The women, who will come in eighty pounds lighter than the men they replaced, are two of their division’s top grapplers and have combined for sixteen submissions between them.

LaRosa will be fighting for the first time since November when she outpointed Takayo Hashi on a card in New Jersey. She is 19-2 overall and emerged with her hands raises sixteen of the last seventeen times she’s stepped foot in the ring including victories over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano, and Roxanne Modafferi.

Her opponent on the other hand will be looking to recapture the form helping lead to ten straight wins before falling in back-to-back outings the last two times she’s fought. Damm is 15-5 in her career with six submissions and five TKOs to her credit.

In addition to Damm vs. LaRosa, Shark Fights 14 will feature middleweights Matt Horwich and Danillo Villefort in the main event. Fans can watch things unfold live on HDNet starting at 10:00 PM EST.

Read below for a full listing of the Shark Fights 14 card as it stands right now:

Matt Hobar vs. Jeremy Gauna
Cesar Rodriguez Jr. vs. Tommy Gomez
Mark Martinez vs. Jonathen Valencia
Matt Dodgen vs. Gino Davila
Matt Espinoz vs. Ryan Benoit
Larry Garcia vs. Derek Cansino-Davila
Donnie Frye vs. Quaint Kempf
Layne Hernandez vs. Gabe Vasquez
Ben Medina vs. TBA
Greg Huval vs. Kyle Bracey
Sean Shakour vs. Joseph Sandoval
Alex Cisne vs. Eric Davila
Mikel Bronzoulis vs. Todd Moore
Matt Horwich vs. Danillo Villefort

Sylvia, a native of Eastbrook, Maine, used his experience, arm length and boxing skills to defeat Pudzianowski, who was making his U.S. debut in only his third pro fight.

“This feels great, man,” Sylvia said after the fight. “I’m back. Mariusz Pudzianowski is one helluva tough guy. This provides me with an opportunity to get another big fight, hopefully in three months. It didn’t go as I had planned. I thought I’d knock him out in the first round but I was a little cautious. My corner told me after the first round I could do anything because he was gassed. Once he failed on the takedowns, I knew I had him.”

In the co-main event, heavyweight Travis Wiuff recorded his 61st win, unloading a vicious left hook, followed by two rights that dropped Josh Barnes, which ended the fight only 34 seconds into the opening round.

Middleweight Rafael Natal (12-2-0) stopped Travis Lutter (10-6-0) by way of unanswered strikes in the opening round of their middleweight match.

Boston lightweight Mike Campbell (9-2) registered the most significant victory of his young career, taking a 3-round decision from veteran Yves Edwards (37-15-1) in a back-and-forth fight.

In a rematch featuring two of the top female MMA fighters in the world, Roxy Modafferri (15-5-0) avenged her loss, winning a split decision against Tara LaRosa (18-2-0).

Polish heavyweight Lukasz Jurkowski improved his record to 15-9, striking Ho Jin Kim with back-to-back right hands for a first-round knockout.

A full set of results from “Moosin MMA: God of Martial Arts” can be found below:

Stipe Miocic def. Paul Barry via TKO – Round 2
Anthony Lapsley def. Frederic Belleton via Submission – Round 1
Matt Lee def. Brett Oteri via TKO – Round 2
Forrest Petz def. Ralph Johnson via Unanimous Decision
Lukasz Jurkowski def. Ho Jin Kim via TKO – Round 1
Roxanne Modafferi def. Tara LaRosa via Split Decision
Mike Campbell def. Yves Edwards via Unanimous Decision
Rafael Natal def. Travis Lutter via TKO – Round 1
Travis Wiuff def. Josh Barnes via TKO – Round 1
Tim Sylvia def. Mariusz Pudzniaowski via Submission (strikes) – Round 2

Before I get into the actual “pick em” part of this article let me preclude the breakdown of bouts by saying one of the things about Mixed Martial Arts I’ve always loved is its unpredictable nature. I’ll do my best to steer you in the right direction with a little insight/opinion included in the deal, but readers would be wise to avoid laying down money on my attempts to glimpse into the future. Beyond that, please don’t hesitate to share your own thoughts on any or all of the scheduled fights in the “Comments” section below, and let’s get this show on the road…

STRIKEFORCE CHALLENGERS

Pat Healy vs. Bryan Travers

Healy may only be 22-15 as a professional Mixed Martial Artist but a closer examination reveals much more than can be derived from looking at his record on the surface. The fan-favorite and nine-year veteran of the sport has been in the ring with a number of notable opponents to say the least. He’s lost to the likes of Jay Hieron, Denis Kang, and Chris Lytle while claiming victory over Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, and Carlos Condit. Travers’ name doesn’t carry nearly the weight as any of those listed, but he’s won six consecutive fights and only felt the sting of defeat once in fourteen total bouts. However, four of his last five wins came via unanimous decision (with a kimura being #5), so I get the impression he relies on takedowns and size to hold competition down and attack from the top. Unfortunately for him, Healy is too good a grappler to be ensnared by such a trap. I expect “Bam Bam” to out-wrestle Travers and eventually find a submission to lock in.

