Bantamweight Queen of Pancrase Rin Nakai battled back from adversity to score the biggest win of her career tonight at Pancrase 252 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Nakai’s strong final round was enough to propel her to a Majority Decision win over Tara LaRosa in a non-title fight on the card.
After a close and competitive first round, LaRosa rocked Nakai with a right cross early in the second stanza and she took the round on one judge’s scorecard. Nakai secured a takedown in round three and she scored with ground and pound and submission attempts en route to a huge victory.
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The semi-finals of the inaugural Deep Jewels lightweight title tournament are set for Deep Jewels 2 on November 4th in Tokyo, Japan. During a public drawing today, it was determined that Mizuki Inoue will face Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino and Mika “Future Princess” Nagano battles Emi Tomimatsu.
Both semi-final bouts are rematches from past fights. Teen sensation Inoue announced her presence in the combat sports world at age 15 in July 2010 when she upset Fujino in a kickboxing match. Nagano narrowly defeated Tomimatsu when the pair first faced off at Jewels: “23rd Ring” in March.
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Multi-time boxing champion Jessica “The Ragin'” Rakoczy earned the first win for her team during tonight’s fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 18: “Team Rousey vs Team Tate.” Rakoczy knocked out Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi to give fight control to coach “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey.
Led by coach Miesha “Cupcake” Tate, Modafferi got off to an excellent start in her fight with Rakoczy and she dominated the majority of round one on the ground. Rakoczy showcased her striking skills in round two and she finished Modafferi on the mat after dazing her with a powerbomb slam.
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Former Valkyrie champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi will compete outside of Japan for the second time in her MMA career when she debuts for Pacific Xtreme Combat on October 25th. Yamaguchi has agreed to face “Little” Patricia Vidonic in a strawweight bout at PXC 40 in Mangilao, Guam.
MMARising.com confirmed plans for the bout with PXC CEO E.J. Calvo on Saturday night following announcements from both fighters. Yamaguchi has alternated between victories and competitive defeats in each of her past six fights, while Vidonic has suffered setbacks in five of her past seven bouts.
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ACCEL champion Chihiro Imoto retained her women’s title with a lopsided Unanimous Decision win this past Monday at ACCEL vol.25 in Kobe, Japan. The 16-year-old sensation picked up her 138th career victory by defeating former karate champion Megumi Igawa in a featured bout on the card.
Imoto became ACCEL’s first female champion in her December pro debut and made the first defence of her new title with a dominant win in May. She was equally impressive in her ACCEL return and remained a step ahead of Igawa in the striking battles en route to a clear-cut win after three rounds.
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada tonight for UFC 165: “Jones vs Gustafsson.” The card featured a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon “Bones” Jones and challenger Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson.
In the co-main event, UFC Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan “Barao” Pegado defended against top contender Eddie Wineland. Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub took on Matt Mitrione in a featured heavyweight matchup. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s UFC 165 card.
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South Korean star Seo Hee Ham defends her Deep Jewels Featherweight Championship for the first time at Deep Jewels 2 on November 4th in Tokyo, Japan. Ham is set to face prospect Sadae “Manhoef” Numata on the card. Deep Jewels officials announced the 106-pound title fight earlier today.
Ham captured what was then known as the Jewels Featherweight Queen Championship in May by defeating Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama on the final Jewels card. Her title carried over to Deep Jewels when the all-female promotion was formed earlier this year. Numata has won four straight fights.
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Former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate’s team retained control tonight with another key victory during The Ultimate Fighter 18 Episode 3. Team Tate’s Chris Holdsworth submitted UFC champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey’s team member Chris Beal.
Tonight’s win meant that Tate retained control of the fight picks, which are made at the conclusion of each bout. Next week, Team Tate representative Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi takes on former boxing champion Jessica “The Ragin'” Rakoczy in the second women’s quarterfinal fight.
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