Unbeaten atomweight prospect Paulina “Firefox” Granados earned her first submission win in quick fashion tonight at Legacy Fighting Championship 20 in Corpus Christi, Texas. The hometown fan favourite needed a mere 46 seconds to defeat fellow Texan Maria Lopez with an impressive armbar.

Granados kicked off her pro career with a well-earned Unanimous Decision win in March following a 4-0 run as an amateur that was capped off by a Cage Combat 110-pound title win. All five of Granados’s previous fights had gone the distance, but she wasted no time in securing her victory tonight.

Read More…

Former UFC title challenger Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche has a new opponent for her upcoming bantamweight bout at UFC on FOX 8. Carmouche will now face off against Brazilian rising star Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade on the card, which is set to take place on July 27th in Seattle, Washington.

MMAFighting.com first reported on the fight tonight. Carmouche’s two-fight winning streak was halted by UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey at UFC 157 in February. Andrade has won seven of her past eight and she is coming off of a key victory over Milana Dudieva.

Read More…

A torn ACL has forced unbeaten bantamweight “Alpha” Cat Zingano out of her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship fight against fellow TUF 18 coach “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. Yahoo! Sports first reported on Zingano’s injury this evening. She is expected to be sidelined for up to nine months.

Miesha “Cupcake” Tate, who was stopped by Zingano in April, has stepped in to coach opposite Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18, which began filming today. Tate and Rousey, who first met for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title in March 2012, will face off once again later this year.

Read More…

German standout Alexandra Buch outlasted two opponents to become the inaugural NCFC Women’s Featherweight Champion on Saturday evening at No Compromises Fighting Championship 2 in Hamburg, Germany. Buch defeated Jessy Schwarz and Anne Merkt in succession to capture the title.

The championship tournament was almost cancelled during the event after Buch’s original semi-final opponent, Jannie Schmits, suffered a panic attack and withdrew from the fight. Schwarz, who had already fought Merkt earlier in the evening, stepped in as a last-minute replacement to face Buch.

Read More…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for UFC 160: “Velasquez vs Silva 2.” The card was headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship rematch between Cain Velasquez and former EliteXC titleholder Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Also on the card, Junior “Cigano” dos Santos looked to get back into UFC heavyweight title contention when he took on standout striker Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt. Glover Teixeira faced James Te Huna in a light heavyweight bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s UFC 160 event.

Read More…

Japan’s all-female Jewels promotion will cease operations in August and the organisation’s top stars will move on to compete under the DEEP banner. DEEP boss and Jewels advisor Shigeru Saeki confirmed the news after tonight’s Jewels: “24th Ring” event at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo.

Jewels officials struggled to book fights for the promotion’s two cards this year due to a lack of available talent as athletes took bouts for Invicta FC and Pancrase. The promotion, which rose from the ashes of Smackgirl in November 2008 and staged 26 events, now becomes a division of DEEP.

Read More…

After thrice coming up short in Smackgirl and Jewels title bouts, Seo Hee Ham captured her first major MMA title tonight at Jewels: “24th Ring” in Tokyo, Japan. Ham earned a Unanimous Decision win over Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama to become Jewels Featherweight Queen Champion.

In the co-main event tonight, final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi made short work of Seo Ye Jung. Mika “Future Princess” Nagano picked up her third straight win with a quick submission of Takumi Umehara and Yurika Nakakura upset prospect Jade Marie Anderson.

Read More…

Jewels returned to Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan tonight for Jewels: “24th Ring.” The ten-fight card was headlined by a Jewels Featherweight Queen Championship matchup between Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama and South Korean standout Seo Hee Ham, who moved down in weight for the fight.

Also tonight, final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi took on Seo Ye Jung. Mika “Future Princess” Nagano battled Takumi Umehara and unbeaten prospect Jade Marie Anderson squared off against Yurika Nakakura. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

Read More…