The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for UFC 155: “Dos Santos vs Velasquez 2.” The event features a UFC Heavyweight Championship rematch between Junior “Cigano” dos Santos and former titleholder Cain Velasquez.

Also on the card, Jim Miller took on fellow contender Joe “J-Lau” Lauzon in a lightweight bout. Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch faced Constantinos “Costa” Philippou and Yushin “Thunder” Okami battled Alan “The Talent” Belcher in a middleweight rematch. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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After Claudia Gadelha withdrew from the Invicta Fighting Championships 4 main event this morning, Australia’s Bec “Rowdy” Hyatt has stepped in on short notice to face Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza for the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship. MMAWeekly.com first reported the change.

Hyatt was previously scheduled to face Joanne Calderwood in a featured bout on the January 5th card, but accepted the fight with Esparza after other potential opponents turned it down. Calderwood will remain on the card and is now set to face off against Austrian striker Livia “T-Rex” von Plettenberg.

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Unbeaten BJJ black belt Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha has withdrawn from her main event title bout against Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza at Invicta Fighting Championships 4. Gadelha announced today that she had suffered a broken nose in training and would be unable to compete on the card.

Gadelha and Esparza were scheduled to face off for the inaugural Invicta FC Strawweight Championship at the event, which takes place on January 5th in Kansas City, Kansas. The promotion has not yet scrapped the title fight entirely and a search is currently underway for a replacement fighter.

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Former Strikeforce women’s champ Marloes “Rumina” Coenen will compete in Japan for the first time in more than five years when she faces off against Australian grappling specialist Fiona Muxlow at DREAM.18: “Special NYE 2012.” The event takes place on December 31st in Saitama, Japan.

DREAM officials confirmed plans for the Coenen-Muxlow featherweight bout today. Coenen is coming off of a successful debut for Invicta FC in April and has won three of her past four fights. Muxlow is on a three-fight winning streak and most recently earned a Unanimous Decision victory in October.

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Following a stellar 151-fight amateur career, 15-year-old Chihiro Imoto made a successful pro kickboxing debut tonight at ACCEL vol.22 in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. Imoto earned a Majority Decision victory over Michi Nakamura after three rounds to claim the vacant ACCEL women’s championship.

Imoto, already one of Japan’s most decorated female kickboxers, captured numerous titles during her amateur career and opted to make the move to the professional ranks after earning victory number 132 earlier this year. She will likely make a quick return to action for her second pro bout in 2013.

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In what was likely the final fight of her storied career, Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii earned a Unanimous Decision victory over final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi tonight at Vale Tudo Japan 2012 in Tokyo. All three judges scored the bout 20-18 for Fujii, who picked up her 26th win.

Both fighters were extremely active throughout the two-round bout, but Fujii was able to pull ahead on the scorecards with takedowns and submission attempts to take the well-earned victory. The pound-for-pound standout is now expected to officially retire after competing for more than eight years.

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Paulina “Firefox” Granados captured her first amateur title with a hard-fought Split Decision victory on Friday night at Garcia Promotions: “Cage Combat 12” in Humble, Texas. Granados edged out Stephanie “The Cylone” Alba in a rematch for the Cage Combat 110-pound women’s championship.

Granados controlled the early rounds with her striking and clinch work, but Alba came on strong in the later rounds and she showcased much-improved striking in addition to her formidable ground skills. After five rounds, it was Granados who earned the decision victory to remain unbeaten in her career.

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Voting is about to begin for the 2012 Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Awards. This year’s edition again features more than a dozen categories. These awards recognise notable achievements made by fighters, promotions and other individuals associated with the sport over the course of the past year.

Members of nine different mixed martial arts publications compiled the list of nominations for this year’s awards. A full list of categories and nominees, as well as fight videos for best fight, knockout and submission, is available below. Winners in each category will be announced at the end of December.

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