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Originally Posted by derUbermensch
- Tara Larosa vs. Laura D'Auguste is the crowning bout for the 135lb division and will form, chronologically, the second most important bout to take place in contemporary Women's MMA, Watanabe/Shinashi II preceding it. The style match-up is an almost perfect opposition: D'Auguste's long, stiff jabs and follow-ups versus Larosa's less refined but powerful strikes; D'Auguste's dangerous guard game versus Larosa's physically overwhelming top game. If D'Auguste wins here, she should look to regain her Middleweight title from the elusive Hitomi Akano and further her legacy. A win for Larosa may just be the tipping point for proclaiming her one of the best ever in women's game. |
I seriously cannot wait for this fight, if it was a male equivalent, a lot of people would be talking about it. I think Larosa will take it, late sub or unanimous decision.
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- Kyoko Takabayashi furthered Masako Yoshida's losing streak a few weeks ago in Smackgirl. Yoshida has fallen from beating damn near 1/3 of the 48kg division to losing to its every prospect and elite. The problem lies in her game, which is dangerously 'loose': allowing opponents to dictate where the fight is fought; lack of aggressive, killer instinct, etc. Its biting her in the ass now and she needs to stop and think instead of taking her 15295636th fight this year. She has tools, she just needs to use them; perhaps she needs to turn Yuka Tsuji for guidance, whose single-handedly turned Ayumi Saito into THE 48kg prospect and showed Hisae Watanabe the ropes on the ground. Takabayashi herself possess a very forward grappling style, constantly on the look out for the submission, though her stand-up can use some work. A bout with the 5-0 Emi Fujino would be healthy for both prospects as it'd force Takabayashi to train against Fujino's disciplined jab and straight while Fujino gets a saavy grappler as an opponent.
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Working with Tsuji would be great for her (come to think of it, that would be great for Ham Su Hi as well, hell it would be great for a lot of fighters). She could really do with taking an easier fight or two as well now to get her back on track.