This Week in Women's MMA - November 28

It's This Week in Women's MMA! A couple of days late, but better late than never! Because seriously, who would prefer never? You would have to be a d**k to rather have something never than late. The only exception might be dairy products, since expiration dates are such a touchy issue. Yuck, spoiled milk!

No spoiled milk ahead of us here! Just women's MMA and...not a whole lot of it! Look, there's really only one pro fight this weekend. It's disappointing, I know, but hey! Less work for me! And don't you want me to have less work to do? What if I told you it was my birthday, would you want less work for me then? God, you people. What's wrong with you today!? Maybe it's just me...

But right, let's look at the big fight in the week ahead as well as results from the big Thanksgiving weekend of MMA action!

NAAFS Night of Champions (11/23/2011) - 125 pounds Title: (c) Aisling Daly d. Kelly Warren (Submission - Round 2, 4:39)

This ended up being quite the battle and it looked like Warren might end up taking the fight. The fight spent significant time in the clinch and Warren was having luck with knees and elbows. In the second round, Warren defended a Daly takedown and ended up in guard, but Daly managed to pull off the armbar victory. Warren was unhappy with the stoppage, but replays clearly showed Warren having tapped.

For Kelly Warren, this was the second time in a row that she missed weight upon initial weigh-ins. While Warren was able to make weight on a second effort, this is not a good thing. Add to that her dispute over a clear tap and you can definitely say that Kelly Warren has not had a great 2011.

Aisling Daly, meanwhile, is very much looking forward to 2012 and a potential Bellator appearance. There have been strong rumors that the 125 pound division would see a spring tournament, though Bjorn Rebney failed to commit to that when listing upcoming tournaments for the spring. Daly made a push in her post fight interview to appear in a potential tournament.

NAAFS Night of Champions (11/23/2011) - 125 pounds: Jessica Eye d. Jennifer Scott (Unanimous Decision)

Eye took a unanimous decision that by all accounts was complete and utter destruction. Eye pounded Scott with some solid boxing and heavy leg kicks for the better part of 15 minutes, which would explain the 30-27 scores across all scorecards. Eye is another fighter that merits consideration should Bellator put on a 125 pound tournament.

Rumble of the Kings (11/26/2011) - 125 pounds: Hanna Sillen d. Katrina Teer (Unanimous Decision)

Not a lot of details for this one, but Sillen was able to improve her record to 5-1 with a victory over Teer, who took the defeat in her first ever professional fight.

Pancrase Impressive Tour 12 (11/27/2011) - 100 pounds: Fukuko Hamada draws Kayo Nagayasu

I very much wanted to throw my weight behind this being a draw, since about 80% of Japanese MMA fights end in draws, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. In the end, I hesitantly thought Nagayasu would take the victory but she and Hamada fought to a split draw. Each fighter took a 20-19 scorecard, while the third was scored at 19-19.

Other Fights

Okay, so there was a bit of fight confusion this week that I'm still working to clarify. There were two bouts I didn't include last week, which was Jeri Sitzes vs. Jessica Bartness and Romy Ruyssen vs. Florence Berthet. The first fight, as I understand it, might have been contested under modified rules. Both women are kickboxers and I know Sitzes was victorious, though it remains to be seen if this will be included on both women's MMA records.

As for Ruyssen vs. Berthet, I had no idea this fight happened until it was done and have never even heard of Berthet. Ruyssen picked up the win via guillotine choke, her fifth win via submission. Ruyssen should not be taking on fighters I have no clue about given her resume. Though only 5-1, she holds victories over Sheila Gaff and Maria Hougaard Nielsen while only facing defeat at the hands of Marloes Coenen.

This Week’s Picks: 3-0-1
Overall Total: 9-0-1

Undefeated! Still undefeated! I am a winner! Granted, I haven't had many hard decisions to make. This could actually very well be the week that my perfect record goes up in smoke. Though we only have one fight, it should be a very competitive bout.

XFC 15 (12/2/2011) 115 pounds: Carla Esparza (5-2, No. 15 WFW, No. 10 WLW) vs. Felice Herrig (5-3)

Very, very intriguing bout here, and it's one we all should be able to see live on HDNet! Esparza is a two time All-American wrestler out of Menlo College and has made a very smooth transition to MMA. Her 5-2 record is punctuated with a big win over Lacey Schuckman from July 2010. Her only two losses were from her two Bellator appearances against Jessica Aguilar and Megumi Fujii.

Herrig has a very similar resume, holding a 5-3 record which includes her most recent win over Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc. After starting her career at 0-2, she has rallied back to win five of her last six contests with the sole loss to rising star Barb Honchak. Herrig has a strong kickboxing background though she only holds one win via knockout in MMA. She trains with Team Curran in suburban Chicago and has definitely improved her submission game over the last couple of years.

It should also be noted that Felice Herrig is a Twitter fiend. That girl is all over Twitter, something I've noted in the past. Pictures of herself going to the bathroom? Sure! Random pictures of her butt for no apparent reason? Yep, why not? I can't even keep up with her antics, though I know it sometimes doesn't go over well with her fellow WMMA competitors. Herrig is certainly aesthetically pleasing and is not afraid to take advantage of that, but she can back it up when it comes time to fight.

As for this fight, I kinda like Esparza to take a decision. Felice's absolute best option is to avoid takedowns and keep this fight standing. She can pull off a submission if need be, but I don't think she'll get one against Esparza. Carla's wrestling is very, very strong. If she's able to score some takedowns, she'll be able to take the win in this contest. It will be a matter of seeing how strong Herrig's takedown defense is in this contest - she'll surely be put to the test.

Aw, that's all! Just one fight! Another relevant note was provided by The Midge last week, as it looks like Holly Holm will be boxing this coming Friday. Holm is one of the top women's boxers and holds a 2-0 mark in MMA. She's certainly looking like a force to be reckoned with having knocked out veterans Jan Finney and Christina Domke. Here's to hoping we see Holm make her way to Strikeforce very soon!

Looking forward, there's only one fight next week as well! This could be another short one unless something is announced in the meantime. This might just be the calm before the storm, as December 17 is looking like a huge day for WMMA! Not only is there a Jewels event featuring ten ranked female fighters, but Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos makes her long awaited return against second ranked 145 pounder Hiroko Yamanaka. I'll make sure to get my rest in the next couple of weeks so I'm on top of my game for that huge day!