Strikeforce Challengers 10 media workout; photos and quotes featuring Joe Riggs, Ryan Couture and the ladies

Just Two Days Until Exciting Night of Fights
At Dodge Theatre, in Phoenix, Ariz., Live on SHOWTIME®

PHOENIX, Ariz. (Aug. 11, 2010) – Joe “Diesel” Riggs, Ryan Couture and the four ladies set to compete in the first-ever STRIKEFORCE women’s welterweight (135 pounds) tournament took part in an open workout for the media at the Riches Wrestling Complex on the campus of Arizona State University on Wednesday.

STRIKEFORCE women’s welterweight contenders  Miesha “Takedown” Tate, Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm, Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano and Maiju Kujala will join Riggs and Couture at STRIKEFORCE Challengers this Friday, Aug. 13, at Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., live on SHOWTIME®.

The winners of each semifinal bout on Friday will face off in the tournament final later that night, just before the main event matchup between Riggs (32-12) and Louis Taylor (6-1) that will be fought at a catch weight of 182 pounds. Couture, a member of the Las Vegas, Nev., based Xtreme Couture fight team, will face Lucas Stark of Chandler, Ariz. in a three-round lightweight (155 pounds) bout.

During Thursday’s weigh-ins, current undefeated STRIKEFORCE Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman and STRIKEFORCE Women’s Middleweight (145 pounds) Champion Cris Cyborg will meet fans and be available for autographs. The media is invited to the Dodge Theatre at 4:30 p.m. with fighter’s stepping on the scales at 5 p.m.

What the fighters had to say on Wednesday:

JOE RIGGS

“When I started out fighting on shows in high school and after that I made dog crap money. Now, I’m able to support a family of four. MMA is definitely getting bigger, especially in Phoenix.

“I can’t predict how things will go Friday night. I always expect the worst, train for the worst and just hope for the best. You just never know in this sport. There’s just so many different ways of losing. If you want to take a fight at this level you have to train at this level and that’s what I’ve done. I’ll do my best to put him out.”

On the women’s tournament:

“It’s great. They are always exciting. I saw Miesha (Tate) fight up in Minnesota when I was up there fighting last year and she’s very exciting.

“That tournament style is hard. I’ve done it and it’s no picnic. You come out with just an hour’s rest a little banged up and you feel injuries you didn’t even know you had during the fight. My hat’s off to them.
RYAN COUTURE

“Initially I was a huge fan of the sport watching Dad compete growing up. I just picked it up after school to stay in shape. I never really thought of this as a career. I was working at a bank in Washington and my Dad invited me to come out and train with him and I thought it would be good to get closer to him and be involved in the family business.

“The more I was around it and the more I trained, the more I realized this is what I wanted to do. I was a little apprehensive at first because of all the eyes on me because of my last name.

“I don’t really feel pressure now because of the name. I’ve been waiting for that to kind of sink in but it hasn’t. But I get more attention and do a lot more interviews at this stage of my career. I feel it just comes as part of the job and it just happened to me a little sooner than it comes for most.

“It was nice to size up my opponent physically today. He’s kind of like I expected. I like the matchup for me. From the tape I watched he likes to get the fight to the ground and that’s where I’ve won all my fights. So I’m looking for a nice scrap on Friday. He seems like a nice kid but that’s not going to stop me from hitting him in the face.

“I know he’s a local fighter but I’m expecting to have a big group come down from Las Vegas so I expect to hear them. But he will have the majority of the arena on his side. It’s not something I’m too concerned with. Once you get in the cage all that doesn’t matter anyway.

“My Dad will be in my corner on Friday. He doesn’t put any added pressure on me. He kind of hangs back and lets me come to him. He’s a fantastic resource to have of course. If I have any questions or concerns he’s always there for me. He’s thought I’ve been ready for awhile so he’s excited to see me finally get out here.”

MIESHA TATE

“I put a game plan together for each one of the girls but, realistically, in a tournament all you can do is prepare to be the best fighter that night.

“All I do is eat, breathe, sleep thinking victory. A loss doesn’t even cross my mind. That’s all I’m focused on right now. It doesn’t matter who or how. Just winning.

“I think I am the favorite. In my opinion I am. If you read stuff on the Internet and the message boards I think people are picking me to win. That’s the consensus.

“Being a part of this tournament is monumental because it’s helping push MMA to the forefront. STRIKEFORCE has shown they believe in and want to promote women’s fighting. The way I look at this entire tournament thing is that potentially I’m three fights from being a world champion.

“I’ve competed in tournaments and I’ve made mistakes in them. One thing is it’s natural when you’re competing to have that adrenaline dump once you’re done. You think, ‘Thank God that’s over’ and win lose or draw you’re done and you can relax. In a tournament you have to keep that going and you can’t let that momentum drop. So that’s going to be the biggest thing. Just going back and preparing as if you haven’t even fought before.

“I think 30 minutes rest is about the perfect time. It’s just enough time to go down and get fully recovered. Get your heart rate back to resting and then you have five, maybe 10 minutes just to chill out. Drink some water and get a good warm-up.

“I’ve been looking forward to Sarah Kaufman since 10 seconds after we fought last year. I think she’s my most sought after rematch.”

MAIJU KUJALA

“I have fought in the tournament style before so I have my own game plan and have prepared for each of the fighters. I know how to manage two fights in one night.

“STRIKEFORCE has done a good job and is making the whole week easy. They are not making it difficult on the fighters.

“I see there being a lot of wrestling. I think it’s possible to see some standup and some punches exchanged. I think since all the four fighters strengths are on the ground that it could definitely be a good opportunity for me to stay standing and see if I can hurt them with my punches.

“I think the audience knows I love fighting and that I bring my heart and my soul into each of my fights. They know I really enjoy fighting. We have some tricks but you’ll have to tune in on Friday to see what we have planned.

“MMA fighting is big in Finland but here it’s on a whole different level. There’s a huge crowd every time and I’m expecting to see the Dodge Theatre filled.

“This is a good opportunity for me and a huge event. I enjoy fighting anywhere. It doesn’t matter where it is.”

CARINA DAMM

“I’ve trained for this fight and I’m ready. The winner of these fights will get a shot at the world championship so that’s what I want. Nobody knows how important this is for me.

“I’m ready to fight anybody. Just tell me who I’m fighting and I’ll be ready for them.”

HITOMI AKANO

“I’m feeling relaxed and excited. I’m ready. This is the first time I am seeing all the girls in person so in terms of size, they are what I expected so that’s good.

“My strategy is to take the initiative and be aggressive on offense.

“One thing I can say is that all the girls are exceptional athletes and I fit right into that mold so it should be a very competitive night of fights.”

Tickets for the STRIKEFORCE Challengers event are on sale at the Dodge Theatre Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at (800) 745-3000, and online at www.livenation.com and  www.strikeforce.com.

Dodge Theatre doors will open at 5 p.m. local time. The first preliminary bout will begin at 5:30 p.m. and the first main card bout will begin at 8.

The SHOWTIME telecast will begin at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast.)

STRIKEFORCE Challengers is a proving ground for up-and-coming MMA fighters. The series is designed to provide today’s top prospects with the opportunity to step-up their level of competition and demonstrate their ability in a nationally televised event.

[All photos provided by Esther Lin / Strikeforce]