A lingering knee injury has forced Amanda Buckner out of a planned fight against Brazilian Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes on February 4th. The bout was set to take place in Buckner’s home state of Maine for the Global Fight League, but Buckner will instead undergo surgery on her knee.

Though she has not yet been officially removed from the GFL card, Nunes is hopeful that she may receive an opportunity to fight for Strikeforce in 2011. Nunes is seen as one of only a handful of top challengers left for dominant Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its return to Germany today with UFC 122: “Marquardt vs Okami” at the König Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen. The card was headlined by a middleweight contender’s bout between Nate “The Great” Marquardt and Yushin “Thunder” Okami.

A planned co-main event between Alessio “Legionarius” Sakara and Jorge “El Conquistador” Rivera was scrapped on last-minute notice due to illness. As a result, Duane “Bang” Ludwig faced “Slick” Nick Osipczak on the main card. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all of the fights.

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Two of the four semi-finalists in the Tuff-N-Uff 145-pound amateur women’s tournament were decided tonight on an excellent MMA card in Las Vegas, Nevada. Olympic Judo Bronze Medallist Ronda Rousey and unbeaten teen prospect Tay Stratford both advanced on with quick submission wins.

Competing in just her second mixed martial arts bout, Rousey made short work of Tuff-N-Uff veteran Autumn Richardson, while Stratford moved to 6-0 by defeating newcomer Shauna Dugger. The two now await their semi-final opponents, who will be determined at an upcoming Tuff-N-Uff event.

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World Extreme Cagefighting came to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for WEC 52: “Faber vs Mizugaki.” The promotion’s second-to-last event was headlined by a bantamweight bout between former 145-pound champ “The California Kid” Urijah Faber and Takeya Mizugaki.

Also on the main card, Chad “Money” Mendes put his undefeated record on the line against featherweight veteran Javier “Showtime” Vazquez, while Joseph Benavidez took on Wagnney Fabiano in bantamweight action. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all fights on the televised card.

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As one of the very best female fighters in mixed martial arts for close to a decade, Tara LaRosa has faced a who’s who of the sport and has emerged victorious in all but two of her 20 career bouts. She will face Takayo Hashi in a five-round title fight for DaMMAge Fight League on November 24th.

After reigning over the 135-pound division, LaRosa dropped down in weight to 125 pounds in 2009 and now looks to solidify her legacy in a second weight class. As she trains for her bout with Hashi, LaRosa speaks exclusively with MMARising.com about her training, goals and future in the sport.

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A seventh bout has been added to the upcoming all-female Valkyrie 8 event in Tokyo, Japan. Former top contender Emi Fujino will look to end her recent losing streak when she rematches Fight Chix representative Anna Saito on the November 28th card. The bout will be Saito’s first in over three years.

Fujino and Saito first met in a featured bout on the one-night K-GRACE tournament card on May 27, 2007. Saito entered the bout after having fought just eight days earlier and was submitted with a rear-naked choke in the first round. She has competed in mixed martial arts just one time since.

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Strikeforce and BodogFIGHT veteran Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm has verbally agreed to face unbeaten 125-pound prospect Cat “Alpha” Albert at Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” on December 10th. Matchmaker Chris Nelson confirmed the fight’s status with MMARising.com tonight.

The featured matchup replaces a previously planned women’s bout between Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez and Emily “The Enforcer” Klinefelter. Gutierrez was first slated to face Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman, but was ultimately forced off of the card due to a scheduling conflict with another fight.

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Two-time Bellator tournament finalist Toby Imada got back on the winning track on Monday at FiteNite 14 in Costa Rica. The popular lightweight defeated Ludwing “El Perro” Salazar with a second-round armbar in the night’s main event. The win was Imada’s 12th in his last 14 bouts.

Also on the MMA portion of the card, undefeated judoka Reyna Córdoba moved her mixed martial arts record to 4-0 with a Unanimous Decision win over tough veteran Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel. Scores were 29-28 across the board for Córdoba, who picked up her biggest victory to date.

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