CARANO, LAROSA, SEXTON, AND FUJII HOLD STRONG IN WAMMA FEMALE RANKINGS
Philadelphia, PA - The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA/www.GoWAMMA.com) has released its female fighter rankings for the month of May and Gina Carano, Tara LaRosa, Rosi Sexton, and Megumi Fujii all remain ranked number one in their respective weight classes for the second consecutive month.
Fujii debuted as the number one ranked fighter in the 115 pound weight class that was added by WAMMA's female rankings committee last month as the fourth recognized weight class by the fighter and fan forward sanctioning body. The month of May saw little change in the 115 pound rankings, with the only significant move being Yuka Tsuji supplanting Lisa Ward as the division's second best rated fighter.
Despite having a fight canceled vs. American Top Team's Jessica Aguilar that had been set to take place during the debut of the Bellator Fighting Championships in April, WAMMA pollsters still sought fit to once again vote Rosi Sexton as the number one 125 pound fighter in the world. With a record of 9-1 with notable wins over ranked fighters such as Carina Damm, "Windy" Tomomi Sunaba, and Julia Berezikova, Sexton is not only considered the top 125 pound fighter in the world but one of female MMA's top pound-for-pound fighters.
After sitting on the sidelines for all of 2008, former BodogFIGHT women's champion Tara LaRosa has kept herself active in 2009 having competed twice for Monte Cox's Extreme Challenge promotion in Atlantic City, N.J.. Despite winning her January fight vs. Alexis Davis at a catchweight of 130 pounds and her March 28 fight vs. Sally Krumdiak at 125 pounds, LaRosa still received the nod as WAMMA's top-ranked 135 pound fighter for the third month in a row.
"Despite LaRosa's recent focus on competing at 125 pounds, her lifetime body of work is so impressive that WAMMA's rankings committee must feel compelled to continue to rank her as the top 135 pound fighter in the world," said interim WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Sam Caplan. "Until someone is able to beat Tara, it's hard to argue with her being ranked at the top of a weight class in which she has spent the vast majority of her career at. It will be interesting to see if Tara continues to compete at 125 as to whether she can pull off the amazing milestone of simultaneously holding a number one ranking in two separate weight classes."
LaRosa, a purple belt under the legendary Royce Gracie who now trains out of the Fight Factory in Philadelphia, revealed during this week's edition of the FOX Fight Game with Mike Straka that she will be returning to action for Extreme Challenge on June 5. According to LaRosa, her management has also been involved in negotiations with both Strikeforce and the Bellator Fighting Championships.
While Carano holds steady as the number one ranked fighter at 145 pounds, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos has fallen to being ranked in a tie for the division's third best fighter after holding sole possession of second place in April. The drop comes in spite of the Brazilian's third round TKO over Hitomi Akano -- the eighth-best rated 135 pound fighter in the world -- during Strikeforce's April 11 event in San Jose, Calif. Clearly, WAMMA pollsters took Cyborg's inability to meet her contractual weight obligations into consideration when casting their ballots this month.
"Santos' inability to make weight was no doubt a tremendous disappointment to the female MMA community," Caplan began. "However, she has acknowledged her mistake and has showed a great deal of contrition. She has also vowed to never miss weight again and while I can't speak for the rankings committee, one can only assume that WAMMA's pollsters will penalize her further if she doesn't keep her word."
In another noteworthy change to WAMMA's female rankings, Sarah Kaufman has moved up to number five in the 135 pound rankings. She is reportedly involved in negotiations to put her 8-0 record on the line on Showtime during a May 15 telecast of Strikeforce's ShoMMA fight series against wrestling standout Miesha Tate. Despite not being ranked in the top ten at 135, Tate is considered one of female's MMA rising stars with a 5-1 record that includes first round finishes in her last three fights.
WAMMA's female rankings committee, headed by MMAjunkie.com lead reporter John Morgan, is scheduled to convene again in June with the industry poll featuring some of the MMA community's top fighters, trainers, and media personalities. To access May's rankings in their entirety, please visit www.GoWAMMA.com and click on the "Rankings" tab at the top of the page.
