Former champions will collide inside the Octagon on December 30th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brock Lesnar will face Alistair Overeem in a battle of former UFC and Strikeforce heavyweight titleholders. The bout was first reported by the L.A. Times and subsequently confirmed by UFC officials on Twitter.
Lesnar will make his return to the cage after a second bout with diverticulitis this year. He has not fought since losing his UFC title to Cain Velasquez last October. Overeem was released from his Strikeforce contract in late July despite holding the promotion’s belt and is unbeaten in his last 11 fights.
Ukrainian prospect Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova moved her mixed martial arts record to a perfect 8-0 on Saturday in Mariupol, Ukraine. The multi-time kickboxing and MMA champion submitted Eugenia Kostina with an armbar at the Professional Association of Martial Arts Ukraine’s “President’s Cup.”
An illness has forced Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff out of a planned bout with Angela Hayes on Thursday at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: “Fight Night 2” in Amman, Jordan. NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly has stepped in on just three days’ notice to face Hayes on the card.
Bellator veteran Jessica Penne will make her Shoot Boxing debut in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday against two-time Girls S-Cup champion Rena Kubota. The promotion officially announced the late addition to the card today and MMARising.com confirmed that Penne will depart for Japan this week.
Rin Nakai narrowly kept her unbeaten record intact today in Tokyo, Japan. The first and only Valkyrie open-weight champ battled England’s Danielle “The Curse” West to a Split Draw at Pancrase Impressive Tour 9 in a highly competitive bout that West surprisingly dominated in the later stages.
UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez will make the first defence of his new title against Junior “Cigano” dos Santos live on FOX television. UFC President Dana White announced the five-round fight earlier today. The bout takes place on November 12th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Top prospects “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey and Julia “The Jewel” Budd have verbally agreed to face off at Strikeforce Challengers 20 on November 18th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strikeforce announced the featherweight matchup on Wednesday and MMAjunkie.com first reported on the event and venue.
Heavyweight legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira picked up one of his biggest wins in recent years on August 27th at UFC 134: Rio. Competing at home in Brazil for the first time in his storied career, Nogueira knocked out Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub and re-enters the heavyweight rankings.