Roll the tanks! Circle up the fans! No, it’s not a captive audience for RAW! Welcome to Russia as BodogFight brings you episode number 4. And, it’s Ladies Night too! Yowsa! Pull up the Barcalounger and crack open a beverage, Bodog brings you a night of the world most dangerous females in MMA action.

We head to our first venue, the Shinjuku Face in lovely Tokyo, Japan. The first of two fights here features Hitomi Akano (9-2, 6 subs) against Tama Chan (12-5, 2 TKO, 3 subs).

1 - HITOMI AKANO vs. TAMA CHAN

ROUND ONE: Chan comes out to the raucous applause of about 10 people in attendance. Chan clearly is looking for the best (or most awkwardly) dressed award of the evening. She is resplendent in shiny lime green tank top and shorts with a bright red ladybug emblazoned on her back and shorts. Akano enters to the same applause and sticks to basic black. The bell rings and away we go. Chan is the aggressor and throws a fair number of leg kicks and jabs, none of which appear to have much effect. Still, the exchanges lean her way as Chan grapples with Akano and bulls her around the ring. Chan scores a single leg takedown into Akano’s half-guard when, because they are near the ropes, the referee pulls them toward the center of the ring. I thought this was odd as neither fighter released their grip in the least and the ref just dragged the combination towards the middle. I took a look in my beer for foreign additives and went back to the show. Back in the ring, Akano sweeps to Chan’s guard and keeps trying to get a stepover to set up an armbar, Chan defends it well and the round ends. Tough round to call, but me and the wife gave it to Chan as she was more active and my wife likes ladybugs.

ROUND TWO: Starts the same with Chan circling and throwing the occasional leg kick. Chan shoots and Akano sprawls nicely. And, it stays on the feet. Chan shoots again and goes for a single leg takedown. As she does so, Akano steps over Chan and grabs what looks like a very nice and tight armbar. Chan is in awful position and Akano is cranking away. Madame Ladybug taps and Akano pulls out the win by submission in the second round. Pace was a little slow, but not a bad start.

FINISH: Hitomi Akano Wins by Submission at 1:27 of the Second Round.

Fight two features Shayna Baszler (3-2, 3 subs) against Roxanne Modafferi (8-3, 2 subs). Baszler is shown training and offers this nugget. “It’s a pretty tight group (women’s MMA). Either you’re fighting nobodies or you’re fighting a somebody”. Hmm. I wonder which category Modafferi falls in? The assessment on Modafferi is good ground game, not very explosive. Back in Tokyo, the women come out to an empty arena and a loud intro.

2 - SHAYNA BASZLER vs. ROXANNE MODAFFERI

ROUND ONE: Ding. Ding. Let’s get it on. The women dance to the middle of the ring and as Baszler throws a right leg kick, Modafferi buries her with a big right hand! Not explosive?! Baszler goes down and gives up side mount, but regains guard quickly. As she does so, she gets a hold of Modafferi’s left arm and works for a Kimura. Not only does she get the Kimura, she torques back into what can only be described as a chicken wing. It is seriously distorted. The sickest Kimura-type submission I have ever seen (catch the replay, very worth it). But, Baszler isn’t done. Since Modafferi is somehow not tapping despite her impending shoulder dislocation. So, Baszler sweeps out of guard putting Modafferi (and her left arm) on her back. Cue the tapping and a bang-bang win for Baszler. Great fight. Action, transition, submission. Good stuff.

FINISH: Shayna Baszler Wins by Submission in the First Round.

Third fight moves us back to the Bodog ballroom. I agree with Shawn Ennis on one thing. It is damn cheesy.

So, next up we have Rosi Sexton (5-1, 1 TKO, 4 subs) going up against “Beauty but the Beast” Carina Damm. Damm gets most of the preflight publicity here due to the fact that she is a) Brazilian, b) featured in a Japanese men’s magazine, c) wears pink to the ring d) fights in pig tails. This is not a multiple choice question. Part of the preflight hype was a blurb from one Kid Peligro, who apparently is a Jiu-Jitsu expert. His expert take started with, “She (Damm) has great sex appeal and she wears pink in the ring”. Later in the blurb, we hear she’s pretty good on the ground. Not much is said about Sexton, who is clearly being set up to be a highlight for the golden girl that is Damm.

3 - CARINA DAMM vs. ROSI SEXTON

ROUND ONE: The fight starts, and apparently nobody told Sexton she was being set up, as she lays into Damm with jabs and shoves her around the ring. Damm clinches well and lands a few knees. Sexton continues to come forward and a couple of crosses from Damm graze her noggin. Damm gets a trip and takes Sexton to the mat. We are informed by the generic color guys that Sexton is really in for it now as Damm is dominant on the ground. Sexton keep trying to get her left leg up like Diaz did a couple of weekends ago. Damm postures up and Sexton grabs her right arm, sweeps her left leg over the top and secures a nasty armbar. She evens hooks her right arm around Damm’s leg and assures that there will be no escape. The elbow begins to hyperextend and Damm taps. Sexton rejoices and seems surprised that she got the armbar in her post-fight interview. Not a bad fight. Sexton looked very good and it was a sweet armbar. Nice win.

FINISH: Rosi Sexton Wins by Submission at 4:15 of the First Round.

The last fight on the card brings us Amanda Buckner (8-4-1, 1 TKO, 7subs) against Julie Kedzie (6-5, 2 sub) who was last seen getting pounded by Gina Carano in Elite XC. This should be a good one as both women like to throw and work at a quick pace.

4 - AMANDA BUCKNER vs. JULIE KEDZIE

ROUND ONE: Back in the Bodog Dance Hall, we get underway. Both women come out firing. Kedzie has very quick hands and gets the better of the exchange. The fighters clinch and Buckner executes a nice throw takedown. Buckner gets side mount and then almost gets to mount. Kedsie pivots away. Buckner rears up and lands a big right hand. She stands in guard again and lands a hard left hand. Kedsie winces and Buckner pounces. Shooting in, she secures a guillotine and locks it in tight. Buckner is thick across the chest and it looks like she could hold Kedsie there for years. Kedsie hangs in there pretty well, but this fight is only ending one way and Kedsie taps out. Not a long fight, but some very quick aggressive action.

FINISH: Amanda Buckner Wins by Submission at 2:21 of the First Round.

All in all, I enjoyed the fights on the card. There was a lot of good energy and pace. The production of the show is abhorrent. Enough cheesecake shots of models straddling missiles, grinding against a tractor wheel, etc. I would think that for an organization that bills itself as the leader in promoting women’s MMA, there would have been a bit more discretion. Or not. In any case, I wouldn’t mind seeing some more women’s fighting. It damn sure wasn’t dull. I didn’t see any of the lay and pray that is so popular in the mainstream organization. And, the energy was really good. I think it’s a bit of a shame that unless Elite XC or Bodog or one of the less mainstream organizations shows these fighters, they’ll get no play. In my humble newbie opinion, a good fight is one in which there is some good action and technical skill demonstrated. Even if there’s no storyline, you can still see a good fight. Hell, for most of us out there, we don’t know who the heck these guys are in the first place. Let’s see more of these women on the main stage and get a better idea of what they can do, instead of on this back water production.

For Notes from the Newb, I’m Jerry Cattelane, first (and future, watch it Jarsulic, I’m coming for you) MMATorch Prediction Champion.

You can contact me at drscruf@hughes.net