Rising bantamweight star Miesha “Takedown” Tate returned to Freestyle Cage Fighting at FCF 38 last night and successfully defended her FCF Women’s Bantamweight Championship with a first-round armbar submission of tough challenger “Vicious” Valerie Coolbaugh. The two had previously met once before in an amateur bout.
Elsewhere on the card, FCF Welterweight Champion Joey “The Takedown Wizard” Gorczynski retained his title, while former FCF Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan McClain was not so fortunate.
While Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos and Marloes Coenen square off for the Strikeforce Women’s Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship on January 30th, recent Strikeforce signee and top title contender Erin Toughill will also be in action on the same night.
After another dominant stoppage victory at UFC 108, British knockout king Paul “Semtex” Daley takes a big step towards the top of the welterweight ladder in the latest edition of the MMARising.com Top 10 Fighter Rankings, but the division remains as one of the most competitive in the sport.
After original opponent Yohan Banks was denied approval by the Florida State Boxing Commission, professional wrestling superstar Bobby “The Dominator” Lashley is now expected to face journeyman veteran Jimmy “The Titan” Ambriz at Strikeforce: Miami on January 30th. Ambriz steps into the fight on just two weeks’ notice.
Heavy-hitting former light heavyweight James “The Sandman” Irvin will make his middleweight debut against fellow striking standout Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara at the newly-renamed “UFC On Versus 1: Vera vs Jones” on March 21st. MMAWeekly.com first reported on the bout for the event previously known as UFC Fight Night 21.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has confirmed another impressive fight for its debut card on the Versus network. Rising heavyweight star Junior “Cigano” dos Santos will clash with former title challenger Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 21 on March 21st.
Sidelined for well over a year due to a pair of knee injuries, hard-hitting Canadian striker Patrick “The Predator” Côté will return to the Octagon against Alan “The Talent” Belcher at UFC 113 in Montreal, Québec on May 1st. Côté confirmed the fight earlier today.
One day after the announcement of a Lightweight title fight for UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi, the event has received a second title bout. UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva will defend his belt against former 205-pound champ Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort on the stacked card.