The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s doubleheader of events continued tonight with UFC Fight Night 54: “MacDonald vs Saffiedine” at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The card featured a welterweight bout between Rory “Ares” MacDonald and Tarec “Sponge” Saffiedine.

In other action tonight, Raphael Assuncao battled Bryan “Kid Lightning” Caraway in a featherweight contender’s bout. Chad “The Disciple” Laprise clashed with Yosdenis “The Pink Panther” Cedeno at 155 pounds and TUF Nations winner Elias “The Spartan” Theodorou met Bruno “Carioca” Santos.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden today for UFC Fight Night 53: “Nelson vs Story.” The event was headlined by a five-round welterweight bout between Icelandic prospect Gunnar “Gunni” Nelson and hard-hitting Rick “The Horror” Story.

Also on the card, Max “Blessed” Holloway battled hometown favourite Akira Corassani in the featherweight co-feature. Jan Blachowicz made his UFC debut against Ilir “The Sledgehammer” Latifi at 205 pounds and Mike “The Warrior” Wilkinson took on Niklas Bäckström in featherweight action.

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Former pound-for-pound boxing queen Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm may make her long-awaited Octagon debut on December 6th at UFC 181: “Hendricks vs Lawler 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Holm is in talks to face Russian standout Milana Dudieva in a bantamweight bout on the card.

MMAFighting.com first reported on plans for the potential matchup earlier this week. Holm remains undefeated in her mixed martial arts career and she signed with the UFC this year after capturing the Legacy FC women’s bantamweight title. Dudieva made a successful UFC debut in August.

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Former Strikeforce champ and top Invicta FC contender Marloes “Rumina” Coenen is set to make her Bellator featherweight debut on October 24th at Bellator 130 in Mulvane, Kansas. Coenen will face off against Italian rising star Annalisa “No Fear” Bucci in a featured matchup on the card.

TheMMAReport.com first reported on the planned fight on Tuesday. Coenen joined the Bellator roster this summer alongside Julia “The Jewel” Budd and others when Bellator restored a women’s division. Bucci has won six of her past seven fights and she makes her North American debut for Bellator.

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Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson retained her title with a dominant third-round TKO victory on September 6th at Invicta Fighting Championships 8. Waterson stopped former Valkyrie champ Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada and remains atop the 105-pound rankings.

Also at Invicta FC 8, Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää submitted Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink to become the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. In September UFC action, Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade, Miesha “Cupcake” Tate and “Alpha” Cat Zingano all picked up key bantamweight victories.

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Former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza showed no signs of ring rust in an impressive first-round submission victory during tonight’s fourth episode of The Ultimate Fighter 20: “A Champion Will Be Crowned.” The top-ranked Esparza defeated Angela “Overkill” Hill.

Esparza’s victory extended Team Pettis’s lead to 4-0 over Team Melendez, which has thus far struggled in the elimination round. Ranked #1 and seen by many as a favourite to win the competition, Esparza overcame nerves and a lengthy layoff en route to a quick victory over the #16-ranked Hill.

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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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