Fighter Profile: Roxanne Modafferi

Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.

Women’s MMA trailblazer Roxanne Modafferi hung up her gloves at UFC 271 after 19 years as a professional fighter. Modafferi ended her career with a record of 25-20 and that didn’t include her record of 3-2 in exhibition fights on the Ultimate Fighter which adds up to a stunning 50 fights in her career. Modafferi had the whole crowd roaring and applauding when former UFC Champion Daniel Cormier Interviewed her after her final performance in the UFC Octagon.

Modafferi was born on September 24, 1982 in Wilmington, Delaware. The Happy Warrior got her start in Taekwondo. Modafferi would then quickly move on to study Kenpo Karate. She’d then start training in Judo where she holds a Brown Belt. Modaferri would also earn a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Mike Pyle and Evan Dunham. She’d move to Japan and it was here that she’d start looking seriously at competing in both Jiu Jitsu and MMA.

Modafferi would make her MMA debut in November of 2003 when she’d face off against Hikaru Shinohara in the Smackgirl promotion. She’d win by Submission (Armbar.) In her pre UFC career she’d win the IFC women’s Middleweight Title. She’d then win the FFF Lightweight title. She’d also Fight for The Strikeforce Bantamweight title. She’d eventually get the call to go on the Ultimate Fighter. She’d be on the eighteenth season of the Show which was coached by Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. She’d lose on the show but would still get a shot on the Finale.

Modafferi would make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate Finale, unfortunately for her it would be a loss. She’d then Fight for Invicta before getting the call to fight on The Ultimate Fighter: A New World Champion which introduced the Flyweight division to the UFC. Modafferi would lose on the show but she’d end up in a title fight for the Inaugural UFC Flyweight title. This would be a loss for Modafferi but she had found her MMA forever home and would fight her last fight with the promotion five years later.

We wish Modafferi the best in retirement as she is a true trailblazer In the sport of MMA. The happy warrior gets to walk into the sunset as a UFC fighter, an amazing feat considering Women weren’t in the UFC.

FIGHTER PROFILE: HOLLY HOLM

Holly Holm is one of MMA’s biggest stars who’s faced some of the biggest names in the sport. Holm who started off as a boxer and transitioned to MMA has produced some of the sports wildest moments including an upset victory against Ronda Rousey. Holm is always training and even at forty is producing some great fights and is second in the UFC Women’s Bantamweight division, an impressive feat for any athlete especially in a sport whose athletes have a short shelf life.

Holm was born on October 17, 1981 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her father is a Church of Christ preacher and her mother is a massage therapist. Her parents divorced when Holm was in High School. Holm always was an athlete; she competed in gymnastics, swimming and diving. Holm also played soccer when she was younger. When Holm was 16 she was taking an aerobics class and her cardio kickboxing teacher Mike Winkeljohn noticed her abilities and encouraged her to train, which Holm did and was a natural.

Holm would win the International Rules Adult Women’s Welterweight Division championship at the International Kickboxing Federation (IKF) USA National Amateur Championship Tournament. Holm would finish her amateur kickboxing record career with a 6–0–2 record. Holm would then go on to start a professional boxing career. Holm held several boxing world titles and is considered to be one of the best female boxers of all time. Holm finished her boxing career in 2013 while fighting MMA at the same time.

Holm started her MMA career in 2011 when she beat Christina Domke by TKO (leg kicks.) for the Fresquez Productions promotion which was owned by her Boxing Promoter, Lenny Fresquez. From there Holm Would move on to Bellator and then Legacy FC before signing with The UFC. Her first fight in the UFC would be against Raquel Pennington, Holm would win via a split decision. From there she’d face Marion Reneau in July of 2015 she’d win by unanimous decision. Holm would then go on to face Ronda Rousey for the Bantamweight title she’d win by KO (head kick and punches.) In her next fight she’d lose the title to Miesha Tate.

Since losing her title Holm has gone on to face some of the toughest names in the Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions including tough loses to Cris Cyborg, Amanda Nunes, and Valentina Schevchenko. She is a great fighter and is currently ranked second in the Bantamweight division and sixth in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings and is riding a two fight win streak with victories against Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana.

