2004 Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann put her wrestling skills to good use this evening in the co-main event of ProElite 3: “Grove vs Minowa” in Honolulu, Hawaii. McMann earned the biggest win of her MMA career and kept her perfect record intact by defeating Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano.
McMann threw Akano to the mat countless times in their three-round bout and showcased a considerable strength advantage over her Japanese foe by controlling the fight wherever it went. Akano was active from the bottom, but it was not enough and McMann earned a dominant Unanimous Decision.
McMann (5-0-0) took Akano (18-9-0) down very early in the fight and avoided a guillotine choke before getting to work with strikes from the top. Akano managed to scramble back to full guard, but McMann stayed busy with short punches until referee Yuji Shimada called for a break. Mere seconds elapsed before McMann slammed Akano down again. She threatened with both a rear-naked choke and an arm-triangle choke late in the round.
It was more of the same in the second stanza, as McMann once again bullied her opponent with violent slam takedowns and punches from top position. When the fighters were stood up, McMann displayed improved striking skills and connected with a right hook and a grazing head kick before the fight returned to the mat. Akano worked diligently for a Kimura, but had no luck. The fight returned to the feet and McMann scored another takedown. She landed punches from the top, but a crafty Akano trapped her in a triangle choke before the bell sounded.
Seemingly up two rounds to zero, McMann did not let up at all as the fight entered round three. She took Akano back down and peppered her with punches while trying to pass to side control. When Akano attempted a triangle choke, McMann powered out and stood. She landed a nice flurry and slammed Akano back down, then finished the round strong with yet another takedown.
The judges were united in their verdict and all awarded the bout to McMann, who will now take a big step up the bantamweight ranks.
Winner: Sara McMann by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. She improves to 5-0-0.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)
That’s how I saw the fight going. Akano is too small for Sara.
Hope Sara takes on Ronda and smashes her, provided she beats Miesha!
I was hoping Akano could pull off a win some how. 🙁
i must give a compliment to you robert , you are the first media besides lacey , who actually reports the facts of rousey and her ducking fights and her excuses. i love how you point out in your womensmma report on junkie, that 1 rousey turned down a fight against mcmann ., her excuse was it was too unhealthy for rousey to cut to 135 , and then once cyborg got resigned then rousey ducked her and decided to push her looks and her record over inexperienced fighters to pass over much more deserving fighters . i personally can’t wait for rousey to get punched out she needs an attitude adjustment , mcmann has fought more fights and against much better opponnents . rousey has cherry picked her way . its too bad more media didn’t push about how this fight with tate-rousey sends the wrong message about womens fighting. the thing about rousey is i am going to bust a gut laughing when she fails to make weight . thats ok even if rousey beats tate ( which i think she is going to, because they are both 1 dimensional fighters ,no stand up )i am sure she will get exposed just like brock ,once someone stops her arm bar , she hasn’t had to try anything else , so once someone defends it rousey will be lost .i think the tate rousey fight will be interesting , but i think rousewy if she makes weight will be too big for miesha,