Rising star Jennifer “Rosebud” Tate has withdrawn from the second round of the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix. Tate, who dispatched of fellow EliteXC veteran Kaitlin Young in the tournament’s opening round, announced today that she is pregnant with her second child.

Regarded by many as one of the favourites to win the tournament, Tate was set to rematch Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler on March 27th at FCF 40. A replacement for Tate has not yet been named, but an announcement is expected in the coming days.

Tate (6-1-0) won her mixed martial arts debut by submitting the highly-regarded Tonya Evinger in June of 2006 and later appeared on the Muay Thai-themed Fight Girls television show. She suffered her lone loss in her first and only appearance for EliteXC when she was submitted by Baszler in the pair’s first meeting. Tate later travelled to Thailand to further refine her formidable striking skills.

The added training paid dividends in Tate’s most recent bout and she picked up a one-sided submission victory over Young, a talented striker who once battled Gina “Conviction” Carano on CBS. Most impressively, Tate dominated the fight from start to finish and overwhelmed Young with a variety of kicks that kept the Minnesota native on the defensive.

Due to the pregnancy with her second child – she also has an eight-year-old son named Richard – Tate will be sidelined from competition for the remainder of 2010 and has vacated her spot in the FCF tournament. Likely replacement candidates include Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider and Liz Carreiro. Tate’s first-round opponent, Young, is unlikely to return in the second round, though it is possible.

MMARising.com wishes Jennifer and her family the best for 2010.

(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)