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Miesha Tate To Be The Focus of New Documentary ‘Miesha Tate 2.0’

Miesha Tate Beats Marion Reneau via 3rd-Round TKO in Return at UFC on ESPN 26 | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights — *Jeff Bottari/Getty Images*

Miesha Tate will make her second appearance in the UFC Octagon on Saturday night after cutting her retirement short. The former Bantamweight Champion hopes to climb the rankings and earn herself another shot at the division’s title. Tate who in her short lived retirement took on a role for One Fighting Championship and became a mother twice over.

Tate will be the subject of a new documentary from the producers of UFC countdown entitled ‘Miesha Tate 2.0’ and will focus on Tate’s return to the UFC Octagon. The documentary doesn’t appear to have a release date, but will go straight to UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s exclusive streaming service.

The documentary will focus on Tate making her comeback this summer with a TKO victory over Marion Reneau. It was her first fight since her loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in November of 2016. Tate proved that she had not experienced any ring rust and put together a dominant performance that put her back in the Bantamweight Standings.

Tate is currently ranked eighth and she hopes to earn her way to a higher spot in the rankings in hopes of hopefully getting a title shot and reclaiming the belt she won against Holly Holm and lost to Amanda Nunes who has held it since then.

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3 Great MMA Fights Still To Come in November!

Miesha Tate to Headline UFC Fight Night Card vs. Ketlen Vieira on October 16 | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights — Miesha Tate will return to the UFC Octagon on November 20th. Photo Courtesy of Zuffa LLC

November started off great for the MMA world! UFC 268 was this weekend with some amazing fights, but much like New York where UFC 268 was held the MMA world never sleeps. There are still some great fights coming up in November across both the UFC and Bellator. We’ll see returns to the UFC octagon from former champions Max Holloway and Miesha Tate. On The Bellator Side of things we’ll see the return of Featherweight Champion Cris Cyborg.

November 12: Cris Cyborg Vs. Sinead Kavanagh

On November 12th Cris Cyborg will make her return to the Bellator cage at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL to Defend her Featherweight title for a third time against Sinead Kavanagh. Cyborg has been undefeated in the Bellator Cage and the only other loss of career was in her first fight and her second to last fight in the UFC against Amanda Nunes when Cyborg lost her UFC Featherweight title. Sinead Kavanagh is coming off back to back wins in her last two fights the first being against Olga Rubin at Bellator 234 and her last fight against Katharina Lehner at Bellator Milan. Should be an exciting fight for the title.

November 13: Max Holloway vs. Yair Rodríguez

Former Featherweight Champion Max Holloway found his way back into the win column when he faced Calvin Kattar in January 2021. Holloway lost back to back fights to current Featherweight Champion Alexander Vokanovski before that. Yair Rodríguez is currently ranked third in the Featherwieght Division. Rodríguez is coming off back to back fights against Jeremy Stephens. The first fight between Rodriguez and Stephens ended in a no contest due to an eye poke, and the last fight was a win for Rodriguez. This should be a great fight with title implications on the line for both fighters.

November 20: Ketlen Vieira Vs. Miesha Tate

Miesha Tate made her comeback this summer with a TKO victory over Marion Reneau. It was her first fight since her loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in November of 2016. Tate proved that she had not experienced any ring rust and put together a dominant performance that put her back in the Bantamweight Standings. Tate is currently ranked eighth and she hopes to earn her way to a higher spot in the rankings in hopes of hopefully getting a title shot and reclaiming the belt she won against Holly Holm and lost to Amanda Nunes who has held it since then.

Ketlen Vieira will be standing in her way however. Vieira is currently ranked seventh in the Bantamweight division. She is coming off a loss to Yana Kunitskaya in February of 2021. Vieira who is a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and in Judo hopes to add a win on to her impressive 11-2 record and get her one step closer to a title.

