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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship will be on the line this March when Strikeforce returns to Columbus, Ohio. According to a report from MMAWeekly.com, Miesha Tate will defend her belt for the first time against Ronda Rousey on the March 3 card.
Tate captured the belt in June with an excellent arm triangle submission of Marloes Coenen, her sixth straight win overall. The 25-year-old Champion was expected to defend the belt against Sarah Kaufman first, one of only two fighters who have ever defeated her, but the appealing candidate in Rousey was who Strikeforce has decided to go with.
Rousey, a former Olympic Bronze medalist in Judo, has torn through every fighter she's faced thus far in her MMA career. She won three fights as an amateur by armbar in under a minute, and has now won four straight fights in her professional career in the same manner. Her longest professional fight last :49 seconds, and she finished her last opponent, Julia Budd, in just :39 seconds. She drops to the bantamweight division for the first time.
Penick's Analysis: It's not at all a surprising booking, as Strikeforce has two attractive female fighters to pit against one another. Rousey has been spectacular, even if she's been relatively untested and unproven, but she makes for a big test for Tate, who has been outspoken about her belief that Rousey hasn't done anything to earn this shot. Still, she'll take the fight, and she'll attempt to back up her comments with a victory. This should be a great women's fight for Strikeforce's second straight March event in Columbus.
UPDATE: According to subsequent reports, and a tweet from Rousey, the fight has not officially been signed. However, it is definitely the targeted bout, and all sides are currently in negotiations to make the fight happen on the March 3 card.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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