Japan’s top female prospect, Mizuki Inoue, will no longer compete for the inaugural Deep Jewels Lightweight Championship tomorrow night at Deep Jewels 3 in Tokyo. Inoue missed weight during today’s weigh-ins and her bout with grappling specialist Emi Tomimatsu is now a non-title fight.
In addition to the non-title stipulation, a number of other changes have been made to the fight. Inoue will start the bout with two Yellow Cards and will be ineligible to win on the official record. Only a victory for Tomimatsu, who is now the interim Deep Jewels Lightweight Champion, will be officially tallied.
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Invicta Fighting Championships has added 15 new fighters to its roster as the all-female promotion prepares to hold its eighth fight card later this year. The group of newly-signed athletes includes TUF 18 competitors Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi and Peggy “The Daywalker” Morgan.
News of the roster additions was announced on Friday’s edition of Inside MMA. The new signings include fighters in all five of Invicta FC’s current weight classes, ranging from 105 to 145 pounds. Invicta FC 8 is targeted for April, though an exact date and location have not yet been announced.
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Former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman and grappling ace Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler are set to face off for a second time at The Ultimate Fighter: “Nations” Finale on April 16th in Québec City, Québec, Canada. UFC officials announced the rematch today.
Kaufman and Baszler first clashed at Strikeforce Challengers 2 in June 2009, with Kaufman prevailing via a hard-fought Unanimous Decision. She made her long-awaited UFC debut in October. Baszler steps into the UFC Octagon for the first time since her stint on The Ultimate Fighter 18.
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Former top Jewels star Mika “Future Princess” Nagano is no longer set to compete in an exhibition retirement match at Deep Jewels 3 on February 16th in Tokyo, Japan. Deep Jewels officials announced on Sunday night that Nagano is pregnant and her exhibition has been removed from the card.
Nagano had been scheduled to face one-time Jewels foe Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka in what was to be Nagano’s final appearance in MMA. In place of the Nagano-Ishioka exhibition, Deep Jewels has added a grappling match between Brittany Ann Decker and Haruka Kojima to the preliminary card.
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Former boxing champ Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm will compete for her first MMA title on April 4th at Legacy Fighting Championship 30 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The hometown star faces Juliana “Julie” Werner for the inaugural Legacy FC Women’s Bantamweight Championship.
Holm made a successful Legacy FC debut in July when she knocked out Allanna “Hands of Stone” Jones with a devastating head kick, and she kept her perfect record intact by picking up two more wins before the end of the year. Werner has won five straight fights and she has not lost since 2006.
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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey tonight for UFC 169: “Barao vs Faber 2.” The event was headlined by a UFC Bantamweight Championship rematch between Renan “Barao” Pegado and challenger “The California Kid” Urijah Faber.
In tonight’s co-main event, UFC Featherweight Champion José “Scarface” Aldo defended his title against Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas. Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir took on Alistair Overeem in a pivotal heavyweight clash. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.
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Jessica “Jag” Aguilar remained on top of the 115-pound women’s rankings with a quick and impressive submission victory at World Series of Fighting 8 on January 18th. Aguilar defeated the previously unbeaten Alida Gray to become the inaugural WSOF Women’s Strawweight Champion.
At UFC on FOX 10, former UFC Lightweight Champion “Smooth” Benson Henderson picked up yet another controversial decision victory when he narrowly edged out one-time Strikeforce champ Josh “The Punk” Thomson. Heavyweight prospect Stipe Miocic defeated Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga.
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