Jon Jones Faces Vladimir Matyushenko This Sunday In San Diego
Plus a middleweight showdown between Mark Munoz and Yushin Okami – Sunday night at 9pm ET / 6pm PT Live on Versus
Her boyfriend Chike spoke to Fox News in the video above:
Adrienne Simmons, an amateur kickboxer and aspiring teacher, has died after suffering a blow to the head during a fight.
Simmons was up against Lindsay Scheer who delivered a left hook that knocked Simmons out and caused immediate swelling. She was then airlifted to the hospital but was in critical condition by the time she arrived.
There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the events, including rumors that there was not enough medical aid on hand during the fight.
We cannot comment on the specifics of the incident but Adrienne’s trainer Eric Haycraft posted this statement on Facebook:
“It really just seemed like a normal bout. It was a heavy shot but everyone involved from the ref to the doctors and officials and myself had no reason to believe there was anything abnormal except a fighter getting their bell rung like we all have had at some point in our careers.
There were five girls in the Open division of the 130-140 Muay Thai. Lindsay had to fight three times over the weekend and Adrienne fought twice to meet each other on Sunday in the finals. Adrienne had a very tough fight on Saturday to get her to her finals match.
The bout itself seemed normal enough on all fronts. Lindsay, the more experienced of the two, took control of the bout scoring an eight count on the very first jab thrown. Several seconds later a standing eight count was given and the round drew to a close. Round two continued with more of the same, however Adrienne never stopped trying and never gave up. No eight counts this round. The third round opened up and Lindsay landed a three punch combo that ended the bout. The ref waived the bout off immediately and the doctors who were already sitting ringside watching the bout were in the ring right away.
Lindsay and I had wanted to wait for more official announcements about the tragic turn of events this weekend at the IKF Kickboxing tournament in Orlando. It seems that several websites are already mentioning the event and of course facebook has exploded with rumors and comments. We have known Adrienne for a number of years. I have many ties with the entire Atlanta fight scene and the ladies had been following each other both at fights and online.”
Adrienne Simmons
Lindsay Scheer responds:
“I have waited to make my statement about the terrible tragedy that has occurred this past weekend at IKFs because I wanted there to be time for all involved especially those closest to Adrienne to have a chance to tell their friends and have their time to process this horrific event, but I feel there are some things that I need to say. What I was hoping would be a wonderful day turned out to be the absolute worst day of my entire life. I had anticipated a great weekend of being around and getting to participate in what I love – Muay thai. I could never have imagined that the weekend would end with me being called into a room by a sheriff to inform me that I am being interviewed for a homicide investigation. I have literally been inconsolable since that moment. I did not know what it really felt like to cry. I was and am broken.
I returned home to be greeted by my amazing parents who drove to my house in Louisville to be with me and tell me in person that they love me and that they are behind me. They also drove down to tell me that my grandmother had died this morning as well. I do not add these details to evoke pity or draw attention to me. In fact, I am done talking about my hurt and my pain because it is only self-serving and would evoke pity and condolences from people that I just don’t want or feel like I deserve. Any energy or thought in this matter must go to Adrienne and Chike. I mention these details because they have helped to bring me to what I am about to say:
A piece of me died in the ring yesterday with Adrienne. I will never get it back…not even in time – it will not heal this, period. However, my initial visceral reaction when I was told by the police officers was a hysterical fit that I will never fight again. To be honest, I am terrified to step into the ring and I don’t know how I will be able to…but again, this is not about me. My grandmother was one of the strongest people I have had the privilege of knowing and Adrienne was one of the bravest. I know that my grandmother would tell me I am being weak and wasteful and I truly believe that Adrienne would want me to continue to fight because if this situation was reversed, I would have wanted her to do the same.
We both love this sport, it is more than what we do, it is a part of who we are and if I spend the rest of my life avoiding Muay Thai, then we both die. I say this because long before the IKF tournament, I had accepted a rematch bout with a very tough dutch girl I had fought last year. This was the toughest fight I have ever had. It is scheduled for Aug 29th in Suriname. I think I have to go through with it. I have to find some way to make myself train and prepare for this match because I feel it needs to be done to commemorate Adrienne. She deserves nothing less. In fact, she deserves more than a bout in her memory, she deserves change. I cannot let her death be in vain. The Kickboxing community needs to make something positive from this tragedy and I’ll do whatever I can to facilitate it. I do not expect everyone to agree with me or even to understand where I am coming from. All that I ask is that you do not judge me. I of course will not proceed with the fight unless I have the support of Chike and those closest to Adrienne because I wish to do nothing that those who knew her best would deem disrespectful.
