Four more fights have been added to the upcoming Jewels: “23rd Ring” card on March 30th in Tokyo, Japan. Teen prodigy Mizuki Inoue looks to pick up her third straight win when she faces Mi-Jeon Chan. Jewels star Shizuka Sugiyama takes on Chan’s South Korean compatriot, Sung Eun Kim.

Inoue earned a second-round submission win at Jewels: “22nd Ring,” while Sugiyama’s planned bout against Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi was scrapped due to a Modafferi injury. Also at “23rd Ring,” Mina Kurobe faces Tomo Maesawa and Yoshimi “Arika” Miyake battles Rena Matsuda.

Read More…

A back injury has forced Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc out of a planned atomweight bout against “Sassy” Cassie Rodish at Invicta Fighting Championships 5 on April 5th in Kansas City, Missouri. England’s Simona Soukupova has stepped in to face Rodish on the event’s preliminary card.

MMARising.com confirmed details of the change this past weekend and Invicta FC officials announced the revised bout today. Soukupova is coming off of a first-round submission win in November. Rodish is riding a four-fight winning streak that includes two victories inside the Invicta FC cage.

Read More…

Former K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Mark Hunt will face his toughest UFC opponent to date on May 25th at UFC 160: “Velasquez vs Silva 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hunt has stepped in to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior “Cigano” dos Santos in the co-main event on the card.

MMAFighting.com first reported on plans for the matchup earlier today. Dos Santos was originally booked to face another former K-1 champion, Alistair Overeem, but Overeem withdrew from the fight this week after suffering a quadriceps injury. Hunt has won four straight fights inside the Octagon.

Read More…

Hawaii’s Kailin Curran made a successful pro debut with a key win tonight in Pacific Xtreme Combat’s first female fight in Mangilao, Guam. Curran earned a Unanimous Decision victory over Invicta FC veteran Kaiyana Rain in the historic PXC 36 co-main event, which was contested at 115 pounds.

Curran nearly finished Rain twice in the opening round, but Rain weathered the storm and worked for a series of submissions as the fight progressed. Ultimately, Curran’s striking and top control on the mat proved to be enough to earn her an impressive decision victory on all three judges’ scorecards.

Read More…

Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Jessica Penne makes the first defence of her title on April 5th at Invicta Fighting Championships 5 in Kansas City, Missouri. The California native puts her 105-pound belt on the line against popular Jackson’s MMA standout Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson.

Already one of MMA’s most well-rounded female fighters, Penne has added new components to her training in order to become an even better fighter for her main event title bout. She recently spoke with MMARising.com about her focus on strength training and on the future of the atomweight division.

Read More…

UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva makes his return to the Octagon on July 6th at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The long-time pound-for-pound standout defends his 185-pound title against unbeaten challenger “All-American” Chris Weidman in the night’s main event.

Newsday.com first reported details of the fight today. Silva has won all 16 of his UFC fights and most recently stopped “The American Psycho” Stephan Bonnar in an October bout at 205 pounds. Weidman earned key wins over Demian Maia and “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz in 2012.

Read More…

UFC Interim Bantamweight Champion Renan “Barao” Pegado will make the next defence of his title against hard-hitting challenger Eddie Wineland in the main event of UFC 161 on June 15th in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The championship bout was announced today following a report from ESPN.

Barao is coming off of an impressive fourth-round submission victory over rising star Michael “Mayday” McDonald at UFC on Fuel TV 7. He has not lost since his pro debut close to eight years ago. Wineland won both of his fights in 2012 against top ten-ranked opponents to earn the interim title shot.

Read More…

Jewels contenders Kikuyo Ishikawa and Miyoko Kusaka are set to face off in a rematch at Pancrase: “Sakaguchi Dojo vs Pancrase” on April 21st in Okinawa, Japan. Pancrase officials announced plans for the atomweight matchup today. Ishikawa and Kusaka initially fought three years ago.

Kusaka prevailed in the pair’s first meeting, but Ishikawa has won six of her seven fights since then and is one of the fastest rising female prospects in Japan. Ishikawa won both of her fights in 2012. Kusaka looks to rebound from a loss in December by defeating the Okinawan for a second time.

Read More…