Strikeforce came to the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey tonight for the start of its much-anticipated Heavyweight Grand Prix at Strikeforce: “Fedor vs Silva.” The event was headlined by a quarterfinal bout between “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.
In a second quarterfinal matchup, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski clashed with Sergei Kharitonov. A trio of reserve bouts were also contested on the card featuring top heavyweight prospects and tough veterans. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the event.
Team Quest shut out rivals Xtreme Couture in a gym versus gym rematch last night at Tuff-N-Uff: “Xtreme Couture vs Team Quest 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Temecula, California-based Team Quest fighters went 3-0 against the hometown favourites in Tuff-N-Uff’s first amateur caged event.
Two of the top female fighters in Central Europe will collide on April 16th at WKF: “The Night of the Count” in Wr. Neudorf, Austria. Unbeaten Ukrainian Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova will battle Austria’s Jasminka “Cive” Dizdarevic in a WKF European Women’s MMA Championship bout at 124 pounds.
A knee injury has forced former WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit out of a planned bout with Chris “Lights Out” Lytle on February 27th at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia. “The Natural Born Killer” has been replaced by veteran Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole, who will face Lytle on short notice.
A second women’s bout has been added to the Pancrase Impressive Tour 2 fight card on March 13th in Osaka, Japan. Former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano will face Chisa Yonezawa. The fight was first noted by Akano’s friend and training partner, Megumi Fujii.
Bellator 115-pound women’s champion Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto will indeed face rival Karina Hallinan for the second time at Bellator Fighting Championships 35 on March 5th, but the bout is not scheduled to be part of the televised card. MMAjunkie.com first reported on the news earlier today.
Two fights have been announced for Jewels: “Twelfth Ring” on March 11th in Tokyo, Japan. Promotional postergirl Mika “Future Princess” Nagano faces Emi Murata, while Miyoko Kusaka squares off with Yuka Okumura. Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion Ayaka Hamasaki will compete as well.
Fresh off of her Ring of Combat title victory this past weekend, top prospect Jessica “Evil” Eye is expected to make her Strikeforce debut against tough veteran Jan “Cuddles” Finney on March 5th. The targeted matchup would be contested at 135 pounds on the undercard of Strikeforce: Columbus.