Picking up his third straight first-round knockout victory, Marlon Sandro at last captured the Sengoku Featherweight Championship tonight with a destruction of Masanori “Kin-chan” Kanehara. The title bout headlined a stoppage-filled Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 card that also featured the opening round of the Sengoku Welterweight Grand Prix.
Elsewhere, rising star Maximo “Maxi” Blanco stopped Strikeforce veteran Rodrigo Damm early in the second round, while Hiroshi Izumi dispatched of Chang Seob Lee in round one of their featured bout.
Season 11 of The Ultimate Fighter wrapped up tonight at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. This season’s finale was headlined by the Middleweight final between Court “The Crusher” McGee and Kris “Savage” McCray, while Matt “The Hammer” Hamill took on “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine in a pivotal co-main event.
Bellator Fighting Championships CEO Bjorn Rebney has big plans for his promotion’s women’s division in the coming year. Speaking exclusively with MMARising.com today, Rebney outlined plans for the upcoming Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament in August, as well as the potential for an additional women’s tournament in 2011.
Greatest Common Multiple’s all-female Valkyrie division crowned its first Flyweight (100-Pound) Champion today in the main event of “Valkyrie 6.” In a rematch after a November 2008 draw, Yasuko Tamada defeated Naoko Omuro by Unanimous Decision to capture the title.
Seven fighters are now set for the August Bellator 115-Pound Women’s Tournament, as the promotion announced tonight that Lynn “Lights Out” Alvarez and Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly have both signed on to compete. One spot in the eight-woman bracket remains to be filled after Elena “Babydoll” Reid was forced to withdraw due to injury.
It took just over two minutes for veteran submission ace Lisa Ward to choke out a much less experienced Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto tonight at Bellator Fighting Championships 22. The end came just 2:01 into the fight, as Frausto refused to tap out and was choked unconscious.
Two fights have been added to the upcoming Dream.15 card on July 10th, joining a previously announced DREAM Lightweight Championship bout between Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri. In a newly-announced contender’s bout, recent Strikeforce signee Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante will face Katsunori Kikuno.
Strikeforce came to the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, tonight with a unique Wednesday night card at Strikeforce: “Live.” The Showtime event was headlined by a 195-pound catchweight bout between final EliteXC Middleweight Champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral.