This Saturday, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to Sao Paulo, Brazil for the first time since 1998. UFC on FX 7: “Belfort vs Bisping” takes place at Geraldo José de Almeida State Gymnasium and is headlined by a bout between Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort and Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Elsewhere on the card, Daniel Sarafian makes his Octagon debut against C.B. “The Doberman” Dollaway. Gabriel “Napão” Gonzaga takes on “Big” Ben Rothwell and Thiago Tavares battles unbeaten prospect Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov. MMAGirls’ Joanne Spracklen previews the card.

Read More…

UFC Lightweight Champion “Smooth” Benson Henderson will make the next defence of his title against final Strikeforce 155-pound king Gilbert “El Niño” Melendez at UFC on FOX 7. The main event championship bout is set to take place on April 20th at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

Also confirmed for the UFC on FOX 7 card is a rescheduled bout between Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Both matchups were initially confirmed by Yahoo! Sports and formally announced by UFC officials earlier today.

Read More…

An atomweight bout between veteran Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman and once-beaten prospect Darla “Train Wreck” Harris has been added to Sparta Combat League: “Thunderdome” on February 9th in Denver, Colorado. The promotion officially revealed plans for the 105-pound matchup on Sunday.

Schuckman made two appearances for Invicta FC this past year, including in a short-notice bout against unbeaten Jewels champion Ayaka Hamasaki, but suffered defeats in a pair of competitive matchups. Harris also looks to get herself back on track after falling to Diana “Dynamite” Rael in October.

Read More…

Strikeforce staged its final mixed martial arts event tonight at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Strikeforce: “Marquardt vs Saffiedine” was headlined by a Strikeforce Welterweight Championship bout between Nate “The Great” Marquardt and Tarec “Sponge” Saffiedine.

Also on the card tonight, Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier faced off against Dion “The Soldier” Staring. Grand prix runner-up Josh “The Warmaster” Barnett faced Austria’s Nandor “The Hun” Guelmino. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the final Strikeforce event.

Read More…

As expected, Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Jessica Penne will make the first defence of her new title against Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson at Invicta Fighting Championships 5. Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp announced the title fight on MMAjunkie.com Radio earlier today.

While first targeted for a new venue in Missouri, Invicta FC 5 will now likely take place in April at the UCI Bren Events Center in Irvine, California. The co-main event features the inaugural Invicta FC Flyweight Championship bout between veterans Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak and Vanessa Porto.

Read More…

After years of hard work on the wrestling mat and inside the MMA cage, Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza’s dream of becoming a world champion came to fruition on Saturday at Invicta Fighting Championships 4 when she defeated Bec “Rowdy” Hyatt for the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship.

Esparza’s title victory was not an easy one and she admits to potentially underestimating the threat that was posed by Hyatt, who entered the main event bout on short notice. With the Invicta FC belt now around her waist, Esparza looks forward to making her first title defence later this year.

Read More…

BJJ black belt Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis earned the biggest win of her MMA career on Saturday at Invicta Fighting Championships 4 in Kansas City, Kansas. Davis choked out Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler in a rematch from 2010 and spoke with MMARising.com after the fight.

With the recent addition of female fighters to the UFC roster, Davis hopes to be able to compete for the promotion in the coming months. She welcomes a bout with UFC champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, a part-time stablemate under Cesar Gracie, and plans to add UFC title gold to her collection.

Read More…

Undefeated inside the Invicta Fighting Championships cage, bantamweight rising star Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith is hoping to pick up her biggest win to date in April. Smith has her sights set on facing former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman at Invicta FC 5.

Smith and Kaufman were in talks to face off at Invicta FC 4 on Saturday, but an injury kept Kaufman off of the card and Smith went on to defeat Raquel “Rocky” Pennington. Following her win, Smith spoke with MMARising.com about dropping to 125 pounds if a bout with Kaufman fails to materialise.

Read More…