On Friday night, submission ace Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler picked up her 14th career victory and second championship of 2010 when she stopped Elaina “Beef” Maxwell. The featured 140-pound title bout was part of The Cage Inc.’s “Battle At The Border 7” in North Dakota.
Also on the card, Bellator veteran Jessica Pene dropped down in weight and put on an impressive performance in her strawweight debut. The California native dominated Muay Thai practitioner Amy “Lil’ Dynamite” Davis on the ground before finishing the fight with a first-round rear-naked choke.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the famed Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan tonight for UFC 123: “Rampage vs Machida.” The main event featured a light heavyweight bout between former champs Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.
Strikeforce made its way to the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Mississippi tonight for Strikeforce Challengers 12. The card was headlined by a lightweight bout between former Shooto champ Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro and American Kickboxing Academy’s Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox.
Sengoku Raiden Championship has booked the first of what could be as many as five women’s bouts for their year-end “Way of Soul” event on December 30th. Kickboxing champions Erika Kamimura and Chiharu will square off in a bout that both fighters hope will use full Muay Thai rules.
On February 11, 2010, Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi shocked the mixed martial arts world when she submitted Japanese legend Yuka Tsuji in just 76 seconds to become Valkyrie Featherweight Champion at 115 pounds. She will make the first defence of her title on November 28th.
As she continues to wait patiently for an opportunity in Strikeforce, unbeaten Belgian judoka Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois will stay busy with another fight in 2010. She will next face Russia’s Yana Kunitskaya at M-1 Challenge 22 on December 10th at the Druzhba Multipurpose Arena in Moscow.
Three months ago, former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion Hitomi Akano stepped into a Strikeforce cage to take part in the promotion’s inaugural 135-pound women’s tournament. What few observers knew was that the “Girlfight Monster” planned to retire if she lost her first-round matchup.
Olympic silver medallist Sara McMann will once again have to wait to make her professional mixed martial arts debut. The wrestling standout had been scheduled to face late replacement Monique Henry for Caribbean Gladiators on Sunday in Jamaica, but the entire card was scrapped at the last minute due to safety issues with the cage that was to be used for the event.