Okay, as a good friend in MMA of mine so smartly pointed out...Enough is Enough!! As much as I respect Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey and I am excited to see them fight, In all honesty I gotta tell you, THIS FIGHT IS NOT THE END ALL BE ALL FOR WOMEN'S MMA! I am so tired of seeing Tate / Rousey videos and interviews jammimg up my newsfeed on facebook. As my good friend (Sam Wilson) also pointed out there are a couple of other fights coming down the pike that need your undivided attention.
1. Jessica Aguilar vs. Patricia Vidonic at Fight Time 8 in FT. Lauderdale FL. on February 17th
2. Alexis Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman 2 at Strikeforce in Columbus Oh. at Strikeforce Tate vs. Rousey. (there they are once again)
Let's look at Aguilar vs. Vidonic first. The two 115lbs. powerhouses have made some impressive showing in the past year. They both were nominees for Fight of the Year in the 2011 WMMA awards (Aguilar vs. Esparza and Vidonic vs. Colarelli) Vidonic won fight of the year for her fight at the Breast Cancer beat down back in October of 2011.
Aguilar (12-4) has been a mainstay in professional FMMA for some time now. Everytime she steps in the cage she brings a war. The American Top Team fighter lives and trains in Florida and if you follow Jag on facebook or twitter you know she is a very optimistic and insightful person. She is an all around fighter with a background in jiu jitsu. Every single fight I have seen her in is more exciting then the last. Many of you may remember her split decision loss to Bellator Champ, Zoila Gurgel back in 2010. A lot of people believe she was robbed (myself, being one of them). "Jag" wins her fights in various ways but 6 of her twelve wins have been by submission.
Vidonic (5-1) may not have the same experience as her counterpart, but she is a vicious all around fighter in her own right. She is very strong and dedicated to her sport in every capacity. She resides and trains in Billings, Montana on the Vidonic Fight Team headed up by her husband Jason. Her nickname may be Little Patricia Vidonic, but she fights like a woman twice her size. Three of her five victories have been by way of submission and you can tell by watching her she is a lot stronger then her small stature gives her credit for.
The two will clash next week and I hate to make predictions, (mainly because I am bad at it) Yet, my gut is telling me that Patricia Vidonic will have her hand raised in the end after winning a decision or submitting Jag. That is saying a lot for me because I am a huge Jessica Aguilar fan. With all due respect to Jag, Vidonic may just be a tad bit more powerful than Aguilar.
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| Davis vs. Kaufman |
Sarah Kaufman (14-1) may be one of MMA's finest boxers behind Junior Dos Santos. In many of her fights she puts on a striking clinic, and her opponents face shows that they just fought Sarah Kaufman by the sheer black and blue condition it is in afterwards. She has won the majority of her fights by TKO/KO. As your should remember she won her fight against Roxanne Modafferi by going all Rampage on her and slamming her out. Kaufman's one and only loss came to Marloes Coenen back in 2010 when she lost her belt. Minutes after the fight she was going over her armbar defense with her coach to insure that. that never happens again. She is a very dedicated fighter who fights on the Zuma Fight Team out of British Columbia Canada, and she could care less if she is seen as "Hot" and shrugs away using any sex appeal to gain fans. I completely respect her for this. In my honest and humble opinion, Ms. Kaufman is the rightful top contender to Tate's belt. She earned that status when she defeated Liz Carmouche back in the fall. Strikeforce has totally screwed her by putting Rousey in as the top contender merely because she is a hot commodity right now. That is the side of MMA I absolutely loathe. The business side. Because Zuffa believes that a Tate vs. Rousey fight would get more twenty-something dudes to watch. The rightful fight should have been Tate vs. Kaufman 2. (Kaufman defeated Tate back in 2009 by UD) Sorry Dudes....truth hurts.
Alexis Davis is one of FMMA's most underrated fighters. She is a native Canadian, but she is making the transition to becoming an American and she fights on the Dayboll Jiu Jitsu team. She was last seen destroying Amanda Nunes back in September by TKO, a fight she was picked to lose. Davis and Kaufman fought back in 2007 with Kaufman winning by TKO. The Alexis Davis that Sarah Kaufman fought almost 5 years ago is not the same one she will be fighting on March 3rd. When Davis lost to Kaufman it was her first pro fight, and as many of you know a great percentage of fighters lose their first pro fight. She has evolved as a fighter and she is a champ in her own right. She holds the Raging Wolf 135lbs. belt. She earned the belt after submitting Tonya Evinger in the first round by RNC. Majority of "Ally Gators" wins have come via submission. She is a smooth fighter that takes her opponents by surprise by her unassuming fight style. Davis defeated veteran Julie Kedzie back in the summer in yet another fight she was picked to lose. People keep counting her out, yet she keeps proving them wrong over and over. Davis will be a mainstay in Strikeforce for a long time. She may not be a flashy trash talker or PR machine, but she puts her time and effort into perfecting her performance in the cage.
I think this fight will be closely contested. As long as Davis stays out of Kaufman's jabbing range and pushes through Sarah's almost impenetrable take down defense, you will see Davis win by submission.(that is my official prediction)
So make it a point to look into ways of watching Jessica "Jag" Aguilar vs. "Little" Patricia Vidonic. Their fight will be replayed on February 21st at 8pm EST on GoFightLive and Alexis "Ally Gator" Davis vs. Sarah Kaufman on March 3rd during the prelims which will be aired live on Showtime Extreme. (Not sure of the time yet). They are two fights that may have been overlooked due to the OVER HYPING of Tate vs. Rousey. Not saying the fight isn't deserving of watching, I am frankly just wanting to see the two fighters skills in the cage rather than hearing their back and forth trash talking. Actions speak so much more louder than words.
As far as who will go home from Columbus with the 135lbs. belt, I have no idea and right now I really am having a hard time caring. I am not one of those journalist who jumps on a hype train simply to bring in readers. The winner of the Kaufman/ Davis fight will be the title holder soon enough and people will be asking, Rousey who?
Lacey Neher is the owner/editor of Real Women and Men's MMA and she is the creator of the successful MMA Facebook page Real Women and Men watch MMA, as well as a sought after video maker of Fighter HL and promotional videos.
