Injuries and illness have resulted in a number of late changes to Saturday’s Freestyle Cage Fighting 49 and BlackEye Promotions 5 cards. In Shawnee, Oklahoma, the main event of FCF 49 now features Kaitlin Young taking on local favourite Liz Carreiro, who steps in to replace Jan “Cuddles” Finney.

The main card of BlackEye 5 in Fletcher, North Carolina has also undergone changes. Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider has replaced Sofie Bagherdai and faces Ivana Coleman. Ashley “Smashley” Cummins awaits a new opponent after Angelica “The Messenger” Brotherton withdrew due to an illness.

Read More…

Sixteen-year-old grappler Shino VanHoose will make her mixed martial arts debut against Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa at Pancrase Impressive Tour 10 this Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. The bout was announced earlier this month and is now set for the “Pancrase Gate” undercard portion of the event.

VanHoose earned a pair of submission victories at an April “Roll Festival” grappling event and debuted for Pancrase in August by defeating Satoko Kameda in a catch wrestling match. She will make her MMA debut against the much more experienced Ichikawa, who looks to capture her first win.

Read More…

Jessica “Evil” Eye was successful in her Bellator Fighting Championships debut on Saturday night at Bellator 51 in Canton, Ohio. Competing in front of friends in her home state, Eye earned a Split Decision win over Casey “KO” Noland in a catchweight bout after Noland came in over the 125-pound limit.

On Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, veteran Tonya Evinger picked up a quick win over Xtreme Fighting League champion Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez at XFL: “Rumble on the River 5.” Despite taking the bout on just two days’ notice, Evinger was dominant and finished Rodriguez with a rear-naked choke.

Read More…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado tonight for UFC 135: “Jones vs Rampage.” The card featured a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon “Bones” Jones and former undisputed UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

In other action, recent title challenger Josh Koscheck looked to get back on the winning track against former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, and Nate Diaz faced long-time PRIDE ace Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all fights on tonight’s UFC card.

Read More…

DREAM began the 2011 DREAM World Bantamweight Grand Prix tonight at Dream.17: “Fight For Japan” at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. In the main event, reigning DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki faced “Razor” Rob McCullough in a non-title matchup.

Also on the card, former lightweight rivals Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri and Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen squared off in a much-anticipated rematch in the featherweight division, and Caol “Uno Shoten” Uno battled “Lion” Takeshi Inoue. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s DREAM card.

Read More…

Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has an opponent at last. The Brazilian star will face once-beaten Japanese standout Hiroko Yamanaka in a title bout announced by the promotion today. The fight is expected to take place on December 17th in San Diego.

Santos has not fought since a June 2010 destruction of an overmatched Jan “Cuddles” Finney, as she has sat on the sidelines awaiting a new contract. Having recently signed a new deal, Santos now returns to the cage against Yamanaka, who will hold a significant height and reach advantage.

Read More…

Strikeforce returned to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada this evening for Strikeforce Challengers 19: “Larkin vs Rossborough.” The event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between unbeaten rising star Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough.

In other action on tonight’s main card, Ryan Couture rebounded from the first professional loss of his career by defeating Maka Watson in lightweight action. Shawn Jordan submitted Strikeforce veteran Lavar “Big” Johnson with a second-round keylock in the night’s heavyweight co-main event.

Read More…

Titan Fighting Championship returned to the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas tonight for Titan Fighting Championship 20 on HDNet. The co-main event featured a heavyweight bout between former Strikeforce contender Brett “Da Grim” Rogers and Eddie “The Manic Hispanic” Sanchez.

In the main event, former WEC Lightweight Champion Jamie Varner took on late replacement Dakota Cochrane, while Andrew Whitney stepped in on short notice to face Laramie Shaffer at bantamweight. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all of the fights on tonight’s TFC 20 main card.

Read More…