Strawweight striker Vanessa “Vanessinha” Guimarães scored the biggest win of her young MMA career on Saturday night at XFC International 6 in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil. Guimarães outpointed Vanessa “Miss Simpatia” Melo to win the XFC women’s strawweight tournament title.

XFCi 6 also featured the quarterfinal round of the promotion’s eight-woman flyweight title tournament. Taila Santos, Poliana Botelho, Debora Ferreira and Silvaneide “Marretinha” Pereira all advanced on to the semi-finals of the 125-pound championship tournament with key victories on Saturday’s card.

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Undefeated bantamweight star “Alpha” Cat Zingano regained her former top title contender status with a hard-fought TKO victory tonight at UFC 178: “Johnson vs Cariaso” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Zingano weathered an early storm and stopped Brazil’s Amanda “Lioness” Nunes in the third round.

Zingano was in danger early and often in round one as Nunes battered her with vicious ground and pound on the mat. However, just as she has done in past bouts, Nunes slowed way down as the fight progressed and Zingano overwhelmed her with strikes on the ground en route to a thrilling TKO win.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for UFC 178: “Johnson vs Cariaso.” The event was headlined by a UFC Flyweight Championship bout between champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Chris “Kamikaze” Cariaso.

In tonight’s co-main event, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone battled former Bellator Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez. Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier took on “The Notorious” Conor McGregor and “Alpha” Cat Zingano faced Amanda “Lioness” Nunes. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s card.

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Bantamweight contenders Jessica “Evil” Eye and Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith are set to collide inside the world-famous Octagon on November 15th. Eye and Smith will face off in a featured bout at UFC 180: “Velasquez vs Werdum” in Mexico City, Mexico. UFC officials confirmed the fight today.

Eye transitioned to the UFC this past October following a successful stint in Bellator and initially won her UFC debut, but the result was overturned when she tested positive for marijuana metabolites. Smith most recently earned her first UFC win by quickly stopping Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke in July.

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Brazilian strawweight Juliana “Ju Thai” de Lima Carneiro looks to pick up her first Octagon victory in front of local fans and supporters on November 8th at UFC Fight Night 56: “Shogun vs Manuwa” in Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Lima faces off against Nina “The Strina” Ansaroff on the card.

UFC officials announced plans for the 115-pound fight today. Lima made her Octagon debut in late July and dropped a Unanimous Decision to Polish standout Joanna Jędrzejczyk. Ansaroff has won five straight fights and most recently knocked out Munah “The Perfect Storm” Holland at Invicta FC 7.

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Team Pettis’s clean sweep continued with another impressive victory tonight during Episode 3 of The Ultimate Fighter: “A Champion Will Be Crowned.” Jessica Penne kept her team’s perfect record intact by submitting Team Melendez’s Lisa Ellis in a rematch from Invicta FC 1 back in April 2012.

Just as she did in the pair’s first fight, the #4-ranked Penne once again used quick transitions and her formidable grappling skills to get the better of the #13-ranked Ellis on the ground. She took Ellis’s back after a scramble and landed a series of punches that set up a fight-ending rear-naked choke.

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Four additional matchups have been added to the all-female Deep Jewels 6 card, which will take place on November 3rd at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, Japan. The event is set to feature a 135-pound rematch between top Deep Jewels star Shizuka Sugiyama and once-beaten prospect Yurika Nakakura.

Recent WSOF title challenger Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino returns to the Deep Jewels ring to face Ayaka Miura, who earned an impressive win in her pro debut at Deep Jewels 4. Tomo Maesawa meets Yuko “Amiba” Oya and Satomi “Sarami” Takano looks to get back on track against Mina Kurobe.

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Invicta FC Flyweight Champion Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak returns to the cage to make the next defence of her title on November 1st at Invicta Fighting Championships 9 in Davenport, Iowa. Honchak faces off against Deep Jewels Middleweight Champion Takayo Hashi in the main event.

In addition to the Honchak-Hashi headliner, the rest of the ten-fight Invicta FC 9 card was also confirmed on Tuesday. The co-main event features a strawweight contender’s bout between Mizuki Inoue and KSW champion Karolina Kowalkiewicz. At 105, Ayaka Hamasaki faces Hérica Tibúrcio.

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