Former long-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones made a triumphant return to action on April 23rd at UFC 197 in Las Vegas. Jones defeated late replacement Ovince “OSP” St. Preux in the main event to become interim UFC champ, and he regains the top spot at 205 pounds.

Also in April, “Thug” Rose Namajunas avenged a past loss and took a big step towards another shot at the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. Namajunas narrowly edged out the previously undefeated Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres at UFC on FOX 19, and she enters the 115-pound top ten.

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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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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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TUF 20 finalist “Thug” Rose Namajunas made a strong case for a second shot at UFC gold with her biggest victory to date tonight at UFC on FOX 19: “Teixeira vs Evans” in Tampa, Florida. Namajunas avenged a past loss by edging out Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres in strawweight action.

Tonight’s bout between Namajunas and Torres was a rematch from Invicta FC 6 in 2013 when Torres took home the decision win. Also at UFC on FOX 19, Raquel “Rocky” Pennington picked up her second straight victory by outpointing former bantamweight title challenger Bethe “Pitbull” Correia.

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