BigFight

I am a fan of mixed martial arts fighting.

The biggest fights are usually those put on by the UFC. Sadly, there is nothing in their line-up that I find intriguing before the end of April.

There is one fight outside of the UFC that I am really interested in.

March 3rd Rousey is attempting to take the Strikeforce 135 pound title.

So, a couple of little guys are fighting? Nope. The full names are Ronda Rousey and Misha Tate. They are female fighters.

Lots of drama going on. They seem to really hate each other, and Rousey usually fights at 145 and will have to cut 10 pounds. 10 pounds is a lot from people that size who don't carry any fat.

Usually, I must admit, female fighters do not get my interest. Misha Tate might be the champ with a 14-1 record, but there are just not that many female fighters. She is the best of a very shallow pool. The guys that size have to face a field dense with talent. The UFC men's 135 pounder champ is Dominick Cruz. He is 19-1 in a field full of talent. To claim that Tate has faced the same opposition as Cruz would be to claim that Laila Ali had risen through the same depth of field as a boxer as had her father, Muhammad Ali.

So why do I suddenly care about this women's bout. It isn't Tate, who might or might not be a good fighter. It is Ronda Rousey. She is the most decorated US woman in international Judo ever. Her accomplishments include a Silver at the 2007 world championship and a Bronze in the 2008 Olympics. Since 1962 when the Olympics accepted Judo, no American woman has ever gotten a medal of any kind.

OK, best US Judoka ever. That doesn't mean she can fight mma. She fought 3 amateur mma bouts. She won the first in 23 seconds with an armbar, the second in 57 seconds with an armbar, and the third in 24 seconds with an armbar. She then turned pro.

As a pro, she fought in March of 2011. It went all of 25 seconds and ended with an armbar.

Her second pro fight was in June. Another armbar win in 49 seconds. Do you see a pattern?

She won her third bout with an armbar of all things, in 25 seconds. This was in August.

Her final pro win left Rousey 4-0. It was in November of 2011. 39 seconds and it was over. Her opponent didn't tap quickly enough when Ronda applied the armbar, and the arm snapped.

She has fought mma 7 times altogether. None of the matches lasted as much as one minute, and all were ended with the same technique. I don't mind telling you that an armbar is darn hard to apply. It's almost impossible to use when your opponent expects it. I'm pretty sure the last few of her opponents trained specifically for an armbar and were as ready as they could make themselves. Didn't matter.

I've watched her fights on Youtube. She is frighteningly good.

I don't think Tate has any chance at all. I do not expect the fight to be competitive. I'd call it a moral victory for Tate if she lasts a single round. Hell, she will do well to last even half a round. Will she avoid the armbar, and force Rousey to destroy her some other way?

Tate's best chance to win is if Rousey can't make the weight.