Miesha Tate vs Ronda Rousey Women's Bantamweight championship fight.
Josh Thomson vs KJ Noons
Sarah Kaufman vs Alexis Davis (prelims)
Alot of fighters scheduled for the March 3rd card have had to drop out for health reasons or injuries, reducing the night's roster of fights, but Tate and Rousey will still be headlining.
To have a women's match be the headline fight on a card is quite exciting and a step forward for women's MMA. The last time something like this happened was the Cyborg vs Carano fight in 2009! Anyway, to the analysis of the women's fights:
Kaufman vs Davis
This fight will be a rematch. Statistically, Davis is the underdog here. Both have 15 professional fights under their belt, but while Kaufman is 14-1, Davis is 11-4. Davis' losses are split between decision and TKO, while Kaufman's sole loss is by submission. Judging by these statistics, if Kaufman keeps Davis on her feet, Kaufman will have an advantage. If Davis takes Kaufman to the ground, Davis will have the advantage.
I have a feeling this fight will be spending some time on the ground. Davis' fighting style is influenced by Jiu Jitsu while Kaufman has notable wrestling skill. Statistically speaking, Kaufman is largely a kickboxing specialist, with the vast majority of her wins being by TKO and her loss coming from the ground. However, despite all the aforementioned numbers, she is willing and able to take the fight to the ground, and many of her fights spend some time there. She may not rely on her groundwork so much to end a fight, but she has endurance and can use it to tire her opponents out. In addition to that, she shows good proficiency in clinch fighting.
TL;DR: Kaufman also has good endurance and her fights tend to last some time, with proficiency on the ground. I am favoring Kaufman to win this fight by decision, though an upset could stir more excitement for Strikeforce's bantamweight division. This should be a well-rounded fight! The winner of this fight is likely to go against the victor in the Tate/Rousey tilt.
Oh, and by the way, Sarah Kaufman is the fighter responsible for this awesome KO:
word.
"Takedown" Tate vs "Rowdy" Rousey
Oh, Lord, here it comes.
"Rowdy" Ronda Rousey is first and foremost a Judo/wrestling specialist - not to mention an Olympic medalist in Judo - with a penchant for hyperextending her opponent's elbows. All of her MMA wins have been by arm bar, and she is quick to go for it. While Rousey most definitely shows talent, some would say she has not proven enough experience quite yet for a title match. And yet, here we are!
Rousey is currently WMMA's biggest loudmouth. She's cocky, brash, up front, and happy to stir up some drama for the sake of entertaining television - which she believes will bring more attention to the sport. But for all of her talk, Rousey has very little MMA experience. She is a bronze medalist in Olympic Judo and has been, according to her, competing in Judo all her life. And there is no denying the effectiveness for Judo in takedowns! Still, all together Rousey has experience in 7 MMA fights, only 4 of them being professional. They were all wins, having managed to do so within the first 60 seconds of the first round.
Rousey is currently WMMA's biggest loudmouth. She's cocky, brash, up front, and happy to stir up some drama for the sake of entertaining television - which she believes will bring more attention to the sport. But for all of her talk, Rousey has very little MMA experience. She is a bronze medalist in Olympic Judo and has been, according to her, competing in Judo all her life. And there is no denying the effectiveness for Judo in takedowns! Still, all together Rousey has experience in 7 MMA fights, only 4 of them being professional. They were all wins, having managed to do so within the first 60 seconds of the first round.
Miesha "Takedown" Tate is defending her belt and title against Rousey. Both athletes have engaged in some smack talk via Twitter and interviews. Tate is no doubt irked by Rousey's behavior and words but not threatened by it. Tate, with a 12-2 record, has won 5 of her fights by submission and has shown that she, too, is a talent on the ground. Crazy as it would be for Rousey to pull off a fast win against Tate, I am hoping this fight lasts long enough so we can see how long Rousey endures. If anyone could defend against Rousey's quick arm bar, it would probably be Tate, and there is no doubt in my mind she's been training along those lines. Rousey could surprise us with some other techniques, like a choke perhaps (maybe even a kick or two!) but she is so confident in her signature move that I won't be surprised if she goes for it again. If it ain't broke... well, you know.
Personally, I'm not sure who will win, the fight seems pretty well matched. The pure statistical odds don't seem to favor one over the other, but judging by experience alone, Tate should be able to keep "Rowdy" at bay. For all her brashness, I do like Rousey and am excited to see how her MMA future unravels, but I'm leaning towards Tate for the win. This will probably be a shorter fight than Kaufman vs Davis and I see a submission by 2nd/3rd round. The good news about that is, if Tate wins, Rousey's not the type of chick to pull a Gina Carano and she'll probably take the loss as inspiration to fight harder.
TL;DR: This is a well-matched fight between the loudmouthed, quick-rising talent Ronda Rousey and the experienced Miesha Tate. Hopefully, it will be a long fight, both for excitement value, and to see how well Rousey fares in a longer fight. Hopefully, a show-stopper fight! I see a 2nd/3rd round submission but am undecided as to who will come out the victor.
The fight will air this weekend. As I do not have access to Showtime, I'm gonna hitch a ride on the youtubes and watch the fights the morning of March 4.
Good hunting, y'all!
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