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5 Odd Fighter Omissions From The JRE MMA Show

Joe Rogan is the most popular podcast host in the world. His podcast the Joe Rogan Experience was recently bought by Spotify for 100 million. One of the best things about the JRE podcast is the JRE MMA show where Rogan sits with MMA’s biggest stars and talks to them for multiple hours covering an array of fascinating topics from Francis Ngannou talking about life as a child laborer in Africa to Stipe Miocic talking about being a firefighter in his time away from the sport. Last week Rogan sat down with the most dominant Women’s Flyweight champion ever, Valentina Schevchenko. And it makes one think of who are the odd omissions to the JRE MMA show.

5. Daniel Cormier

After his retirement from fighting in 2020 Cormier has filled his days as a UFC broadcaster for ESPN commentating for PPV, Fight Night cards, and on Tuesday Night’s Dana White’s Contender series. When not in the broadcast booth Cormier has his own podcast, but interestingly enough Cormier and Rogan who share the UFC broadcast booth haven’t sat down and done a podcast together.

4. Amanda Nunes

Rogan has sat down with many notable women’s MMA fighters including Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, and Schevchenko. But Rogan has not sat down for a podcast with arguably the greatest female MMA fighter of all time Amanda Nunes. Nunes who became the first simultaneous female two division Champion has defended both her belts multiple times and it seems like no one can stop her. Rogan has shown nothing but praise for Amanda Nunes.

3. Tony Furgeson

One of the most impressive win streaks in MMA history was Tony Furgeson’s 12 fight win streak. Furgeson climbed to the top of the lightweight division during this historic stretch. Ferguson has been cornered by Rogan’s friend Eddie Bravo. They both also have Black Belts Under Bravo. So it seems strange that the two wouldn’t have sat down and done a podcast by now. Furgeson unfortunately has been on a three fight skid and has taken time off from fighting. Furgeson is currently trading verbal barbs with Conor McGregor on Twitter. It’d be interesting to hear Furgeson and Rogan talk about the fight game

2. The Diaz Brothers

Nate and Nick Diaz both returned to the UFC Octagon in 2021. Unfortunately they both didn’t win, but they both showed why they are fan favorites. Rogan has talked about how enjoys both of the Diaz brothers and their authenticity. Rogan has talked about how ridiculous Nick’s suspension was, and how it was harsh considering that his opponent Anderson Silva tested positive for steroids and got less of a suspension. Rogan who has been an open champion for marijuana and the drugs positive uses and they’d definitely have an interesting dialogue.

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov has been retired from fighting MMA for about a year now. Nurmagomedov who showed complete dominance in The UFC Octagon with an undefeated record has taken up coaching and has been very successful as a coach. It is no doubt that Rogan and Nurmagomedov would have a fascinating dialogue about fighting and coaching a sport that they both love. Nurmagomedov, whose native tongue is Russian, has said in the past that he would do the podcast if his English got better eventually. It’d be interesting if Rogan got his friend Lex Fridman a native Russian speaker who is also a Brazillian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, who could translate anything that Nurmagomedov could not express properly. It’d be a fascinating podcast episode.

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FIGHTER PROFILE: ‘ALPHA’ CAT ZINGANO

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 03: (R-L) Cat Zingano punches Ketlen Vieira of Brazil in their women's bantamweight bout during the UFC 222 event inside T-Mobile Arena on March 3, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) — Photo courtesy of Zuffa llc.

One of Bellator MMA’s biggest signings coming out of the UFC is number three ranked featherweight, Cat Zingano. Zingano has made her way across many weight classes in her career fighting some of the top names in women’s MMA. Zingano will hopefully get a title shot soon as she is now 2-0 in the promotion and that division in Bellator is packed with talent and amazing fights that could be made within the division.

Zingano started her combat sports career at age 12 when she started wrestling. Zingano would find this to be a great sport for her to compete in and would compete in the sport until she finished college. Zingano would become a four time All American and national champion. Zingano. After college Zingano found her way into a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym where she gained enough knowledge to start competing in BJJ tournaments. Zingano would go onto win multiple notable tournaments, including the World Championships (Mundials) in Los Angeles and the Rio de Janeiro State Championships in Brazil.

