Miesha Tate (left, vs. Hitomi Akano) won the 135-pound women's tournament: Dave Mandel | Sherdog.com
Strikeforce’s experiment with a one-night women’s tournament proved successful, setting up winner Miesha Tate as a marketable challenger for the 135-pound title and drawing solid ratings on Showtime.
Tate defeated Finland product Majiu Kujala with takedowns and ground control in the first round, which was contested in a brisk three-minute, two-round structure, and then took three rounds from Hitomi Akano in the final. Akano used a second-round armbar-triangle choke combination to tap Carina Damm to advance. Tate took home an event-high $18,000 for winning the tournament ($8,000 for first round win, $10,000 for final round win).
Women’s 135-pound champion Sarah Kaufman -- who was cageside for the Aug. 13 fights in Phoenix and picked Akano to take the tournament -- will first defend her title against Marloes Coenen before facing Tate. A date for the Kaufman-Coenen fight has not been determined.
The Strikeforce Challengers 10 event averaged 217,000 viewers on Showtime, according to MMAJunkie.com, up from a low 197,000 number for the last Challengers card in July.
Also winning on the television broadcast was Ryan Couture, the 27-year-old son of UFC hall of famer Randy Couture, in his professional debut. With his father in his corner, Couture slapped on a fast triangle choke for the tap at the 1:15 mark after opponent Lucas Stark took him down with a fireman’s carry. Fighting in his home state, veteran Joe Riggs earned a tap to strikes in the third round against Louis Taylor. Liz Carmouche took a unanimous decision over Colleen Schneider in a tournament alternate bout.