Miesha in photo by Esther Lin
This Friday evening at Strikeforce Challengers 10 was a lively one. The spectators that crowded Dodge Theater in Phoenix, Arizona, witnessed a true show of fighting, and Miesha Tate was the grand winner of the female GP.
Carina Damm, who disputed the event’s welterweight GP, ended up submitting in the first round of the tournament. After an evenly-matched first round, in the second Hitomi Akano let her slick ground game shine through and, after trying for an armbar and omplata lock, she sunk a triangle choke to which the Brazilian succumbed.
In the tournament events that followed Akano dropped a unanimous decision to Miesha Tate, who won her semifinal match against Maiju Kujala in the same way. With the win Miesha will have a shot at the divisional title against the winner of the end-of-the-year showdown between Sarah Kaufman and challenger Marloes Coenen.
Besides the GP, Ryan Couture, son of former heavyweight and light heavyweight UFC champion Randy Couture, made his professional MMA debut tapping out Lucas Stark via triangle choke.
Check out the complete results:
Strikeforce Challengers 10
Phoenix, Arizona
Friday, August 13, 2010
Joe Riggs knocked out Louis Taylor
Ryan Couture submitted Lucas Stark via triangle choke
Female GP
Hitomi Akano submitted Carina Damm via triangle
Miesha Tate defeated Kujala Maiju via unanimous decision
Final
Miesha Tate defeated Hitomi Akano via unanimous decision
(Collaborator: Junior Samurai)