Strikeforce invaded the SaveMart Center in Fresno, California tonight for Strikeforce Challengers 7. The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between Lavar “Big” Johnson and the undefeated Lolohea Mahe. The fight was Johnson’s first since suffering gunshot wounds in a drive-by shooting.

Also on the main card, highly-touted Andre “The Young Giant” Galvao clashed with Luke Stewart in a welterweight matchup, while Miesha “Takedown” Tate and Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto met in a grudge match. MMARising.com has live play-by-play from the event.

Read More…

King of the Cage returned to HDNet tonight with another solid card at KOTC: “Legacy.” The event was headlined by a heavyweight clash between Mike “MAK” Kyle and Jon “Man of Faith” Murphy. Elsewhere, Tony Johnson captured the KOTC Heavyweight Championship by defeating Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez in a lopsided five-round bout.

Fresh off of his upset victory over veteran Rich “No Love” Clementi, Quinn Mulhern became KOTC Welterweight Champion when he dispatched of Koffi Adzitso. MMARising.com has live play-by-play from all of the night’s action.

Read More…

The second round of the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix takes place this Saturday night at FCF 40 at the FireLake Grand Casino in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Four of the top 135-pound female fighters in the world will clash for a chance to advance to the June 12th finals.

Strikeforce and EliteXC veteran Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler will square off with Canadian standout Alexis Davis, who replaces Jennifer “Rosebud” Tate, while Adrienna “AJ” Jenkins faces heavy-handed striker Jan “Cuddles” Finney. MMARising.com previews the semi-final bouts.

Read More…

Plans to hold Dream.14 in South Korea on April 24th have been cancelled after the promotion was unable to secure a Korean television deal for the event. Korean MMA site MFight first reported on the news today. There was no word on whether the debut DREAM card in Korea would be rescheduled.

DREAM had hoped to make inroads into Korea in order to follow on the success that its sister promotion, K-1, has had over the years. However, due to a lack of available Korean talent, such as 7’2″ monster Hong Man Choi and Denis Kang, DREAM could not secure a TV deal in time.

Read More…

A light heavyweight bout between Matt “The Hammer” Hamill and “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine is in the works for The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale in June. MMAjunkie.com first reported on the planned bout earlier today and bout agreements could be finalised soon.

Both fighters are coming off of setbacks, though Hamill is technically undefeated in his last three fights. He was soundly beaten by Jon “Bones” Jones at the TUF 10 Finale, but was awarded a disqualification victory after Jones used illegal elbow strikes late in the first round.

Read More…

A planned rematch between UFC welterweight contenders Thiago “Pitbull” Alves and Jon Fitch has been cancelled once again. Alves was forced to withdraw from this Saturday’s UFC 111 card after a CT scan showed irregularities in his brain. Fitch will remain on the card and will face late replacement Ben “Killa B” Saunders.

Alves was previously set to meet Fitch for the second time at UFC 107, but was forced to withdraw after tearing the PCL in his knee. Fitch won the pair’s first bout by TKO at UFC Fight Night 5 in 2006.

Read More…

A long-awaited showdown between former K-1 HERO’s ace Yoshihiro Akiyama and long-time PRIDE champ Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva will take place at UFC 116. The event is tentatively scheduled for July 3rd in Las Vegas. Fighters Only magazine first reported on the bout earlier today.

Akiyama and Silva were first rumoured to be facing each other in a featured bout at UFC 110 in Australia, but Akiyama was later removed from the card. Silva went on to defeat Michael “The Count” Bisping via hard-fought decision and will now set his sights back on Akiyama.

Read More…

Leading Shooto promoter Sustain has confirmed a trio of title fights for its upcoming Shooto: “The Way of Shooto 3” event on May 30th. The card will be headlined by a Shooto Lightweight (143-Pound) Championship bout between “Lion” Takeshi Inoue and Sengoku standout Hatsu Hioki.

Also on the impressive card, Yasuhiro Urushitani and Ryuichi Miki will clash for the third time for the vacant Shooto Bantamweight (123-Pound) Championship, while Willamy “Chiquerim” Freire defends the Shooto Welterweight (154-Pound) Championship in a rematch with Yusuke Endo.

Read More…