defeated Yuko Kagoshima (1-2) by decision at Jewels: Rough Stone – 2nd Ring.

And the first night of the FCF 39: Ladies Night 8-woman tournament took place.

AJ Jenkins (17-2) vs. Sarah Schneider (4-4) was quite a ground battle. In the first round, Schneider attempted a guillotine, heelhook and oma plata while AJ attempted a triangle and armbar, and scored a takedown and some ground and pound.

In the 2nd round, AJ scored a nice kick. Schneider followed that with a takedown but AJ ended up in mount, going for a rear naked choke and then transitioning to some ground and pound from mount. Schneider got a nice sweep and went for a toehold and AJ got top position and then transitioned to back mount and a sweet rear naked choke, which won the fight in 3:07.

Liz Carreiro (5-6) fought Jan Finney (7-7) next. Finney stalked Carreiro the entire fight, landing kicks and hard punches. In the first round, Liz did manage to get some takedowns, ending up in Jan’s closed guard and going for some knees. She threw some punches and got a few body shots in, but Finney’s heavy punches were much more effective. Liz came out in the 2nd round with a good leg kick and body shot, but Finney responded with slow punches and a few leg kicks. Liz got Jan against the fence at the end of the round, as the two pummeled for position and both scored some punches (with Jan’s causing far more damage). The final round was more of the same, with Finney scoring some big rights and Liz responding with a few log kicks and takedown attempts. Finney won by unanimous decision.

Jen Tate (6-1) gave the most impressive performance of the night when she fought Kaitlin Young (4-4), showcasing some nice kicks in the 1st round, as well as a good takedown and elbows, advancing to mount and locking Young in a rear naked choke. Young was saved by the bell, but Tate managed another takedown in the 2nd round, followed by an armbar for the win.

And in the last fight, Shayna Baszler (10-6) defeated Megumi Yabushita (18-16) by signature submission (twister) at the tale end of the first round. (Sadly, FCF felt the need to show hours of amateur men’s fights before the ones we actually paid for, thus causing much weeping and gnashing of teeth with an unexpected overlap. I had a hard time splitting my attention between two computer screens (this fight on one and Cyborg vs. Coenen on the other), but luckily the video has surfaced.

The next event will pit up Jenn Tate and Shayna Baszler and AJ Jenkins vs. Jan Finney. I’d rather see Tate fight Finney myself, but that’s just my opinion, and it’ll still rock.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Last week we reported that Trinity BJJ black belt Lana Stefanac defeated Gracie Barra purple belt Tammy Griego in the championship match of the 139lb+ Abu Dhabi Pro West Qualifying Tournament in Santa Cruz, qualifying her for the Abu Dhabi Pro event. (This information was startlingly absent from Gracie Magazine, by the way, which was “covering” the event. I guess it’s not that surprising, though, since the magazine is notorious for only covering a few token female winners of each event they “cover”, along with tons of detail on every single male win, senior division win, children’s win and recipients of door prizes.) Anyway, Lana won the over 139 division and Saulo Ribeiro purple belt Kiri Liao won the under 139 division. On the East coast Hillary Williams (a Westside JJ brown belt) won the under 139 division and Tammy Griego competed again, this time winning the over 139 division and qualifying for the Pro event.

UPCOMING FIGHTS

Zoila Frausto (4-0) is fighting Jessica Rakoczy (0-1) at Tachi Palace Fights 3: Champions Collide. Frausto has a very flashy fight style (lots of high kicks and Superman punches) and Jessica Rakoczy is a former boxing champ.

Best known for her startling upset win against Marloes Coenen in her professional MMA debut, Cindy Dandois (1-0) will be taking on Maria Hougaard (1-1) at M-1 Global: Europe Edition

On the Shark Fights 8 roster, Jessica Miramontes (1-0) is fighting Yadira Anzaldua (0-1). Both girls recently fought Brandi Hainey.

Aisling McLarnen and Amanda English are both making their debuts at Cage Contenders in Northern Ireland.

SYNDICATE THIS COLUMN

The Women’s Weekly MMA Wrap-Up is available for syndication at a very reasonable rate. Just e-mail yael.grauer@gmail.com for details.

Filed Under: MMA

About the Author: Yael Grauer is an Op-Ed Columnist for MMA Opinion. She has worked as a photographer, journalist, editor, proofreader and English teacher. She also works as a women's MMA editor for the Savage Science. Yael trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Her website is http://yaewrites.com.