To move closer to Strikeforce's base operations, Miesha Tate will soon leave her longtime Victory Athletics camp in Olympia, Wash. and head farther south to San Jose, Calif.
Tate, who faces Zoila Frausto in a 135-pound bout at the next Strikeforce Challengers event on March 26, hasn't found a new gym yet, but one possibility is the American Kickboxing Academy.
"I've been talking to AKA and they said that I'm more than welcome," Tate recently said on The MMA Hour. "So I think I may be doing kind of a split camp thing, where I do most of my striking and then maybe find another place where I can train my ground. I know there are a lot of hotbeds down there. So I think when I get down there, I'm just going to check it out. Maybe go to Jake Shields' and see how his school is."
Tate has tried out before the San Jose gym, which is most known for housing UFC stars Cain Velasquez, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick. The gym's presence in Strikeforce includes Luke Rockhold, Cung Le and Josh Thomson.
"Yeah, I did a training camp down there, so It's not a permanent thing, but I really liked the atmosphere," Tate said. "I liked the people. I liked everything about it. The only problem is that I'm pretty much the smallest person by a large gap there so it's hard to find a good training partner to spar with, realistic."
Tate (8-2) last fought for Strikeforce last May in a loss to current champion Sarah Kaufman.
Opponent Pregnant, Baszler Awaits Replacement
Shayna Baszler was supposed to meet Jennifer Tate in the semifinals of Freestyle Cage Fighting's women's 135-pound tournament on March 27 in Shawnee, Okla, but Tate has withdrawn after finding out last week that she was pregnant.
Kat Alendal of the San Jose-area was initially booked as replacement, but due to miscommunication, she will not be fighting Baszler either.
Baszler's new opponent is expected to be announced shortly.In the other bracket, Jan Finney faces Adrienna Jenkins.
Cung Le Student Resurfaces
After missing the entire 2009 year, three-time Strikeforce competitor Elaina Maxwell (2-3) has finally secured a fight and will take on Alexis Davis in a 135-pound title bout for Raging Wolf Promotions on May 8 in Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Maxwell tells MMA Fighting that the reason for her near two-year-long layoff was the difficulty as a woman to find fights.
"Girlfight Monster" Back in Action
Hitomi Akano, who fought valiantly a year ago for Strikeforce before being dispatched by Cris Cyborg, will compete at Jewels: Seventh Ring on March 19 in Tokyo, Japan.
Akano (15-6-1) will face Hiroko Yamanaka (7-1) in a rematch from April 2008, when Akano handed Yamanaka her first loss with an armbar submission. Yamanaka, 31, is unbeaten in three fights for the Jewels promotion.
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