Zingano Would start competing in MMA shortly after starting her BJJ training. Her first amateur fight would be against Ann Wyborny. Zingano would win by TKO (punches.) She’d go on to win three of her four amateur fights. Zingano decided to go pro and would make her pro debut in June of 2008 Karina Taylor at Ring of Fire 32. She’d win by submission(armbar.) She’d go on to fight in multiple promotions but eventually would end up fighting for Invicta FC where she’d return to Bantamweight.

Eventually Zingano Would find her way to the biggest MMA promotion in the world and would get the honor of fighting in the second Women’s MMA bout in the promotions history. She’d face Miesha Tate and would win by TKO (knees and elbow) becoming the first woman to win by technical knockout in the UFC. She’d go on to win her next fight which happened to be against the greatest woman MMA fighter in history, Amanda Nunes. She’d go on a skid after blowing out her knee when she was supposed to coach season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter. Zingano would end up losing a title bout to Ronda Rousey.

On August 14, 2019 the UFC announced that Zingano had been cut from the promotion. Two months later it was announced that Zingano had signed to Bellator. Zingano would make her promotional debut 11 months later with a win over Gabby Holloway at UFC 245. In her next fight for the promotion he’d go on to face Olivia Parker and would win by Submission(armbar.)

Zingano is currently ranked 3rd in the Bellator MMA featherweight rankings and 8th in the Bellator’s Pound for Pound Women’s rankings.

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FIGHTER PROFILE: MIESHA ‘CUPCAKE’ TATE

(Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) — Tate lands a kick on Holly Holm. (Photo Courtesy of Zuffa.)

Miesha Tate made her return to the UFC in July of 2021 with a win over Marion Reneau. Tate who is a former UFC and Strikeforce champion has made a career out of amazing risks that definitely paid off none more riskier than making a return to the octagon after five years off. Tate was supposed to fight again on October 16th in a main event against Ketlen Vieira, unfortunately Tate contracted Covid and is out of the five round bout. But Tate will come back stronger. She’s always been about overcoming obstacles going from living in a trailer behind her gym to being a champion.

Tate was born on August 18, 1986 to Michelle Tate in Tacoma Washington. Tate was raised by her mother and her husband Robert Schmidt. Tate would attend Franklin Pearce High School, where she’d start her journey towards MMA Gold when she decided to join the wrestling team. Tate would join the boy’s team and would compete for four years and would win the state championship her senior year. Tate would go on to attend Central Washington University, where she’d join the MMA club after it was pointed out by friends how much she’d enjoy the experience.

Although Tate was weary of starting to fight MMA because of the sport’s heavy emphasis on punching over just grappling like her love of wrestling and not wanting to get punched Tate would take her first amateur fight in March of 2006, against Elizabeth Posener. Tate would go on to lose the bout and would say of the experience “I finally realized what I was there to do, and accepted the harsh truth this wasn’t a wrestling match. It was a fight.” Tate would go on to win her next five amateur fights and would end her amateur career with a 5–1 before turning pro.

Tate would go on to start a pro career in MMA. Tate would win her first MMA title by defeating Liz Carreiro at Freestyle Cage Fighting 30 by submission. Tate would defend the title once by submitting, Valerie Coolbaugh. Tate would then move permanently to Strikeforce where she’d become Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship in 2011, when she defeated Marloes Coenen by Submission (arm-triangle choke.) Tate would go on to lose her belt to Ronda Rousey.

Strikeforce would eventually be bought by the UFC. And with the merger of the two organizations the UFC got all of Strikeforce’s fighters. Tate would go on to lose her UFC debut against Cat Zingano. Oddly enough Tate’s next fight was for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship against Ronda Rousey as she was a stand in for Zingano as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter the first season to feature women. Tate would lose her championship bout to Rousey, but would eventually win The UFC title against Holly Holm. Tate would unsuccessfully defend the belt against Amanda Nunes who still holds the belt to this day. Tate would step away from competing in the sport after a loss to Raquel Pennington.

In her time away from competing in the sport Tate would get a job as the Vice President of ONE fighting championship in 2018. Tate would also become a mother during this time, but Fighting was in the cards again for Tate who stepped back into the UFC Octagon in July of 2021. Tate is currently ranked eighth in the UFC Bantamweight division.

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