As one of the very best female fighters in mixed martial arts for close to a decade, Tara LaRosa has faced a who’s who of the sport and has emerged victorious in all but two of her 20 career bouts. She will face Takayo Hashi in a five-round title fight for DaMMAge Fight League on November 24th.
After reigning over the 135-pound division, LaRosa dropped down in weight to 125 pounds in 2009 and now looks to solidify her legacy in a second weight class. As she trains for her bout with Hashi, LaRosa speaks exclusively with MMARising.com about her training, goals and future in the sport.
A seventh bout has been added to the upcoming all-female Valkyrie 8 event in Tokyo, Japan. Former top contender Emi Fujino will look to end her recent losing streak when she rematches Fight Chix representative Anna Saito on the November 28th card. The bout will be Saito’s first in over three years.
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.
Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada got back on the winning track on Monday at FiteNite 14 in Costa Rica. The popular lightweight defeated Ludwing “El Perro” Salazar with a second-round armbar in the night’s main event. The win was Imada’s 12th in his last 14 bouts.
Raging Wolf Women’s Flyweight Champion Alexis Davis rebounded from her non-title loss to Elaina Maxwell in August with a quick submission victory tonight. The jiu-jitsu ace defeated Tonya Evinger for the second time with a first-round rear-naked choke in the main event of Raging Wolf 10.
On October 28th at Bellator 34, something happened that had never taken place before: Megumi Fujii competed in a mixed martial arts bout and her hand was not raised in victory at its conclusion. Fujii was upset by Zoila Frausto, who became Bellator 115-Pound Women’s Champion.
Unbeaten 19-year-old prospect Tay Stratford will make her long-awaited Tuff-N-Uff debut on November 12th against Team Quest’s Shauna Dugger. The featured bout will be part of an eight-woman 145-pound tournament that will crown the first Tuff-N-Uff 145-pound amateur women’s champion.
Change was the central theme of the month of November. New champions were crowned in a variety of weight classes, while former divisional leaders suffered defeats. Cain Velasquez kept his unbeaten record intact when he dethroned Brock Lesnar to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion.