Carina Damm

It’s been in the works for as long as I can remember. Perhaps prompted into action by Bellator edging ahead in women’s MMA, Strikeforce has finally announced their 135-lb. women’s tournament.

The four-woman tournament will take place on August 13th in Phoenix, and the winner will earn a title shot. For some reason, the rounds will only be three minutes long.

The winner of Kaufman vs. Modafferi will face Marloes Coenen, and the winner of that fight will face the winner of this tournament.

Here’s a bit about each of the four fighters:

Miesha “Takedown” Tate (9-2)
She’s been featured on these pages before and is best known for her armbar victory vs. Zoila Frausto. Tate has excellent wrestling and was actually on the boy’s wrestling team in high school. She also has great conditioning and a decent stand-up game. A pretty good (and improving) all-around fighter, Tate has a good shot at winning this tournament.

Carina “Beauty But the Beast” Damm (15-3)
Although her suspension for steroids has lapsed, this Brazilian fighter still has a $2500 fine to pay before being reinstated. Instead, she’s been fighting sub-par opponents in Brazil. Although she’s on a 10-fight winning streak, 5 of her last 10 opponents only had one fight under their belt before facing her. Damm has fared well in the past, however, defeating Molly Helsel, Jessica Aguilar and Sophie Bagherdai in 2007 and 2008. Damm can hang standing and on the ground.

Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (15-7)
Hailing from Japan, Akano is a former Smackgirl champion who has 13 submission wins. She made her Strikeforce debut against Cris Cyborg Santos, and even though Cyborg came in 6 lbs. over weight Akano took her to the third round.

Maiju Kujala (4-1)
Hailing from Finland, Kujala is on a three-fight winning streak, but has never really fought anyone of note (except Aisling Daly, who she lost to.)