The show includes a discussion about WEC 47, which will be airing tonight on Versus! during the first half of the program. Katrina Belcher, editor of The Ultimate Female Fighter.com, chimes in at right around the 31 minute mark to discuss Women's MMA.

The panel includes radio talk show personality and facilitator, Peter Lampasona, MMA referee Brad Durrutya, and Katrina Belcher. Note - it's BelCHer, not BelKer, bless Peter's heart!

I really enjoyed doing this show with Peter and Brad - and look forward to chatting with them again in the future! You'll hear where we were just getting into the heart of the discussion when the time ran out, so hopefully we can pick up next time where we left off! ;-)

I recently had the honor of interviewing female professional MMA fighter, Lacey Schuckman. Lacey is one of the best up and comers in the sport today. For those of you who don't know much about Lacey, let me give you a little bit of background about her before we start the interview.

Lacey has trained with some greats since she has started training to include 5 time World Muay Thai Kickboxing Champion and MMA Fighter John Cronk.

She has also trained with Hale Hilsabeck from Rocky Mountain Karate, and had her first 8 Muay Thai fights representing that school by the time she was 17 year old.

To begin her MMA training, Lacey studied under Rex Payne, an affiliate of Rickson Gracie, and she works with Team Bad Breed. In fact, Lacy’s first two amateur MMA fights took place when she was training with that school.

Currently, Lacey is training with her husband, Randall Schuckman, and their team called Team Rugburn, out of the Pressroom in Colorado. Lacey made her Pro MMA debut in January of 2009 at the G-Fight Grand Prix, and has been moving forward with her Pro MMA career ever since.

Tara LaRosa at Extreme Challenge
(JoeTed.com photo)

The Competition is heating up tonight!

This evening, November 20, 2009, one of the biggest MMA shows to hit the fighting city of Philadelphia will be broadcasted LIVE on Go Fight Live beginning at 8pm eastern time. This show will be held at the Sherman Mills Alexander Hall and features four big pro-MMA bouts and ten amateur fights.

Perfect timing for MMA fans, as just about the time this show is over, Showtime will air Strikeforce at 11pm.

Per GFL, "This is considered a card that has the most talent of any card in Pennsylvania's MMA history with the exception of the recent UFC show in Philadelphia."

In the Main Event, woman's MMA sensation Tara LaRosa, with 18 pro-fights, 17 wins and only one loss, of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, will take on Valerie Coolbaugh of Mt. Olive, Illinois, sporting a pro-fight record of 16-4.

LaRosa, who is regarded as one of the top woman Mixed Martial Artists, has fought and defeated some of the greatest female fighters all over the world. LaRosa brings in a fourteen fight winning streak and is coming off a Third round submission win over Sally Krumdiack on March 28th at The Extreme Challenge: Mayhem at The Marina.

Coolbaugh has a record of 16-4. The Illinois native is coming off a 1st round submission win over Linda Cunningham on August 28th.

In the co-feature, Dwayne Sheldon, who has an impressive pro-fight record of 15-4, (fighting out of the prestigious Team Combat in Richmond, Virginia) will battle Philly favorite Wilson Reis of Sao Paulo, Brazil, who trains in Philadelphia and is the former Elite XC veteran with a pro-fight record of 8-1.

Sheldon defeated Reis' best friend, Sideko Homich, so Wilson will be looking to avenge that loss.

In the 125 lb. bout division, Tuan "Kid Thumder" Pham, with a pro-fight record of 2-1, will take on the former North Dakota state champ, Shaun Clay. Clay has a record of 6-1 and has won five consecutive
bouts.

In the 145 lb. weight class amateur title bout, Bill Ferraro will take on Breland Van Arsdale.

(Photo courtesy: Esther Lin/STRIKEFORCE)

Kerry Vera, (1-1) Brandon Vera's wife, battled Kim "Sugar Free" Couture (1-1), Randy Couture's ex-wife, on Friday night, November 20, 2009, for Strikeforce.

Kerry fought for the Bellator Fighting Championships, before being signed to Strikeforce. She was on the TV show Fight Girls in 2006, and in the Ultimate Women Challenge in 2009.

Kim was married to 3 time former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture. Unfortunately, Kim & Randy filed for divorce, althought Randy has continued to coach and support Kim's MMA career. In fact one of the reasons Kim backed out of her fight with Miesha Tate was due to the fact that she was served with divorce papers just before her fight.

In a world where women's MMA is a constant uphill battle, both of these women had the opportunity to prove the professionalism of women in martial arts - and show that we belong in the ring. Much like Gina Carano and Cris Santos, Kerry Vera and Kim Couture had the eyes of the world upon them, before and during the fight...so plenty of opportunity to prove themselves.

Unfortunately - in looking at the weigh-in pictures of Kerry and Kim, I'm more than a little concerned about how far back Kim has taken professional fighting for Women's MMA. I'm sure male viewers appreciate the view of Kim's rear end, sticking out of a thong, but seriously...what was she thinking? You just don't take your weigh-in pic in your underwear, ESPECIALLY if you're representing Women's MMA and you want to be taken seriously as a fighter. I'm totally disgusted with her unprofessionalism at this point.

Kerry, on the other hand, showed professionalism from beginning to end. Not only that, but she proved herself in the ring. To my mind, there's no doubt she's a fighter and a pro...so congrats to Kerry on her fine performance and hard work!

In the end, Kerry Vera beat Kim Couture.

Congratulations to Projekt Label Team Fighter Sarah Maloy for her first round victory at last weekend’s Vendetta Fighting Championships in Aruba. Sarah fought Rosa Columbo from Team Rage in the Cage in Arizona by Rear Nake Choke, 4:52 into Round 1. Can I just say we weren't surprised?!

Sarah was a guest on CageDivas on Sunday, Sept. 13th, 2009. Look for more information on that soon to come. And of course we've interviewed Sarah - you'll find that interview in detail on this website coming up soon!

Also, DON’T FORGET: You can buy Sarah’s Vendetta Walk Out Shirt on the Projekt Label Website.