Strikeforce and BodogFIGHT veteran Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm has verbally agreed to face unbeaten 125-pound prospect Cat “Alpha” Albert at Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” on December 10th. Matchmaker Chris Nelson confirmed the fight’s status with MMARising.com tonight.
The featured matchup replaces a previously planned women’s bout between Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez and Emily “The Enforcer” Klinefelter. Gutierrez was first slated to face Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman, but was ultimately forced off of the card due to a scheduling conflict with another fight.
News of the bout between Damm (15-4-0) and Albert (4-0-0) was first reported by SportsGeeks earlier this evening. Albert, who also goes by her married name of Cat Zingano, has quickly risen to become one of the top prospects at 125 pounds and a victory over Damm would solidify her status among the best fighters in the division. Three of her four wins have come by stoppage and she is 2-0 in 2010. The Colorado native has displayed well-rounded skills thus far, but will give up a significant amount of experience to her opponent.
Damm, meanwhile, has encountered a tumultuous second half of 2010. The Brazilian standout was nearly forced out of the August Strikeforce 135-pound women’s tournament due to visa issues, but a last-minute resolution was secured. She was defeated in the tournament semi-finals by Hitomi Akano, but had looked to rebound with a fight on the ill-fated Fury 2 card in Macau last month. The event was cancelled at the last minute amongst allegations of embezzlement which have still yet to be resolved and Damm returned to her new home in Florida.
Once more, visa issues posed problems for the jiu-jitsu ace in late October and she was nearly forced to return to Brazil. With the troubles now behind her, Damm will aim to hand Albert her first career defeat. Damm had won ten straight fights prior to the loss to Akano.
In the second women’s bout on the card, Nina Ansaroff (1-0-0) will look to follow up on her upset victory over reigning SNMMA Flyweight Champion Catia Vitoria in September when she battles HOOKnSHOOT veteran Patti Lee (3-3-0). Ansaroff surprised many with her non-title win over Vitoria at “Fall Brawl,” while Lee, a 2007 HOOKnSHOOT Women’s Tournament finalist, most recently submitted Amanda LaVoy in early October.
Gutierrez will no longer compete on the Winter Brawl card, but will instead face Deborah Garcia at South Texas Fighting Championships 14 on November 27th.
Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” takes place on December 10th at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
OMG, I am so excited to see this fight!!!
Should be a great fight Cat has a ton of skill and her talent has no where reached its full potential
[…] Courtesy of Robert Sargent/MMARising.com […]