MMA Universe

Kaitlin Young

Although rumors of a Strikeforce women’s tournament have been reverberating around the MMA scene for months on end, one thing is for certain–and it’s not Strikeforce. The Oklahoma-based Freestyle Cage Fighting promotion is holding a Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. Three events will take place this year, culminating in just one winner. And although the eight female fighters featured aren’t all top-10 135-lbers, they are certainly up there.

On January 30th, the first round of fights will take place. Here is the roster, and my predictions.

AJ Jenkins (16-2) vs. Sarah Schneider (4-3) Jenkins is on a huge winning streak and great at ending fights early. Schneider is a tough fighter, though, holding notable wins over Julie Kedzie and Kaitlin Young. It’s a tough call, but I think experience takes it. AJ Jenkins by 1st round knock-0ut.

Jan Finney (6-7) vs. Liz Carreiro (5-5) This is another very tough fight to call. Finney’s got heavy hands and a great chin, but not the best submission defense–and Liz Carreiro is a submission specialist. However, Liz hasn’t faced fighters with hands like Finney’s. It is a tough call. Finney by 2nd round TKO.

Kaitlin Young (4-3) vs. Jen Tate (5-1) On paper, it looks like Jen Tate wins it. She’s the #7 Bantamweight (according to the Unified Women’s Rankings) and has the better record. And although both Young and Tate have Muay Thai backgrounds, Tate also has submission wins. But I’m going to go out on a limb and call it for Kaitlin Young. First of all, Young has done tremendously well in Grand Prix tournaments before–in fact, she won three fights in one night at HookNShoot in ‘07. Also, Young is coming off of a huge upset in a bout vs. Shana Olsen and is, I’m sure, hungry for the win. Kaitlin Young by 2nd round TKO.

Megumi Yabushita (18-15) vs. Shayna Baszler (9-6).

The #4 Bantamweight in the Unified Women’s Rankings, The Queen of Spades Shayna Baszler is coming off of two losses, one to Sarah Kaufman and one to Cyborg Santos.  Yabushita, who fights primarily in Japan, has lost a lot of fights by submission and Shayna is good at pulling submissions out of thin air. This is a bad match-up for Yabushita. Baszler’s most recent losses come by decision or knockout and while Yabushita has plenty of decision wins, she has no wins by KO.  Yabushita also has submission wins, but Baszler’s submission defense has probably improved as she’s been competing in grappling. Shayna Baszler by 2nd round submission (one she makes up on her own).

Winners of the bout will face each other in the semi-finals, taking place around the end of March. The last round will be held in June. FCF will stream the fights in high-def on their website for just $9.99, and will be held at the FireLake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma.