Leading all-female promotion Jewels has announced a trio of big fights for its upcoming “15th Ring” event on July 9th in Tokyo, Japan. Final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi will make her Jewels debut when she faces kickboxing standout and Jewels mainstay Seo Hee Ham.

In a bout rescheduled from December 30th, Strikeforce veterans Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano and Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi will square off in a featured matchup at 15th Ring, while top Jewels star Hiroko Yamanaka returns to face rising prospect Bolormaa “Esui” Erdenebileg.

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Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Marloes “Rumina” Coenen will defend her title against 2010 tournament winner Miesha “Takedown” Tate at Strikeforce: “Fedor vs Henderson” on July 30th in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The matchup, first planned for March 5th, was made official on Saturday.

Tate was forced to withdraw from the bout in March after suffering a knee injury. Coenen went on to face late replacement Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche and rallied back after a shaky start to submit Carmouche with a fourth-round triangle choke. Now fully recovered, Tate will get her shot at the title.

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The Ultimate Fighter 13 concluded tonight at The Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. The TUF 13 Finale was headlined by the welterweight final between Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson and Ramsey Nijem. The winner of the bout earned a six-figure contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Also on the card tonight, lightweight standouts Clay “The Carpenter” Guida and Anthony “Showtime” Pettis squared off in a contender’s bout, while Ed “Short Fuse” Herman returned after nearly two years away to face “Crazy” Tim Credeur. MMARising.com has play-by-play and results for the card.

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The North American Allied Fight Series showcased one of its biggest events tonight at NAAFS: “Fight Night In The Flats 7” in Cleveland, Ohio. The card was headlined by an NAAFS 125-pound women’s title bout between NAAFS star Jessica “Evil” Eye and Bellator veteran Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly.

Elsewhere on the card, the NAAFS Middleweight Championship was on the line when Alan “Showtime” Aeschlimann battled Travis “The Terror” Clark, while KO king Stipe Miocic faced Bobby Brents for the NAAFS Heavyweight Championship. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the event.

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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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