Recent women’s strawweight title challenger Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau is set to compete in her home country on June 18th at UFC Fight Night 89: “MacDonald vs Thompson” in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Létourneau will face off against Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood in a unique one-off flyweight bout.

UFC officials announced the matchup today and further clarified that it does not represent the creation of a full-time 125-pound women’s weight class. Létourneau recently dropped a Unanimous Decision to Joanna Jędrzejczyk in November, while Calderwood is coming off of a close victory in July.

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Krush women’s kickboxing champion Syuri Kondo began her MMA career with a close and competitive decision victory tonight at Pancrase 277 in Tokyo, Japan. Kondo edged out previously undefeated teen prospect Kanna Asakura in a featured strawweight showdown on tonight’s main card.

The talented fighters spent the majority of the bout battling for takedowns and trading strikes in clinches against the cage. Kondo managed to secure a tight rear-naked choke in the dying stages of round three, which proved to be just enough to seal a razor-thin decision victory on the scorecards.

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Former UFC women’s strawweight champ Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza made a triumphant return to the Octagon and picked up a pivotal win tonight at UFC 197: “Jones vs St. Preux” in Las Vegas, Nevada. The standout wrestler earned a Unanimous Decision victory over Juliana “Ju Thai” Lima.

Esparza, who took tonight’s fight on short notice, got back in contention for the 115-pound women’s title that she relinquished to Joanna Jędrzejczyk 13 months ago. She used her wrestling skills to keep Lima pinned down on the mat in all three rounds and walked away with a well-deserved victory.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for UFC 197: “Jones vs St. Preux.” The event was headlined by a UFC Interim Light Heavyweight Championship bout between former champion Jon “Bones” Jones and Ovince “OSP” St. Preux.

In tonight’s co-main event, UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson put his title on the line against unbeaten challenger Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo. Anthony “Showtime” Pettis battled Edson Barboza at lightweight. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s card.

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Fan favourite Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig makes her return after a lengthy hiatus and seeks a crucial win on July 23rd at UFC on FOX 20 in Chicago, Illinois. The hometown star, who has not fought since April 2015, is set to battle Hawaiian prospect Kailin Curran in strawweight action on the card.

UFC officials announced the 115-pound fight on Thursday. Herrig has been idle since dropping a one-sided decision to “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant at UFC on FOX 15 one year ago. Curran recently halted a tough two-fight losing skid by submitting Emily Kagan at UFC Fight Night 80 in December.

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Strawweight standout Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos looks to get back into title contention with a win on June 18th at UFC Fight Night 89: “MacDonald vs Thompson” in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Markos faces off against RFA champion Jocelyn “Lights Out” Jones-Lybarger in a featured matchup.

TSN.ca first reported on plans for the bout on Thursday. Markos recently dropped a decision to unbeaten rising star Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC on FOX 17 in December. Jones-Lybarger also seeks redemption after suffering a Unanimous Decision loss to Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres at UFC 194.

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The Ultimate Fighter 23: “Team Joanna vs Team Claudia” premiered tonight on FOX Sports 1 and TSN. This season’s debut episode included all 16 elimination-round bouts as male light heavyweights and female strawweights began their quests to become TUF 23 champion and earn a UFC contract.

Led by UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk and rival Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha, two opposing teams – each composed of four male light heavyweights and four female strawweights – compete against each other this season. Tonight, 16 fighters made it into the “TUF House.”

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Top-ranked contenders Emi Tomimatsu and Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama will face off for the newly-vacant Deep Jewels Atomweight Championship on June 5th at Deep Jewels 12 in Tokyo, Japan. The 105-pound championship fight was one of seven bouts officially announced for the card earlier today.

Former champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi vacated the belt in order to compete in her upcoming ONE Championship title fight. Also set for the Deep Jewels 12 card is a featured atomweight bout between Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka and Hana Date, and a 54kg bout between Yuko “Amiba” Oya and Nori Date.

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