Voting for the 2010 Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards has now concluded and winners have been crowned in 18 categories. With a perfect campaign in 2010, Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Tournament Champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate has been named the 2010 Female Fighter of the Year.
The past twelve months featured a number of excellent women’s bouts, but only one could be named Fight of the Year. This year, that honour went to the back-and-forth battle between Roxanne Modafferi and Tara LaRosa from Moosin: “God of Martial Arts.” A full list of all award winners is below.
With a kick that was felt throughout the MMA world, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis put a stamp on his five-round victory over Ben “Smooth” Henderson to become WEC Lightweight Champion at WEC 53 on December 16th. Pettis enters the 155-pound ranks and should challenge for UFC gold in 2011.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, tonight with a New Year’s card at UFC 125: “Resolution.” The event was headlined by a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and Gray “The Bully” Maynard.
Fighting and Entertainment Group showcased its annual New Year’s Eve extravaganza tonight at K-1 Dynamite!! “Power of Courage 2010.” The event was headlined by a DREAM Featherweight Championship rematch between Bibiano “The Flash” Fernandes and Hiroyuki “Streetfight Bancho” Takaya.
Japanese stars Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii and Rin Nakai both picked up convincing victories tonight at the all-day Sengoku Raiden Championship: “Soul of Fight” event in Tokyo, Japan. Fujii earned a dominant decision win over Emi Fujino, while Nakai submitted journeywoman Mika “Hari” Harigai.
More fights are in the works for the upcoming UFC 128 event on March 19th. Former WEC champions Urijah Faber and Eddie Wineland are expected to compete in a bantamweight bout on the card, while Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub takes on Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović in heavyweight action.
A long-rumoured heavyweight bout between Strikeforce and K-1 champion Alistair Overeem and former UFC prospect Todd Duffee has been officially confirmed for K-1 Dynamite!! 2010 on New Year’s Eve. The late addition to the card was announced today and will now be a DREAM title fight.
A welterweight bout between former UFC title challenger Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy and hard-hitting striker Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is in the works for next March. MMAjunkie.com reports that the matchup will likely serve as the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 24 on March 26th in Seattle.