Strikeforce made its way to the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee tonight for Strikeforce Challengers 13: “Woodley vs Saffiedine.” The event was headlined by a welterweight bout between unbeaten Tyron “T-Wood” Woodley and fellow rising star Tarec “Sponge” Saffiedine.
Also on the card, Ovince St. Preux faced off with Ron “Abongo” Humphrey in light heavyweight action, while Daniel Cormier clashed with Devin Cole in a heavyweight bout. Amanda Nunes battled Julia Budd in the lone women’s matchup. MMARising.com has play-by-play for the night’s main card.
Top amateur promotion Tuff-N-Uff kicked off 2011 in a big way tonight with a solid event in Las Vegas that featured rival gyms Xtreme Couture and 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu Riverside. The card was headlined by a lightweight matchup between unbeaten prospects Jake Swinney and Trace “Midnight” Gray.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has officially confirmed six bouts for “UFC On Versus 3” on March 3rd in Louisville, Kentucky. The event will be headlined by a welterweight matchup between former top contender Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez and the resurgent Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann.
Unbeaten Muay Thai champion Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie will likely face Stephanie Webber in a women’s matchup on the undercard of the upcoming Strikeforce: “Diaz vs Cyborg” event on January 29th. The proposed bout would mark both fighters’ debuts with the San Jose-based promotion.
Confirming weeks of speculation, Strikeforce has confirmed plans for an eight-man heavyweight tournament and officially announced all tournament participants today. In one first-round matchup, Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem will rematch Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum.
Citing low ticket sales, DEEP has officially announced the postponement of its planned “Mayhem In Macao” event that was scheduled to take place this Saturday, January 8th. A revised date for the event, which was to be held in The Venetian Macao Resort Hotel, was not named in the release.
Voting for the 2010 Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards has now concluded and winners have been crowned in 18 categories. With a perfect campaign in 2010, Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Tournament Champion Miesha “Takedown” Tate has been named the 2010 Female Fighter of the Year.
With a kick that was felt throughout the MMA world, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis put a stamp on his five-round victory over Ben “Smooth” Henderson to become WEC Lightweight Champion at WEC 53 on December 16th. Pettis enters the 155-pound ranks and should challenge for UFC gold in 2011.