Despite delays of up to 36 days in processing visa requests at the office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Strikeforce officials are still working to obtain a visa for Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm. The visa is required for Damm to compete as scheduled on August 13th in Phoenix, Arizona.
As first reported this morning on MMARising.com, Damm had reportedly provided Strikeforce with all required paperwork in advance. However, delays have now put her participation on the August card in serious jeopardy. She was set to be part of the one-night 135-pound women’s tournament.
Sources informed MMARising.com late Tuesday night that Damm’s participation in the tournament was highly unlikely even if the visa process could be expedited, but Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker maintains hope that a solution can be reached. He informed MMARising.com earlier tonight that a replacement participant has been found in the event that Damm is no longer able to take part. This information was repeated in a Strikeforce press release later this evening.
According to Coker, both Strikeforce and Damm’s team are “jumping through hoops” to try to secure the visa in time for the August 13th event, but Coker stated that the Rio de Janeiro office has been flooded with requests and that a 36-day waiting period is currently in effect. He said that both sides are doing everything possible to circumvent the standard wait times in order to allow for the Brazilian to make her Strikeforce debut as planned. At present, her participation remains unlikely, but an expedited ruling is a possibility and she could still compete.
“Never in the history of Strikeforce has it taken this long to get [a fighter] a visa,” said Coker. “We have [Ronaldo] ‘Jacaré’ [Souza], we have [Rafael] ‘Feijao’ [Cavalcante], we have a lot of fighters from Brazil. We’ve never had a situation where it’s taken this long [to obtain a visa], so we’re doing everything we can and we’re hopeful that it will all work out. If not, we have a replacement in mind.”
Further updates on Damm’s status for the August event should follow in the coming days as both sides work towards a last-minute resolution. Should Damm be unable to compete, her replacement will be announced shortly.