Winner – Pat Healy via Submission Round 2

Roger Bowling vs. Bobby Voelker

Voelker has 4X the in-ring experience as Bowling, has been out-pointed more times in his 28-fight career than finished, and has thirteen TKOs to his credit. As such, he should enter the bout with a good deal of confidence in his ability exchange on his feet or when it comes to testing his cardio over fifteen full minutes. However, Bowling is undefeated and has beaten all seven of his opponents thus far in almost a Shane Carwin-like fashion. Six have fallen to strikes, while the other was submitted, and a high-percentage of the wins came in the first-round including a nine-second knockout! In the end I think his explosiveness will ultimately prevail. Voelker has been knocked out twice in his career (though granted the last time was a little more than two years ago), and he’s been out of action for six months after racking up a seven-bout-per-year average in the four years prior. The layoff and sliver-of-a-question about his chin are the factors pushing me towards Bowling, but I definitely expect this to be a very competitive fight and a great start for fans being introduced to both athletes for the first time.

Winner – Roger Bowling via TKO Round 2

Tyron Woodley vs. Nathan Coy

Coy is an above-average grappler with decent hands but lacks Woodley’s strength and athleticism. It’s important to note the three-fight win streak he’s on involves competition with a combined record equating to a single win over .500 and was preceded by back-to-back losses. On the other hand, “T-Wood” is undefeated through six fights and finished five of his opponents in the first round with the sixth only making it through about three-quarters of the second stanza. He’s definitely emerged as one of Strikeforce’s rising stars and could find himself on the cusp of a welterweight title shot with another impressive victory. Coy could weather the storm long enough to lose via decision but it won’t be an easy feat to accomplish. Woodley can be smothering, staying active enough to advance position while maintaining the focus needed to latch onto submissions when presented with the opportunity to do so. As such, I’m confident Woodley will be able to successfully defend Coy’s takedown attempts while dragging him to the mat on multiple occasions where he’ll eventually get his back and choke him out.

Winner – Tyron Woodley via Submission Round 2

Matt Lindland vs. Kevin Casey

There are few things in MMA that frighten me. Among them are life-threatening harm befalling an athlete, the public’s perception of MMA returning to that of “human cockfighting”, and Butterbean‘s wardrobe being somehow mixed up with Shonie Carter‘s. While none of those three things are at serious risk of occurring at the “Challengers” event, another equally insidious situation I fear involves reality television’s Spencer Pratt worming his way into MMA’s spotlight by riding the coattails of friend/associate Kevin Casey, and because of that shudder-inducing scenario I will be rooting for Lindland to emerge victorious in this bout with every fiber of my being.

Fortunately, the objective part of me also thinks “The Law” has a better of chance of winning the fight than being “laid down” by Casey. The 40-year old may have lost three of his last four fights but consider the competition he was facing in each – Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (BJJ wizard and arguably a “Top 10″ middleweight), Vitor Belfort (likely next in line for a shot at the UFC Middleweight Championship and coming off a first-round TKO of Rich Franklin), and Fedor Emelianenko (if you really need me to put something in THESE particular brackets you’re watching the wrong sport). Casey, on the other hand, doesn’t have anywhere close to Lindland’s experience and is only 3-1 as a professional fighter. He is one of “Punk” Minowa‘s seven TKO wins in the Japanese star’s 83-fight career. He primarily relies on grappling to beat opponents, so it would seem he shouldn’t have much to offer against a silver-medalist Olympian like Lindland who is also well-versed in submissions. Outside of a perfectly-placed strike landing I don’t see many ways Casey can walk away from his “main event” at-bat without striking out.

