Ronda Rousey (top) earned the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Title along with her fifth straight first-round win via Armbar when she dislocated Miesha Tate's (bottom) elbow. (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
Strikeforce comes back in a big way for its second offering of 2012 as the ladies took center stage for only the second time in promotional history. Just like the first time when “Cyborg” Cristiane Santos (10-1) took the women’s 145lbs. title from “Conviction” Gina Carano (7-1), the headlining bout was an ultra-hyped, fast paced affair in which the challenger dominated completely. “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey (5-0) took just over four minutes to severely damage “Takedown” Miesha Tate’s (12-3) arm en route to a championship victory. Lightweight title contenders met as KJ Noons (11-5) dropped a lackluster decision to “The Punk” Josh Thomson (19-4). British bomber “Semtex” Paul Daley (29-12) continued his downward slide as “Hitman” Kazuo Misaki (25-11) took control of their fight. Journeyman Lumumba Sayers (6-2) made certain that “Hands of Steel” Scott Smith (17-10) had a very disappointing welcome back to the middleweight division and former champ “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (15-3) returned to his winning ways against Strikeforce newcomer Bristol Marunde (12-7). The main event delivered on its hype and the card was solid, but not everyone can be a winner. To assess the damage, MMA Gospel has “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”.
