Friday, June 19 9:57 pm PT: God bless five-minute rounds.
What a pleasure it was to watch Shayna Baszler and Sarah Kaufman both enjoy the upper hand for a time in their 15-minute tryst.
Those extra six minutes allowed an intriguing story to unfold between the pin-point accurate striker and inventive grappler –- one that would likely have been stilted by the previously abbreviated rounds. The bout also silenced any doubts that women aren’t capable of performing in the same time frame allotted the men (though to anyone that has seen the women ply their trade in the last two years, it was never really a question.)
Baszler stole the first round away from Kaufman by taking the Canadian’s feet out from under her and implementing a unique knee-to-head choke.
But the 23-year-old boxer found her groove in the second frame, baiting Baszler into her world with crisp combinations off a potent low kick.
Friday, June 19 5:02 pm PT: The clock is ticking on the first headlining women’s MMA fight on television: on Thursday, Gina Carano, Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and promoter Scott Coker held a teleconference to get the drums beating early.
Most of the quotes were what you’d expect -- I have yet to hear any fighter beyond Forrest Griffin ever express doubts about winning a fight -- but there was one choice sound bite from Santos that’s worth a mention.
“We can go in there and demonstrate our skill,” she said. “Perhaps one day, we might even fight men.”
While that sounds like something Japan would happily endorse -- with fireworks -- there’s precedent for it not working out too well. Lucia Rijker, arguably the greatest female combatant of any era, fought a man in a muay Thai bout,
Friday, June 19 2:43 pm PT: In an uncharacteristic display of lucidity, 1996 Olympic gold medalist and current TNA professional wrestler Kurt Angle told Slam! Sports that “you’d have to be crazy” to attempt both real and theatrical competition at the same time.
“You are dealing with two different animals,” he said. “… in wrestling, you are fighting every week, every year, for years and years.”
Angle has flirted with the idea of competing in mixed martial arts on and off since 2006. Nearly 41 and apparently comfortable with his schedule at TNA, it appears unlikely he will ever commit to a fight. Ten years ago, the idea would have been compelling; today, with a body battered by wrestling, it would only serve to make Angle’s friends and relatives very, very nervous.
Friday, June 19 12:10 pm PT: Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has his hands on a scorcher of a main event with MMA’s sweetheart Gina Carano taking on terminatrix Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos on Aug. 15 in San Jose, Calif., for the promotion’s first 145-pound women’s championship.
If it’s any consolation, the mega-watt bout wasn’t handed to Coker and Co. on a silver platter. Here are a few tidbits documenting how the sport’s biggest women’s bout ever came into play.
Friday, June 19 2:45 am PT: Cain Velasquez put a terrible beating on Cheick Kongo at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany, this past weekend, but he is wholly unsatisfied by his performance, according to trainer Bob Cook.
“Cain is his own harshest critic,” said Cook of his heavyweight charge. “He expects so much from himself and he was not happy with his performance.”
Cook sees it a little differently. The American Kickboxing trainer saw the bout as a positive for both fighters.
Friday, June 19 12:49 am PT: Joey Villasenor (26-6) weighed in with a half pound to spare in anticipation of his middleweight contest against Evangelista Santos (16-12) Friday for Strikeforce Challengers Series 2 at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Wash.
The Greg Jackson-trained fighter tipped the scale at 184.5 pounds to Evangelista’s 185 pounds at Thursday’s official weigh-ins. Viewers can watch Villasenor’s first fight in a year with fellow striker Santos live on Showtime at 10 p.m. EST.
Also on the card, moonlighting Minnesota lawyer Nick Thompson (38-10-1) makes the move to middleweight to meet U.S. Army Ranger Tim Kennedy (9-2).
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