Winner – Matt Lindland via Decision

MOOSIN MMA

Tara LaRosa vs. Roxanne Modafferi

As I said in this week’s “Grappling with Issues”, I’m actually looking forward to this particular contest more than the one headlining the card and featuring 4X the weight. Modafferi and LaRosa are both quality female Mixed Martial Artists with the latter deserving consideration as her gender’s best pound-for-pound competitor. LaRosa has won fifteen fights in a row and only lost once in a total of nineteen bouts over an eight-year career. She’s a respectable grappler who has finished her last eight opponents and will enter the ring as the clear favorite to win. However, Ms. Modafferi can’t be counted out as evident by her 7-1 record over the past three-plus years. Her only loss in that span was the result of a fight she took on short notice against Marloes Coenen, and though she lacks LaRosa’s power Roxanne has an incredible amount of heart and is both patient and intellectual in her approach. The stylistic pairing is nice, and I think fans are in for a treat given a sense of familiarity derived from a previous match-up likely clearing the path for more engagement than feeling out. I believe LaRosa’s stand-up should win her most if not all of the exchanges that occur and will ultimately be the difference maker in this bout given that both ladies are solid on the mat.

Winner – Tara LaRosa via Decision

Yves Edwards vs. Mike Campbell

Campbell doesn’t appear to be much of a threat to Edwards, as four of his six wins have come by way of TKO yet only equate to about a quarter of the veteran’s victories using the same method. Additionally, Yves has only been rendered unable to compete via strikes twice in a career with more than fifty fights under his belt. The “Thugjitsu” specialist has finished three straight opponents, including back-to-back first-round TKOs against two men Campbell is a few notches below on the talent scale (Kyle Jensen and Derrick Noble), and he has a lot more to work with on the ground than his adversary does. This bout is basically Moosin’s way of showcasing a fan favorite like Edwards against an underdog who happens to be from the area the event is taking place in, not an attempt at serving parity up to viewers.

Winner – Yves Edwards via TKO Round 1

Travis Lutter vs. Rafael Natal

This may be hard to believe, but tonight only marks Lutter’s third fight since losing to UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva in February 2007. Natal is a Gracie-affiliated grappler so his approach to beating the Ultimate Fighter Season 4 champion should be fairly predictable. However, with Lutter also being a high-level jiujitsu practitioner a lot of Natal’s attacks will be negated, and I’m far from confident in either man’s ability to knock the other out. The push of styles, in addition to Lutter’s inactivity, makes me worry that this bout could turn out to be a relatively boring fifteen-minute stalemate. It would be perfectly at home in an ADCC tournament but may not be the type of match-up standard MMA fans want to see.

Winner – Travis Lutter via Decision

Travis Wiuff vs. Josh Barnes

This fight is custom made for Wiuff to win. Barnes, a late replacement for original opponent Mu Bae Choi, is 5-4 as a professional and owes 3/4 of his defeats to being TKO’d. On the other hand, this bout marks Wiuff’s 75th as a professional Mixed Martial Artist with nearly a 6:1 ratio of wins/losses and stats far eclipsing Barnes’. I expect both men to throw leather right off the bat and see whose chin gives first. However, unlike Barnes, if Wiuff doesn’t like what he sees he has the option to take things to the ground and work submissions. His experience and overall abundance of skills should be too much for Barnes to overcome. Outside of the old “puncher’s chance” seeping its way into the fight this victory should be the most guaranteed one in the entire lot.

Winner – Travis Wiuff via TKO Round 1

Tim Sylvia vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski

I like to think of this bout as Moosin’s way of showing some love to fans of Japanese MMA who don’t necessarily want to stay up until 6:00 AM to watch a “freak show” fight take place. After all, at a total weight of nearly 600 pounds, would Sylvia vs. Pudzianowski not be perfectly at home with iconic ring announcer Lenne Hardt screaming out their respective names during the opening ceremonies of an event?

In this case of Far East meets East Coast it seems like Sylvia should be an obvious favorite to win based on his experience and training background, but “The Maine-iac” has made it difficult to put any real vote of confidence in him due to his recent run of sloppy physical conditioning and nine-second knockout loss to Ray Mercer last June. Pudzniaowski is obviously powerful enough to crumple Tim-meh with a few well-placed strikes, and it would be very interesting to see what might happen if the Polish strong-man was able to take Sylvia down and found a way to work some ground-and-pound. However, I think his overly-muscular frame will actually be his demise, as it prevents him from having the fluidity of motion necessary for even above-average level striking. His bulk also requires a great of oxygen to power so the longer Sylvia can extend things the better chance he has of picking Pudzniaowski apart. I hope/think the former UFC Heavyweight Champion will be able to work his jab to keep his shorter, stockier opponent at bay and maybe test his takedown/submission defense if an opening presents itself. As long as Sylvia enters the bout with basic strategy and sticks to it he should find himself on a winning streak for the first time since November 2006.

Winner – Tim Sylvia via TKO Round 3

After having recorded a third round TKO over Alexis Davis during Extreme Challenge’s Jan. 23 debut in Atlantic City, LaRosa is once again slated to headline for the promotion in a bout to be contested at 125 pounds.