Will 135 pound champion Kaufman finally get the respect she deserves and move up to Strikeforce main cards?
Complete Strikeforce Challengers 9 results:
Main Card:
Shane Del Rosario def. Lolohea Mahe – TKO (strikes) – Round 1 (3:48)
Sarah Kaufman def. Roxanne Modafferi – KO (body slam) – Round 3 (4:45)
Bobby Voelker def. Cory Devela – Split Decision – 29-28 Devela, 29-28 Voelker, 29-28 Voelker
Mike Kyle def. Abongo Humphrey – Submission (rear naked choke) – Round 2 (3:28)
Caros Fodor def. Thomas Diagne – Unanimous Decision (30-27, three times)
Preliminary Card:
Brent “Mankill” Knopp def. Ryan Hayes – TKO (punches) – Round 2 (:55)
CJ March def. Taurean “Black” Washington – Unanimous Decision
Drew “The Eternal Fire” Brokenshire def. Jordan Macklin – Submission (Guillotine choke) – Round 1 (2:26)
“Psycho” Scott McDonald def. Doug Kay – Submission – Round 1 (2:09)
Brewster The Rooster” Inman def. Quincy Spruill – Submission – Round 1 (3:57)
Jamen “Chainsaw” Olney def. Jordan Currie – Unanimous Decision
John Elam def. Frankie Orr – Split Decision
Wendel Horton def. Keith Mortuiccio – TKO (1:43)
MMA Live details the signing of Jake Shields with the UFC, and what it means for the 170 lbs division. Chael Sonnen checks in prior to the biggest fight of his career against Anderson Silva, and UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture discusses James Toney and his upcoming role in ‘The Expendables.’
FINAL WEIGHTS:
Shane Del Rosario – 243.6 vs Lolohea Mahe – 264
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Shane Del Rosario (9-0) faces Lolohea Mahe (6-1-1) in the main event.
Sarah Kaufman – 134 vs Roxanne Modafferi – 133.4
Unbeaten STRIKEFORCE Women’s World Welterweight (135 pounds) Champion and former ballet dancer Sarah Kaufman (11-0) will put her perfect record as well as her crown on the line against international star Roxanne Modafferi (15-5) in the co-main event.
Cory Devela – 171 vs Bobby Voelker – 170.4
Cory Devela (9-4) will return to the cage for the first time in more than a year to face dangerous Bobby Voelker (21-8) in a welterweight (170 pounds) battle. Devela took a year off from MMA to help his girlfriend battle cancer.
Abongo Humphrey – 202.6 vs Mike Kyle – 205.8
Abongo Humphrey (7-1) will take on Mike “Mak” Kyle (16-7-1) at light heavyweight (205 pounds)
Caros Fodor – 155.6 vs Thomas Diagne – 156
U.S. Army war veteran and Matt Hume protégé Caros Fodor (2-0, 1 NC), of Kirkland, Wash., will take on Cung Le pupil Thomas Diagne (1-1) in a lightweight (155 pounds) matchup in the first televised bout of the evening.
A special one-hour broadcast of the 2010 US OPEN ISKA World Martial Arts Championships will be aired on ESPN2 this Friday night, July 23rd at 9:00 pm EDT (6:00 PDT). The event held on July 9th-10th at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida drew more than 2,500 competitors from 37 countries. Participants competed in nearly 600 divisions contesting more than 20 disciplines of martial arts competition.
The ESPN2 broadcast will feature some of the world’s elite martial arts performers vying for ISKA World Titles in Extreme Weapons and Forms, Power, Speed and Creative Breaking, Demonstration Team, Synchronized Forms, and Self Defense competition. The spectacular Night of Champions show, from which much of the material for the broadcast was drawn, also included submission grappling, continuous fighting, sport jujitsu, and a special team-fighting event.
Cookies and Man Parts- by Sarah Kaufman
Cookies and Man Parts …seem to be the 2 things that will get me on a main Strikeforce card…that and learning how to shake my assets (Link)
I am currently the Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion…yet I fought for the title on a Challengers Card. Now, I am set to defend said title against Roxanne Modafferi in just a few days – again – on a Challengers Card.
I know that it’s going to be a fun and challenging fight…and I always welcome that. Roxanne has been around the sport for a long time and will come game to fight; however, I need to take this fight and make a statement.
That statement will be: I deserve to be on a main Strikeforce Card because I am a talented, exciting FEMALE fighter at 135lbs! I will NOT eat a ridiculous amount of cookies to make 145lbs JUST for the opportunity to be on a main card and growing man parts… well that would just be ridiculous 
Airing in 60 Million homes on NBC, 16 women leave their families, husbands, children, and careers to lay it all on the line to become the Ultimate Woman!
