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FIVE ROUNDS WITH STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS 10

By David Tees on 8/14/2010 1:42 PM
There is a new top contender to the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman, that top contender is tournament winner Miesha Tate. Also, the son of an MMA legend, Ryan Couture, made a sensational debut to start his professional MMA career.

Round One: Three Down, One To Go

Last night, Miesha “Takedown” Tate defeated both Maiju Kujala (Semi-Finals) and Hitomi Akano (Finals) in a tournament to get an opportunity at the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Title. Miesha Tate now earns a rematch with current Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman, who defeated her at Strikeforce Challengers 1. Miesha Tate spent more time in the cage than any other fighter on Friday Night, fifteen minutes in two fights. A little recognition must also go to Hitomi Akano, who made it to the finals after submitting Carina Damm in the semi-finals.

Next Round For Miesha Tate: Sarah Kaufman

Next Round For Hitomi Akano: Maiju Kujala, the only woman she didn’t face in the tournament.

Next Round For Carina Damm: Roxi Modafferi would be an interesting opponent.

Next Round For Maiju Kujala: Some time outside of Strikeforce

Round Two: The Diesel Survives

Prior to his fight with Louis Taylor, Joe Riggs stated that he is starting one last run at a middleweight title, and Louis Taylor nearly ended that run before it got started. For the first two rounds of the fight, Louis Taylor was arguably out striking and out wrestling Joe Riggs on route to a potential decision victory. However, in the third round, Joe Riggs rocked Louis Taylor with a straight left and finished him off on the ground with dominating ground and pound. Joe Riggs now primes himself for a potential run in the upcoming Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament.

Next Round For Joe Riggs: Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament

Next Round For Louis Taylor: Kevin Casey or Luke Rockhold

Round Three: Like Father, Like Son

For years, both hardcore and casual MMA fans have shared stories about the greatness of UFC Hall Of Fame member Randy Couture. On Friday Night, Ryan Couture, son of Randy Couture, got his professional MMA career started on the right foot with a submission win over Lucas Stark. What it truly fascinating about the fight is that it took less than two minutes for Ryan Couture to lock in a triangle choke on Lucas Stark and force the tap out. Ryan Couture, at least in his professional MMA debut, lived up to the reputation of the Couture family name.

Next Round For Ryan Couture: Caros Fodor or Thomas Diagne

Next Round For Lucas Stark: Time outside of Strikeforce

Round Four: Call In The Reserves

The Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Tournament had featured four fighters, plus a preliminary bout to determine a reserve fighter. The bout featured Liz Carmouche easily outwrestling Colleen Schneider on route to a unanimous decision victory. The bout was of importance because if any of the four tournament fighters were injured on route to the finals, then Liz Carmouce would’ve gotten in the finals. Although she didn’t get an opportunity in the finals, Liz Carmouche’s victory should have given her a future opportunity in Strikeforce.

Next Round For Liz Carmouche: Kerry Vera, Maiju Kajula or Kim Couture

Next Round For Colleen Schneider: Time outside of Strikeforce

Round Five: Two Rounds = Fifteen Minutes

For the record, I have been a fan of one night MMA tournaments since the beginning days of the UFC until I stop watching MMA. However, when Miesha Tate won the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Tournament, she competed for a total of fifteen minutes, which is equal to a normal three round fight for both male and female MMA competitors. Essentially, what I’m trying to point out is that Miesha Tate won two tournament fights via decision in the time span it would’ve taken her to win one three round fight via decision. Even odder is that if Miesha Tate were to go all five rounds with Sarah Kaufman in their upcoming title fight, they would compete for twenty five minutes, which would be ten minutes longer than the time Miesha Tate spent in the tournament to earn the title opportunity.

Next Round For Strikeforce Tournaments: A better round by round format.

You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com