LaRosa, 16-1, revealed exclusively to FiveOuncesOfPain.com that her opponent on March 28 will be kickboxing standout Sally Krumdiak.

Since making her MMA debut in October of 2006, Krumdiak has gone 5-1 and is currently in the midst of a four fight winning streak.

Krumdiak will look to pull off the upset against LaRosa, a seven-year veteran who is currently ranked as WAMMA’s number one ranked super bantamweight (135 pound) fighter.

Presently training out of the Fight Factory in Philadelphia, LaRosa holds notable career victories over Roxanne Modafferi, Megumi Yabushita, Amanda Buckner, Shayna Baszler, and Kelly Kobold.

Event promoter Monte Cox revealed to FiveOuncesOfPain.com earlier afternoon that LaRosa is set to face rising prospect Alexis Davis.

Davis is 6-1 and is a native of Port Colborne in Canada. Since losing her pro debut to Sarah Kaufman at Ultimate Cage Wars 7 in April of 2007, Davis has gone on to win six consecutive fights. Davis will have her hands full with LaRosa, a Royce Gracie purple belt who trains out of the Fight Factory in Philadelphia.

LaRosa is 15-1 over the course of a six-year MMA career that began in 2002. She has recorded notable victories over top female fighters such as Shayna Baszler, Roxanne Modaferri, Megumi Yabushita, Amanda Buckner, and Kelly Kobold.

Also set to fight on the card is EliteXC bantamweight champion Wilson Reis, who is now set to face Matt Troyer instead of the previously announced Josh Ferguson.

Former Division I wrestling standout Zach Makovsky and Pros vs. Joes season one winner Charlie Brenneman are also scheduled for action in separate bouts. “War at the Shore” will also feature the pro debuts of top Philadelphia-based amateurs Jesus Martinez and Tuan Pham.

Already announced as headlining the show against an opponent yet to be determined is top five ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez, who was raised in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.

Additionally, FiveOuncesOfPain.com can now confirm that both Tara LaRosa and Wilson Reis are scheduled to compete on the show as well. The news was confirmed via text message with Matt Stansell of North County Fight Club Fight Management, which represents both Reis and LaRosa.

Reis, the current EliteXC bantamweight champion, was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil but has adopted Philadelphia as his own town. The 23-year old black belt has developed a strong local following thanks in large part to his nationally televised bouts on SHOWTIME but also because he serves as an instructor at two of the areas largest schools, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu United in Jenkintown, PA and Daddis Fight Camps in South Philadelphia.

LaRosa, the former BodogFIGHT women’s champion, was born in Woodstown, N.J. and currently trains with Alvarez out of the Fight Factory in Philadelphia. She last competed in the Tri-State area on July 14, 2007 while co-headlining a Bodog event in Trenton N.J. Facing EliteXC veteran Kelly Kobold, LaRosa improved to 14-1 following a fourth round armbar submission.

According to Stansell, opponents for Reis and LaRosa have yet to be finalized.

“We’ve determined a date, and a location is being finalized,” McClure said. “We’ll announce the details very soon.”

McClure said the PPV fight card will feature many of the organization’s biggest names, including LaRosa, Lashley, UFC veteran and AFL lightweight champ Diego Saraiva, welterweight champ Brent Weedman, middleweight champ George Lockhardt and possibly former UFC fighter Dan Christison.

It will be interesting to see how the AFL approaches the pay-per-view market. No other fight promotion has been successful in that arena besides the UFC and perhaps Affliction and we still don’t actually know what the PPV buyrate was for Affliction: Banned show because Tom Atencio is keeping the information close to the vest. What Affliction had going for it, however, was star power in the heavyweight division and extremely intriguing matchups. That’s something that the AFL doesn’t have going for them.

At this point, they’re riding the backs of Bobby Lashley who is an MMA newcomer, Tara LaRosa, and a bunch of UFC washouts. To me it doesn’t sound like a recipe for PPV success. Lashley has drawing power because of his time in WWE but he’s no Brock Lesnar. And LaRosa is a name that hardcore fans can identify with but she’s no Gina Carano in terms of drawing interest. By all accounts the AFL has been putting on great fights and good shows on a regional scale. But pay-per-view might be too much, too soon.

I’m a huge fan of the TapouT reality TV show on Versus but I’m well aware that some people aren’t. If you fall into the latter category, you’ll love this video. Even if you don’t fall into the latter category, you still might love it.

And you know it’s good because how often do I post video? Hell, I don’t even post still photos, let alone pictures that move.