Rising star Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets will return to action at XFC 14: “Resurrection” on October 21st in Orlando, Florida. The unbeaten 26-year-old will face off with tough veteran Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel in a featured 125-pound bout. The promotion officially announced the fight today.
Kheyfets earned a pair of victories in the XFC last year, but the promotion has not yet held an event in 2011 and Kheyfets kept busy with a May victory on a Reality Fighting card. Helsel fought four times in 2010, but was unable to secure a win and she will now look to put an end to her losing streak.
Despite taking the fight on less than three days’ notice, NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly needed just 20 seconds to submit Angela Hayes at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: “Fight Night 2” tonight in Amman, Jordan. Daly has now won back-to-back fights since suffering a loss in April.
Fresh off of one of the biggest wins of his UFC career, former PRIDE legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira will have a chance to avenge his first stoppage loss when he faces Frank Mir for the second time at UFC 140 on December 10th in Toronto, Ontario. Verbal agreements are now in place.
As a result of an injury, Matt “The Real One” Grice has withdrawn from his bout with Nam Phan at UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. Phan will now have an opportunity to avenge a highly controversial loss from last year when he rematches Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia on the Texas card.
Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz will no longer compete for the UFC Welterweight Championship on October 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Diaz was removed from his UFC 137 main event bout today after failing to show up for two mandatory press conferences and his UFC tenure may be over.
A broken hand has forced Diego “The Dream” Sanchez out of his UFC 135 bout with former long-time champion Matt Hughes on September 24th in Denver, Colorado. Former title challenger Josh Koscheck has now stepped in to face Hughes. UFC President Dana White confirmed the change today.
Rising welterweight star Rory “Ares” MacDonald will compete in his native Canada for his next fight. The once-beaten British Columbian faces veteran Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole at UFC 140, which is targeted for December 10th in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Verbal agreements are in place for the bout.
Three additional fights have been added to the upcoming UFC On FOX 1 card on November 12th in Anaheim, California. Among them is a lightweight contender’s bout between former WEC champion Ben “Smooth” Henderson and one-time Strikeforce 155-pound titleholder Clay “The Carpenter” Guida.