Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama Predictions

Sam's Picks

Jessica Penne vs. Naho Sugiyama: I am seriously looking forward to this fight. The top two atomweight fighters in the world challenging for the first ever Invicta FC belt. Sugiyama has looked unstoppable in her MMA career, going undefeated in 8 fights and Penne is a devastating finisher, something that women’s MMA lacks. The main problem with this fight is that Sugiyama has never fought someone on the level of Penne and she isn’t a finisher. I see a close fight everywhere it goes and Penne eventually finishing in the later rounds = Penne via 4^th round TKO.

Shayna Baszler vs. Sarah D’Alelio = Baszler via 2^nd round submission.

Leslie Smith vs. Kaitlin Young = Young via majority decision.

Barb Honchak vs. Aisling Daly = Daly via split decision.

Tara LaRosa vs. Vanessa Porto = LaRosa via unanimous decision.

Raquel Pennington vs. Cat Zingano = Zingano via 1^st round KO.

Michelle Waterson vs. Lacey Schuckman = Waterson via unanimous decision.

Julia Budd vs. Danielle West = Budd via 1^st round TKO.

Carla Esparza vs. Lynn Alvarez = Esparza via 3^rd round submission (RNC).

Amy Davis vs. Stephanie Frausto = Davis via split decision.

Ashley Cummins vs. Joanne Calderwood = Cummins via split decision.

Jessamyn Duke vs. Marciea Allen  = Duke via 3^rd round TKO.

Tecia Torres vs. Kaiyana Rain = Torres via unanimous decision.

Dave's Picks

Jessica Penne vs. Naho Sugiyama = Penne via  2nd round TKO.

Shayna Baszler vs. Sarah D’Alelio = Baszler via 3rd round submission.

Leslie Smith vs. Kaitlin Young = Young via unanimous decision.

Barb Honchak vs. Aisling Daly = Daly via unanimous decision.

Tara LaRosa vs. Vanessa Porto = LaRosa via 2^nd round submission.

Raquel Pennington vs. Cat Zingano = Zingano via 1st round TKO.

Michelle Waterson vs. Lacey Schuckman = Waterson via 1^st round submission.

Julia Budd vs. Danielle West = Budd via 2nd round TKO.

Carla Esparza vs. Lynn Alvarez = Esparza via 2nd round submission.

Amy Davis vs. Stephanie Frausto = Davis via unanimous decision.

Ashley Cummins vs. Joanne Calderwood = Cummins via split decision.

Jessamyn Duke vs. Marciea Allen  = Duke via split decision.

Tecia Torres vs. Kaiyana Rain = Torres via unanimous decision.

Women's MMA Rankings: September Edition

So we here at CR have decided to bring back rankings (we had them when we first started but scrapped them) and we’re bringing more to the table than most do. We are bringing in women’s MMA and we are ranking them from atomweight to featherweight, including Pound-for-Pound. We look forward to doing this every month, updating and discussing with you guys. We did include people under suspension and also people who have been out for an extended period of time.

Without further ado, here are our rankings:

Ronda celebrating her win over Miesha Tate
Photo via MMAMania.com

WMMA P4P:

1) Ronda Rousey

2) Cris Cyborg

3) Naho Sugiyama

4) Jessica Aguilar

5) Tara LaRosa

6) Megumi Fujii

7) Marloes Coenen

8) Miesha Tate

9) Jessica Penne

10) Rosi Sexton

Cris Cyborg
Photo via Esther Lin/Strikeforce

Featherweight:

1) Cris Cyborg

2) Marloes Coenen

3) Milana Dudieva

4) Germaine de Randamie

5) Rin Nakai

6) Elaina Maxwell

7) Hiroko Yamanaka

8) Romy Ruyssen

9) Julia Budd

10) Ediane Gomes

Ronda Rousey

Bantamweight:

1) Ronda Rousey

2) Miesha Tate

3) Sarah Kaufman

4) Sara McMann

5) Alexis Davis

6) Liz Carmouche

7) Shayna Baszler

8) Sarah D'Alelio

9) Amanda Nunes

10) Julie Kedzie

Tara LaRosa
Photo via Cagepotato.com

Flyweight:

1) Tara LaRosa

2) Rosi Sexton

3) Cat Zingano

4) Sheila Gaff

5) Barb Honchak

6) Munah Holland

7) Aisling Daly

8) Jessica Eye

9) Takayo Hashi

10) Reyna Cordoba

Jessica Aguilar
Photo via MMAWeekly.com

Strawweight:

1) Jessica Aguilar

2) Megumi Fujii

3) Zoila Gurgel

4) Ayaka Hamasaki

5) Carla Esparza

6) Katjan Kankaanpaa

7) Seo Hee Ham

8) Mei Yamaguchi

9) Felice Herrig

10) Ashley Cummins

Naho Sugiyama
Photo via Sherdog.com

Atomweight:

1) Naho Sugiyama

2) Jessica Penne

3) Kikuyo Ishiwaka

4) Yasuko Tamada

5) Michelle Waterson

6) Lisa Ellis

7) Misaki Takimoto

8) Amy Davis

9) Naoko Omura

10) Nicdali Rivera-Calonic

So what do you guys think? Let me know in the comments section on what you guys either agreed on or disagreed on.

CR Exclusive Interview with Munah Holland

Photo via Tapology.com

Munah Holland is one of the best fighters in the most underrated division in MMA: women’s flyweight. Lots of people overlook this division, as they believe it is sparse of great talent.