In a reality elimination show format hosted by actress & model Joanna Krupa (“Dancing with the Stars”) and former MMA Heavyweight Champion Bas Rutten, sixteen women will be given the chance to take off their make-up and put on their gloves in a historic competition.
The show will delve deep into the lives of these women, pulling from them the most intriguing details of what makes a female fight, with weekly challenges and eliminations.
Ultimate Women Challenge is about empowerment and differs from most programs in that the show has an emphasis on education and community service. Certain episodes will be dedicated to a specific social cause or charity. These causes will be incorporated into the challenges in which the women participate.
The goal is to not only show these fighters and the sport of MMA in a positive and respectable light but, to also generate awareness about important social issues.
Their coaches will be top ranked and world-renowned fighters themselves who know what it takes to make it in the hard-hitting world of MMA. They will settle for nothing less than perfection as they train their fighters to compete against each other and go for the glory. But, along the way, each episode of the series will feature entertaining and informative challenges that organically fuse elements of MMA with educational take-away information all for the benefit of charity. Through these challenges and a fly-on-the-wall perspective of the contestants as they go about their daily lives together, favorites will emerge because of their heart and spirit, their hard work & respect for the sport, and their touching personal stories. When the final bell rings, viewers will have plenty to root for as all of the women of Ultimate Women Challenge live together, train together, and compete together for the ultimate prize – a chance to reign supreme and take home the title of Ultimate Women Challenge Champion.
Strikeforce will determine the brackets of its four-woman 135-pound tournament at the weigh-ins for Strikeforce Challengers 10. The tournament crowns a contender to Sarah Kaufman, the women’s 135-pound champion, who defends her belt this Saturday against Roxanne Modaferri at Strikeforce Challengers 9.
Strikeforce Challengers 10 takes place Aug. 13 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., and airs live on Showtime. The four participants of the competition are reported to be Hitomi Akano, Maiju Kujala, Carina Damm and Miesha Tate. They will be paired up on the night they hit the scales.
Akano (15-7 MMA, 0-1 SF) fights for the second time under the Strikeforce banner. It was the “Girlfight Monster” who came up a weight class to challenge Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos for the 145-pound title in April 2009. Compounding the size discrepancy, Santos missed weight for the show, but Akano agreed to take the fight anyway and was defeated via third-round TKO.
The 35-year-old is a submission threat with 12 of her 15 career victories coming by way of tap-out.
Kujala (4-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) makes her first U.S. appearance with her tournament entrance. Riding a three-fight win streak, the Finnish fighter made her professional debut in September 2009.
Kujala recently won a single-night tournament in the Netherlands and logged 19 minutes and 12 seconds worth of ring time en route to her two victories. Kujala’s lone career loss came to recent Bellator signee Aisling Daly.
Damm (15-3 MMA, 0-0 SF), the sister of Strikeforce and BodogFIGHT veteran Rodrigo Damm, most recently fought in February at Jungle Fight 17, where she stopped Aline Serio by first-round TKO. She has not lost a fight since December 2006, when Rosi Sexton submitted her during her own stint in the now-defunct BodogFIGHT promotion. Only five of her 18 bouts have gone the distance.
Tate (9-2 MMA, 1-1 SF), meanwhile, is on a three-fight win streak capped by a Strikeforce Challengers 7 submission of Zoila Frausto, who recently smashed her way into Bellator’s 115-pound female tournament with a first-round knockout of Sexton.
A Pacific Northwest native, Tate has suffered only two setbacks in her career – a decision loss to Kaufman in May 2009 and a knockout loss to Kaitlin Young in November 2007.
Strikeforce Challengers 10 will also feature a 182-pound catch-weight bout between veteran Joe “Diesel” Riggs and Louis Taylor.
In the Main Event, he’s one of the best-known fighters in the world. A veteran of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), he’s beaten some of the best fighters in the world including Brandon “The Truth” Vera, Forrest Griffin and “The Iceman” Chuck Liddell. But this time “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine (15-8-1) has more to prove than ever as he tries to come back after his majority decision loss to Matt Hamill. But standing in his way is AKA fighter and Shark Fights Light Heavyweight Champion, Trevor Prangley (22-6-1) who returns to the Shark Cage after his loss to Tim Kennedy.
In the co-main event, Team Quest fighter and UFC Veteran Rameau “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou (9-6-0) comes to Shark Fights ready to battle. Having won his last two fights, he looks to continue his winning streak against the ever explosive UFC Veteran Houston “The Assassin” Alexander (10-6-0).
Also on the card, a “who’s who” of MMA fighters. The biggest fight card to date for Shark Fight Promotions.