While Hitomi Akano, Carina Damm, Maiju Kujala and Miesha Tate will fill the bracket in Strikeforce's upcoming 135-pound tournament, another pair of women will also compete in a tournament reserve bout.
Liz Carmouche (2-0 MMA, 0-0 SF) and Colleen Schneider (0-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) have agreed to meet on the preliminary card of Strikeforce Challengers 10.
Additionally, Strikeforce officials also released the official rules for the tournament, which call for the fights to feature three-minute rounds and a "sudden victory" frame in case of a draw.
Strikeforce Challengers 10 takes place Aug. 13 at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., and airs live on Showtime. A 182-pound catchweight bout between veteran Joe Riggs and Louis Taylor headlines the event.
The Carmouche-Schneider bout was first reported by MMARising.com, and MMAjunkie.com has since confirmed the booking with Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz.
The winner of the Carmouche and Schneider will be eligible to advance to the finals of the single-night tournament should one of the semifinal bout winners be unable to continue due to injury.
Like all contests in the 135-pound tourney, the Carmouche-Schneider bout features three three-minute rounds, as well as a provision for a fourth, "sudden victory" round.
"If a tournament match is scored a draw, a fourth, 'sudden victory' round will be contested to determine the winner," the official rules read. "That sudden victory round will be scored independently and will determine which fighter advances."
Additional rule tweaks include a "survivor role" in the case of an accidental foul.
"If a semifinal bout ends prematurely due to an accidental, unintentional or no-fault foul, the 'survivor rule' will be implemented," Strikeforce officials stated. "The fighter who is fit to continue will advance."
A California-based fighter, Carmouche made her debut in May with a submission win over Aleena Albertson. Carmouche followed up that win with a TKO victory in June over Margarita de la Cruz.
The 25-year-old currently trains in San Diego at Undisputed Fitness and Training.
Meanwhile, Schneider made her professional debut in March with a submission loss to Sarah D'Alelio at Fitetime Entertainment's Arctic Combat 2 event in Alaska. According to MMARising, Schneider previously earned a 2-0 record as an amateur in the Las Vegas-based Tuff-N-Uff organization while competing under the alias of "Paige Zio," a name she took on to protect her pursuits from her corporate employer at the time.
Schnieder trains with Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Milendez.
The winner of the four-woman tournament receives a future shot at Strikeforce's 135-pound belt, which is currently held by Sarah Kaufman.
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/20154/carmouc ... leased.mma