That’s a mistake.

Women’s 125-pound division holds great fighters such as Sheila Gaff, Tara LaRosa, Cat Zingano, Jessica Eye, Barb Honchak, and WMMA legend, Rosi Sexton. That’s a lot of talent and it only scratches the surface. Among these world-class fighters, Munah Holland is almost unanimously ranked as number 6 in the world and looks to continue up the ranks with a win over Michelle Ould at Bellator 74.

Before her big fight on September 28, Munah Holland sat down for an interview with us. Check it out:

Championship Rounds: Talk about your fight with Michelle. How has training camp been going? 

Munah Holland: I am extremely excited about this fight with Michelle at Bellator 74.  I think it will be exciting to have an opponent whose skills fall under wrestling and grappling. This will be a great fight and the fans will not be disappointed.

My training camp is incredible. I have the most amazing teammates to work with in all the styles necessary to be my best and the most well rounded I can be for this fight.  I am also very grateful for the coaches I have at Tiger Schulmann’s.  Having Tiger Schulmann himself, Master Ron Schulmann, Boxing Coach Ray Velez, Jujitsu coaches Sensei Jason Lopez and Sensei Robert Villafane, and Wrestling Coach Rusty Reade. They all bring the best out of me for my stand-up and ground games and I am very happy with the torturous training I receive.  It’s so tough and so rewarding.

CR: What do you believe are her strength and weaknesses?

MH: I never assume anything, so I am only going off of footage I have studied with my coaches. I feel her stand-up game is a weakness and her wrestling game her strength.

CR: If you win this fight, do you believe you will fight for the 125-pound belt in Bellator?

MH: As long as there is a 125 lb Tournament for Bellator, I will fight for the 125 lb belt.  I know how hard I work with my team and I know what I am capable of, I am hungry for this and would love to have the opportunity to hold that belt.

CR: Do you ever see yourself moving to Invicta FC to fight there?

MH: In this game you never know what can happen.  I have an agreement with Bellator for 2 years so unless they felt it was best to release me to fight [in Invicta FC], it would be unlikely.  I am keeping my focus on Bellator right now.

CR: What is it like training out of a place filled mostly with men? 

MH: Have you ever seen Lyman Good, Jimmy Rivera, Julio Arce, Shane Burgos, Nick Pace, or Louis Gaudinot? And the list goes on and on and on; you will not catch me complaining. I am so fortunate to have great men to help train with me and they do not “baby” me, they know I get pissed off if they do.  They make me work hard and it pays off! 

CR: How is the atmosphere at Team Tiger Schulmann?

MH: Morale is always high at Team Tiger Schulmann. We train ridiculously hard and smart every day and we laugh a lot, a whole lot.  We have a great balance of hardcore training and a whole lot of fun, too.  Tiger Schulmann does not tolerate distracting nonsense or disrespectful behavior so there is always a great deal of discipline in our training, that’s why we get so much done in the time we train. But, Tiger Schulmann also knows when we all need to let go and just have fun too.

CR: Are there any fighters from your gym that we should keep an eye on that we might not already know about?

MH: Jimmy Rivera, Julio Arce, Michael Murray, Rachel Kendall, Shane Burgos, Brandon Cuttino, Stephen Regman, Jenna Serio, and Mike Trizano.  

Thanks again to Munah Holland for being our first Women’s MMA fighter that we have interviewed and we wish you the best of luck!

Make sure you guys follow her on Twitter @Munah_Holland and support her in her fight on September 28^th against Michelle Ould at Bellator 74!

Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann Predictions

Invicta FC 2

Dave’s Picks

Shayna Baszler vs. Sara McMann = Baszler by submission in round 2.

Alexis Davis vs. Hitomi Akano = Davis by unanimous decision.

Liz Carmouche vs. Kaitlin Young = Carmouche by split decision.

Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Lacey Schuckman = Hamasaki by unanimous decision.

Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pa’Aluhi = Nunes by unanimous decision.

Sarah D’Alelio vs. Vanessa Porto = Porto by split decision.

Barb Honchack vs. Bethany Marshall = Honchak by unanimous decision.

Julia Budd vs. Elina Nilsson = Budd by split decision.

Carla Esparza vs. Sarah Schneider = Esparza by unanimous decision.

Angelica Chavez vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc = Chavez by submission in round 2.

Sam’s Picks

Shayna Baszler vs. Sara McMann = McMann by split decision.

Alexis Davis vs. Hitomi Akano = Davis by split decision.

Liz Carmouche vs. Kaitlin Young = Carmouche by 2^nd round TKO.

Ayaka Hamasaki vs. Lacey Schuckman = Hamasaki by unanimous decision.

Amanda Nunes vs. Raquel Pa’Aluhi = Nunes by 1^st round TKO.

Sarah d’Alelio vs. Vanessa Porto = D’Alelio by split decision.

Barb Honchack vs. Bethany Marshall = Honchak by unanimous decision.

Julia Budd vs. Elina Nilsson = Budd by split decision.

Carla Esparza vs. Sarah Schneider = Esparza by 1^st round submission.

Angelica Chavez vs. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc = Nicdali by 3^rd round TKO.

Jocelyn Lybarger vs. Cheryl Chan = Lybarger by unanimous decision.

Jessica Philippus vs. Liz McCarthy = Philippus by 2^nd round TKO.