As a result of visa issues, Brazilian star Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm will no longer compete in the August 13th Strikeforce 135-pound women’s tournament. Sources close to Damm confirmed the news with MMARising.com late Tuesday night and further stated that Damm had submitted all necessary paperwork weeks ago.

Presently, the failure to obtain Damm’s visa in a timely manner is being attributed to Strikeforce itself, though Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has informed MMARising.com that that is not entirely the case.

Damm (15-3-0) would have made her first appearance in a U.S.-based promotion since a May 2008 suspension following a positive test for Nandrolone one month earlier. The jiu-jitsu ace has competed exclusively in her native Brazil since that time and has won ten straight fights, with the most recent victory coming in February of this year. Five of Damm’s last seven fights have ended in knockout victories. She had planned to move up slightly in weight to compete in the 135-pound tournament.

According to sources, all necessary paperwork and documents were turned in to Strikeforce at or prior to the beginning of July. The promotion allegedly failed to take the required steps to obtain a visa for Damm to compete at the August event, which takes place in Phoenix, Arizona. As the process could take ten or more days to initiate and complete, MMARising.com has learned that Damm will no longer be able to fight on the card. A potential replacement is presently unknown.

Should Strikeforce be able to complete the visa process in time, there may be a possibility that Damm could still take part in the tournament, but the scenario is reportedly very unlikely. Strikeforce previously experienced similar issues with the June 26th “Fedor vs Werdum” event, which underwent last-minute changes after visas could not be secured in time for numerous M-1 fighters. Among those affected were unbeaten M-1 prospects Magomed “The Eagle” Shikshabekov and Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois.

Coker could not offer further comment Tuesday evening, but promised to provide an update on the ongoing situation in the next 24 hours. He maintained that the fault did not lie entirely with his promotion, but did not elaborate. MMARising.com will have further updates on this story and Strikeforce’s reaction as both become available.

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