The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its second trip to the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada tonight for UFC 131: “Dos Santos vs Carwin.” The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between top contenders Junior “Cigano” dos Santos and Shane Carwin.
Also on the card, former UFC lightweight title challenger Kenny “Ken-Flo” Florian made his featherweight debut against Diego “The Gun” Nunes, and John Olav “The Viking” Einemo faced Dave “Pee-Wee” Herman in both fighters’ UFC debuts. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.
Strikeforce women’s tournament veteran Maiju “Mai” Kujala will return to action on July 9th when she faces unbeaten prospect Simona Soukupova at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 43 in North London, England. Verbal agreements are currently in place for the 117-pound catchweight bout.
The Score television network presented its debut solo event tonight with the Score Fighting Series 1 from the Hershey Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The card was headlined by a welterweight bout between Jordan “Young Gun” Mein and Marius “The Whitemare” Zaromskis.
Strikeforce has not yet given up on plans to feature a 145-pound women’s bout on its upcoming June 18th event in Dallas, Texas, but the promotion has encountered another roadblock after attempts to replace Gina Carano with Olympic judo bronze medallist Ronda Rousey failed to materialise.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced today that all upcoming non-title main events will now be contested over five, five-minute rounds. The change will not apply to fights that have already been signed, but the ruling will be utilised for newly-signed main event bouts moving forward.
Gina “Conviction” Carano will no longer make her return to MMA action on June 18th in Dallas, Texas. The “Face of Women’s MMA” has been forced out of her televised Strikeforce bout with Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio due to what has been deemed to be a “revoked medical clearance.”
A pivotal women’s bout between former Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman and Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche is targeted for Strikeforce Challengers 17 on July 22nd in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight could serve as a number one contender’s bout for Kaufman’s former title.
A Strikeforce Middleweight Championship bout between champion Ronaldo “Jacaré” Souza and rising star Luke Rockhold is currently planned for an as-yet-unannounced Strikeforce event on September 10th. The fight was thought to be set for July 30th, but will no longer take place on that card.