UFC Welterweight Champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre will face Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz at UFC 137. UFC President Dana White announced the matchup this afternoon, and it will reportedly take place on October 29th at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

St. Pierre has won nine straight fights inside the Octagon and some feel that he has cleaned out the UFC’s welterweight division. Diaz, meanwhile, has won ten straight and has reigned supreme atop the Strikeforce 170-pound division since winning the promotion’s title on January 30, 2010.

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Another busy month of mixed martial arts action concluded with UFC 130 on May 28th. Rising welterweight star Rick “The Horror” Story picked up his biggest victory to date when he upset former UFC title challenger Thiago “Pitbull” Alves, and Story vaults up the 170-pound ranks with the win.

In women’s action, Jewels and Valkyrie stars clashed on May 14th at the Jewels: 13th and 14th Ring doubleheader, where Valkyrie prevailed 3-2 in the best of five series. As a result, the female strawweight rankings have undergone a number of changes as new faces climb towards the top.

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Former Lightweight King of Pancrase Maximo “Maxi” Blanco will reportedly make his Strikeforce debut against former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson at an event planned for September. MMAWeekly.com first reported on the potential 155-pound matchup earlier today.

Blanco most recently earned a Unanimous Decision win over Won Sik Park at SRC: “Soul of Fight” on December 30th. He has won six straight fights, with five ending by way of knockout. Thomson last fought at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve and dropped a decision to Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri.

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A fractured foot has forced Brazilian standout Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes out of a planned 135-pound women’s matchup against Julie “Fireball” Kedzie at Strikeforce: “Overeem vs Werdum” on June 18th in Dallas, Texas. MMADieHards.com was first to report on Nunes’s withdrawal from the fight.

Nunes made an instant impact in her Strikeforce debut in January when she knocked out Julia “The Jewel” Budd in just 14 seconds. She had planned to return to her natural weight class of 135 pounds to face Kedzie, but has now been forced off of the card. The bout may be rescheduled for a later date.

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Former Smackgirl and Valkyrie champion Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji will return to action against Jewels postergirl Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka at Jewels: “15th Ring” on July 9th in Tokyo, Japan. The fight, which will be Tsuji’s first in nearly 17 months, was officially announced today.

Tsuji has not fought since losing her Valkyrie Featherweight Championship to “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi on February 11, 2010. She had surgery to correct shoulder and knee injuries during her time away from competition and will now return to face Ishioka, who campaigned for the fight with Tsuji.

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