Strikeforce Ohio Gets Tate-Rousey, Daley-Misaki And More

During last night's airing of the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine fight card, the addition of three fights to the impending March 3 Strikeforce card for Columbus, Ohio were announced: two bantamweight women's contests - one a title fight - and two intriguing contests at lightweight and welterweight.

First up is the women's bantamweight title fight that fans have been clamoring for between champion Meisha "Takedown" Tate and surging upstart Rowdy Ronda Rousey. Having burst onto the scene thanks to quick finishes in all her pro bouts, good looks and brashness, Rousey has essentially talked her way into a title shot at 135lbs. The talented former Judo Olympian will be debuting at the weight class to face Tate, who defeated Marloes Coenen back in July to initially win the title.

The woman previously thought to be the number one bantamweight contender, Sarah Kaufman, will meet the dangerous 11-4 Alexis Davis in a rematch on the card as well. Holding previous victories over Davis and Tate (her only career loss to former champ Coenen), Kaufman will be looking to make it three in a row in order to stay in title contention talks at bantamweight.

Often controversial British slugger Paul Daley will look to make his winning streak three in a row when he meets well-respected MMA veteran Kazuo Misaki in a welterweight tilt. Misaki is also riding a two-fight winning streak at the moment; the two men have an almost identical record at 24-11-2 for Misaki and 29-11-2 for Daley.

Finally, lightweights KJ Noons and Josh Thomson will do battle on the card, Thomson returning from well over a year out of the cage to take on Noons, who recently rebounded from a close decision loss to Nick Diaz by taking out Billy Evangelista.

The Strikeforce Ohio event is expected to take place at The Nationwide Arena in Columbus and will likely be headlined by the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix finals match between Josh Barnett and Daniel Cormier.

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