14 extraordinary women shined at the FFFC: Crystal Brawl on Saturday July 14, 2007 at the Crystal Park Casino in Compton as they came to showcase their talent in the male dominated world of MMA. 14 extraordinary women shined at the FFFC: Crystal Brawl on Saturday July 14, 2007 at the Crystal Park Casino in Compton as they came to showcase their talent in the male dominated world of MMA. The Fatal Femmes Fighting Championship hosted their second professional female MMA event and the night proved that not only are women capable of doing battle in cage, they are also destined to become a huge draw for fight enthusiasts of all ages and walk of life. Seven vicious, heart pounding fights took place allowing for a night of extreme female caged combat. The main event Featured FFF lightweight Champion Lisa Ward (8-2) defending her belt against Japan’s Taeko Nagamine. As the fight began a seemingly nervous Taeko stands far away from Lisa while Lisa confidently lets her guard down so as to insinuate her attempts at defending against her opponent are futile. In no time the two go at it and as Taeko attempts a leg kick Lisa grabs hold and unapologetically takes her down. Lisa lands in side mount but Taeko has a tight grip on her neck and attempts a guillotine. Both women work their ground game but it’s obvious that Lisa is dominating the fight as she lands devastating elbows. As Taeko gives Lisa her back, Lisa takes the opportunity to attempts a guillotine and with her free hand lands a few brutal head shots. She finishes the guillotine and initially struggles but finishes as Taeko taps in surrender. Lisa Ward successfully defends her belt and continued on as FFF Lightweight Champion. The Co-main event was highly anticipated as Japan’s world renowned World Remix Champion Megumi Yabushita (13-12) went up against Ginelle Marquez (5-6-1) fighting out of Fullerton California. Fight Fans were eager see Megumi in action but Ginelle had no intention of allowing Megumi all the glory. Within the first round it was clear who ran the show as Ginelle fiercely dominated with impressive ground control and vicious knees. By the second round Megumi’s many attempts at ichimata takedowns were unapologetically reversed as Ginelle violently pounded Megumi to the ground. It seemed the fight could be over at any minute as Ginelle mounted and delivered a long session of ground and pound. Toward the end of the round Ginelle set up a clean triangle attempt but as the 10 second bell sounded she attacked with a few harsh elbows. In the third round as both fighters are clinched against the cage Ginelle mounts and lands a few lefts, while Megumi turns and gives her back allowing her to landing a few more of her brutal elbows. The fight goes to the judges and it was no surprise Ginelle won by unanimous decision. An exciting match-up in the 135 lbs. division between FFF veteran and Missouri State MMA Champion Tonya Evinger versus Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Brown belt Vanessa “The Destroyer” Porto from Brazil. In the first round Tonya lands a right and Vanessa goes down, she delivers two more from the top as works her open guard. Both fighters stand and Vanessa takes Tonya down and establishes and mount and slowly works her knees up and finishes setting up a flawless arm bar. The Fight ends in 2:14 of the very first round. The fight I personally was anticipating was the one that promised a “first round beat down.” Angela Samaro of Salinas Ca. was having her professional debut against Crystal Harris( 2-3-0). From the beginning the fight was action packed with Angela coming out swinging at every turn and throwing vicious front kicks. As Angela takes her down she lands in the guard but Crystal holds her own on the ground as she rolls over and attempts a few combos from inside Angela’s guard. By the second round Crystal seemed determined to redeem herself delivering a few leg kicks, and as Angela goes for a double leg takedown she manages to wrap her arm tightly around her neck attempting a guillotine. As Crystal lets go Angela passes and mounts lets the fists rain ground and pounding Crystal said later “I knew she was a brawler, and I just wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.” Angela soon finishes with an impressive arm bar and the fight is over at 1:08 seconds of the 2nd round. The third fight of the night was an impressive display of judo takedowns by Sumie Sakai (2-0) as she went up against Jessica Pene (2-0). In the First round Sumie goes for a clean ichimata and although her tosses were remarkable they were no match to Jessica’s ground game as she took Sumie’s back repeatedly, setting up her hooks nicely and attempting a few rear naked chokes. Within the second round Jessica lands a few knees to Sumie’s body as they clinch and Sumie continued to defend against her Rear naked choke attempts. As the referee stands them up Jessica lands a few more knees, and just before the end of the second round lands a straight right. By the third round goes for another takedown and lands with her back to Jessica allowing her to set up a an arm bar and the fight is over only 33 seconds. The second fight of the night featured another FFF veteran, Sophie Bagherdi (1-0) and Stefanie Palmer who was also making her professional Debut. Sophie proved to be very dominant in this fight as she impressively defended against Stefanie’s takedown. In no time Sophie mounted her and delivered a devastating series of right hands forcing the ref to stop the fight in only 1:07 seconds of the first round. The night began with two very clairvoyant Japanese fighters. Keiko Tamai (16-11) battled against Yoko Takahashi (11-8) both fighting out Tokyo Japan. Although Keiko seemed the more willing to please coming out in loud hot pick fight gear, it Yoko who delivered very exciting ground technique that left the audience in awe as she set up a very interesting ankle crank just after landing 2 cruel left hands and a nasty leg kick. The ended in only 2:28 seconds of the first round in favor of Yoko Takahashi. Fatal Femmes Fighting Championship is sure to give women a step up MMA and as event producer, Élan Luinger has stated “Any women who thinks they have a chance in the cage start training now, get your license; this is a great sport and we need more women fighting.” This night proved women are well capable of putting on a remarkable display of MMA showmanship and is sure to establish the FFF in the higher echelons of mainstream caged combat for women.