The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its long-awaited debut at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada tonight for UFC 129: “St. Pierre vs Shields.” The card was headlined by a UFC Welterweight Championship bout between Georges “Rush” St. Pierre and jiu-jitsu expert Jake Shields.

Newly-crowned UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo made the first defence of his title in the co-main event against Ontario’s own Mark “The Machine” Hominick, while Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida faced Randy “The Natural” Couture. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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Chris Tuchscherer’s Crowbar MMA promotion came to Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota tonight with a ten-fight card at “Spring Brawl 2.” The main event featured a light heavyweight matchup between UFC veteran James “The Hammer” McSweeney and Francisco “Kiko” France.

Tonight’s card also included a pair of women’s bouts. Rising prospect Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak battled Nina “The Macedonian Mauler” Ansaroff at 125 pounds, while Shana “Rock Solid” Olsen faced Elaina “Beef” Maxwell in 145-pound action. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the event.

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A welterweight bout between Diego “The Dream” Sanchez and UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes is targeted for an upcoming UFC event this Fall. While a date and venue have not yet been announced, the promotion revealed today that verbal agreements are already in place for the matchup.

Sanchez returned to 170 pounds last year after challenging unsuccessfully for the UFC Lightweight Championship, and has won two of his three fights since. Former long-time UFC Welterweight Champion Hughes will look to rebound from his 21-second knockout loss to B.J. Penn in November.

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An untimely injury has forced Japanese superstar Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto out of his upcoming bantamweight bout against Chris “Kamikaze” Cariaso. In Yamamoto’s place, former Tachi Palace Fights champ Michael “Mayday” McDonald will step in to face Cariaso at UFC 130 on May 28th.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship confirmed Yamamoto’s withdrawal from the event today, though details of his injury were not disclosed. McDonald and Cariaso have verbally agreed to square off on the May card, and both will be looking for their second straight victory inside the Octagon.

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DEEP Lightweight Champion Katsunori Kikuno will battle armbar specialist Daisuke Nakamura at DREAM: “Fight For Japan” on May 29th in Saitama, Japan. The non-title matchup is the seventh confirmed fight for the event, which will also kick off the DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix.

DREAM officials announced the bout earlier today. Kikuno has won two of his last three fights and defended his DEEP title in October. Nakamura has won three straight bouts, including a December flying armbar victory, since dropping a decision to Justin Wilcox in his lone Strikeforce appearance.

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The UFC Light Heavyweight Championship grudge match between former teammates Jon “Bones” Jones and “Suga” Rashad Evans will have to wait. Jones has withdrawn from the planned UFC 133 matchup due to a hand injury. The Canadian Press was first to report on the cancellation.

In Jones’s place, unbeaten prospect Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis has stepped in to face Evans in a non-title bout on the card. Jones suffered the injury in his March 19th title victory over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. The 23-year-old Jones replaced an injured Evans on short notice in the March title fight.

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A pair of non-tournament featherweight bouts have been added to DREAM: “Fight For Japan” on May 29th in Saitama. Former Lightweight Champion Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen takes on “The Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida, while UFC veteran Caol “Uno Shoten” Uno faces “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura.

Both fights were officially announced today. The event will also feature the first two rounds of the newly-renamed DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix at the Saitama Super Arena. The top three fighters in the tournament will advance to a DREAM World Bantamweight Grand Prix later this year.

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Rising prospect Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff picked up her biggest win to date tonight at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 41 in North London, England. The former 145-pound competitor needed less than two minutes to stop Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly in a 125-pound women’s co-main event.

Gaff, who managed just a single victory in four bouts last year, has now won back-to-back fights by a form of knockout in 2011. Taking control of the bout with Daly right away, Gaff backed her opponent up to the cage with punches and finished the fight with a barrage of knees to the body soon after.

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