Keeping her undefeated record intact, rising featherweight prospect Shana “Rock Solid” Olsen picked up a hard-fought decision over women’s MMA pioneer Yoko Takahashi tonight. The back-and-forth bout was featured as part of an excellent Cage Fighting Xtreme: “Mayhem In Minneapolis” card.

Olsen, who had been tentatively set to make her Strikeforce debut one week ago, will no doubt attract the attention of Strikeforce management with another quality win. She had all she could handle against Takahashi, but showed significant progress and improvement in the fight.

Olsen (4-0-0) had to fend off a barrage of punches from Takahashi (14-11-3) early on and Takahashi soon took the fight to the mat. Takahashi scored with punches from the top, but Olsen remained calm and reversed before delivering punishment of her own. A scramble followed and Olsen landed knees to the body, but Takahashi took her down again. Olsen reversed for a second time and struck from the top for the duration of the round, though Takahashi defended well.

The second round was equally entertaining, with Olsen taking control early on with a guillotine choke on the ground. Takahashi battled free and fought off elbows before moving to side-control. Olsen scrambled and took Takahashi’s back, then tried for a rear-naked choke. Takahashi escaped and tried for a guillotine choke of her own. The fight returned to the feet and Olsen scored with punches, but a very game Takahashi took the fight to the mat in the final seconds.

The fighters appeared fatigued in the final round, but continued to trade punches and Takahashi tried for a takedown. Olsen reversed and struck from the top, but the fight returned to the feet against the cage. An Olsen takedown led to a scramble where both fighters attempted submissions. Takahashi wound up in side-control and Olsen looked to counter by rolling for a kneebar. Another submission battle followed in the final minute, with the fight going to the judges.

Result: Shana Olsen defeats Yoko Takahashi by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three 5:00 rounds. She improves to 4-0-0 with the win.

With the impressive victory, Olsen will likely next compete for Strikeforce as the promotion’s 145-pound female ranks run thin. She showed considerable improvement in the bout with Takahashi, but would clearly benefit from at least one or two more fights before stepping up to challenge Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight (145-Pound) Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

Thanks to SportsGeeks for the live event report.