The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia today for UFC Fight Night 63: “Mendes vs Lamas.” This afternoon’s event was headlined by a five-round featherweight contender’s bout between standouts Chad “Money” Mendes and Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas.

In the lightweight co-feature, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal battled “Raging” Al Iaquinta. “Maverick” Michael Chiesa took on Mitch “Danger Zone” Clarke, and TUF 18 winner Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña returned against Milana Dudieva. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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Strawweight prospect Amber “The Apex Predator” Stautzenberger picked up her second victory over Kathina “Kill Switch” Catron in a rematch tonight at Legacy Fighting Championship 41 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stautzenberger dominated the fight on the mat en route to a Unanimous Decision win.

Stautzenberger quickly submitted Catron in the pair’s first meeting in October and she had Catron in danger on multiple occasions again tonight. Catron escaped each time and she rallied with strikes late in the fight, but it was not enough and Stautzenberger cruised to a well-deserved victory.

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Two of Japan’s top female fighters are set to face off for a second time on May 31st at Deep Jewels 8 in Tokyo. Former Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion Ayaka Hamasaki meets reigning Deep Jewels Lightweight Champion Mizuki Inoue in a featured grappling match on the card.

Deep Jewels officials announced the match today. The fighters first clashed under MMA rules when Hamasaki handed a 17-year-old Inoue her first loss at Jewels: “16th Ring” in September 2011. Now 20, Inoue looks to avenge her loss to the AACC standout in next month’s grappling competition.

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Undefeated striker Joanna Jędrzejczyk made history on March 14th when she became the UFC’s first-ever Polish champion at UFC 185 in Dallas, Texas. Jędrzejczyk knocked out Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza to claim the UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship and the top spot at 115.

Another key winner at UFC 185 was Rafael dos Anjos, who dominated Anthony “Showtime” Pettis for five rounds en route to capturing the UFC Lightweight Championship. Russian veteran Julia Berezikova re-enters the flyweight top five after submitting Juliana Werner at XFC International 9.

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Stepping in on just four weeks’ notice, TUF 20 semi-finalist Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos is set to compete in her second official UFC bout on April 25th at UFC 186: “Johnson vs Horiguchi” in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Markos takes on Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly in strawweight action.

UFC officials confirmed the fight following a report from MMAFighting.com. Daly was initially slated to face Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha at UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland, but Gadelha withdrew due to a back injury. Daly now competes two weeks later against her fellow TUF 20 castmate, Markos.

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A total of ten fights have now been formally announced for Invicta Fighting Championships 12 on April 24th in Kansas City, Missouri. The event is headlined by an Invicta FC Strawweight Championship bout between Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää and challenger Livia Renata “Livinha” Souza.

In the flyweight co-main event, Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi and Vanessa Porto square off in a rematch from their first fight in April 2008, which Modafferi won by third-round TKO. Elsewhere, Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell battles Faith “The Immortal” Van Duin in a featherweight bout.

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Top Brazilian prospect Kinberly Novaes makes her long-awaited return to action on May 16th at Noxii Combat 1 in her hometown of Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Novaes battles MMA Super Heroes tournament winner Renata Baldan in a Noxii Combat women’s strawweight title fight.

Both fighters confirmed the championship bout this week following an initial report from Dama de Ferro MMA. Novaes has been sidelined due to injuries for close to two years and has not fought since August 2013. Baldan most recently picked up her fourth win at MMA Super Heroes 8 in December.

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Former Shoot Boxing Japan Women’s Flyweight Champion Ai Takahashi faces a tough challenge when she steps back into the ring on April 18th at Shoot Boxing 2015: Act.2 in Tokyo, Japan. Takahashi meets long-time kickboxing contender Kanako Taniyama in a featured matchup on the card.

Shoot Boxing officials announced the bout this week. Takahashi has won four straight fights and she is coming off of an impressive second-round knockout victory in August. Taniyama picked up a three-round decision win earlier this month and makes her shoot boxing debut in next month’s fight.

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