The 2013 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup 53.5 tournament took place tonight at Yamano Hall in the Yoyogi district of Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Tonight’s three-round tournament field included 2012 champion Mizuki Inoue, 2012 finalist Ai Takahashi and six more of Asia’s premier female shoot boxers.

Elsewhere tonight, three-time Girls S-Cup champion Rena Kubota took on Lorena “Lady Pitbull” Klijn in a non-tournament bout. The card also featured the semi-finals and final of the 2013 JKS48 high school girls’ tournament, which included Kubota’s top protégé, 2012 JKS48 winner Mio Tsumura.

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Former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano has officially retired from mixed martial arts. The 39-year-old announced the news on her blog on Thursday morning. She leaves the sport following a successful career that dates back to her professional debut in late 2004.

Akano took a full year to think about her decision before ultimately opting to retire. The judoka was one of Japan’s most successful female mixed martial artists to date. Of Akano’s 18 victories, 14 came via submission, and she scored key wins over some of MMA’s top female fighters during her career.

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Former Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino reclaimed the top spot at 145 pounds with another commanding win at Invicta Fighting Championships 6 on July 13th. Justino stopped Marloes “Rumina” Coenen to capture the inaugural Invicta FC featherweight title.

In other female fights this past month, Lauren Taylor continued her climb up the bantamweight rankings with a Unanimous Decision win over Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio at Invicta FC 6, and Amber “The Bully” Brown cracked the atomweight top five by upsetting Kikuyo Ishikawa at Pancrase 250.

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All quarterfinal bouts in the second annual Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup 53.5 tournament are now set for this Saturday night at the 2013 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Japan Midsummer Festival in Tokyo. In Block A, Rio Kamikaze takes on Matsukuma Kikukawa and Ai Takahashi faces Wei-Ting Chen.

2012 champ Mizuki Inoue, who won the inaugural 53.5kg Girls S-Cup one year ago, returns to defend her crown on Saturday. Inoue faces “Jet” Izumi Noguchi in one of two Block B quarterfinals. Miyo Yoshida battles the only woman to have defeated Inoue in shoot boxing, Kanako Oka, in the other.

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A non-tournament bout between two-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup finalist “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi and Du Peiling has been added to Saturday’s 2013 Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Japan Midsummer Festival card in Tokyo, Japan. The three-round matchup was officially announced by the promotion today.

Yamaguchi advanced to the finals of the 2012 Girls S-Cup before losing to three-time tournament winner Rena Kubota in the championship fight. She is coming off of a close decision defeat this past month. Peiling returns to Shoot Boxing for the first time since her debut fight against Kubota in April.

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New Mexico’s Amber “The Bully” Brown earned a huge victory in her return to Japan tonight at Pancrase 250: “2013 Neo-Blood Tournament Finals” in Tokyo. Brown submitted top-ranked atomweight contender Kikuyo Ishikawa with an armbar late in the third round of their main card matchup.

Ishikawa once again showcased her much-improved striking and she put together some nice combinations in round one. Brown was game and she damaged Ishikawa’s eye with knees. In the final round, Brown locked on an armbar from the bottom that forced Ishikawa to submit for the first time.

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Former bantamweight title challenger Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche earned her first UFC victory tonight at UFC on FOX 8: “Johnson vs Moraga” in Seattle, Washington. Carmouche stopped Octagon newcomer Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade after dominating the second round of their main card bout.

Also on tonight’s card, ten-time Muay Thai world champion Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie picked up her biggest mixed martial arts victory to date. The standout striker defeated tough veteran Julie “Fireball” Kedzie by Split Decision in a featured bout on the FX-televised preliminary card.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington tonight for UFC on FOX 8: “Johnson vs Moraga.” The event was headlined by a UFC Flyweight Championship bout between champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and challenger John Moraga.

In the co-feature, welterweight rivals Rory “Ares” MacDonald and Jake “The Juggernaut” Ellenberger met in a potential top contender’s bout. Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche took on Jéssica “Bate Estaca” Andrade in a women’s bantamweight bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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