The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale. The event was headlined by a heavyweight matchup between TUF 16 coach Roy “Big Country” Nelson and late replacement Matt Mitrione.

Also tonight, TUF 16 welterweight tournament finalists Mike “The Martian” Ricci and Colton Smith battled for a six-figure UFC contract. Pat “HD” Barry took on fellow striker Shane del Rosario in a featured heavyweight bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s TUF 16 main card.

Read More…

Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion Ayaka Hamasaki kept her unbeaten record intact and successfully retained her title tonight in the main event of Jewels: “22nd Ring” in Tokyo, Japan. The AACC fighter won a hard-fought Unanimous Decision over veteran contender Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino.

Elsewhere on tonight’s Jewels main card, 18-year-old rising star Mizuki Inoue posted another impressive victory in her first fight inside a cage. The talented striker once again showcased her rapidly-developing ground skills by submitting South Korea’s Hyo Kyung Song midway through round two.

Read More…

Jewels came to Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday for its first caged event. Jewels: “22nd Ring” was headlined by a Jewels Lightweight Queen Championship bout between Ayaka Hamasaki and Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino, and also featured the retirements of Rina Tomita and Naoko Omuro.

In other action on the card, unbeaten atomweight prospect Satomi Takano faced former Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada. Mizuki Inoue battled Hyo Kyung Song, while Kikuyo Ishikawa took on Tomo Maesawa. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the Jewels: “22nd Ring” card.

Read More…

Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig put on a strong performance in victory tonight at Bellator Fighting Championships 84 in Hammond, Indiana. Herrig earned another dominant Unanimous Decision win over strawweight rival “Little” Patricia Vidonic in a rematch from the pair’s first fight at XFC 17 in April.

Herrig was in complete control of the bout with Vidonic from start to finish and she once again prevented Vidonic from mounting much of any offence at all. With her crisp punching combinations and positional control on the ground, Herrig cruised to a clear-cut decision win on all three scorecards.

Read More…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship travelled to the Gold Coast Convention Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on Saturday for UFC on FX 6: “Sotiropoulos vs Pearson.” The event was headlined by a lightweight bout between George Sotiropoulos and Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson.

Also on the main card, UFC newcomers Robert Whittaker and Brad Scott faced off in a featured welterweight bout. Colin “Freakshow” Fletcher battled fellow submission specialist “Stormin'” Norman Parke in a lightweight fight. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the UFC on FX 6 main card.

Read More…

A neck injury has forced former Strikeforce title challenger Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi out of her planned bout with Shizuka Sugiyama on Saturday at Jewels: “22nd Ring” in Tokyo, Japan. Modafferi sustained the injury in training and her withdrawal from the card was announced today.

The remainder of the “22nd Ring” card remains intact, including the Jewels Lightweight Queen Championship main event between Ayaka Hamasaki and Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino. A total of 15 bouts have been confirmed for the event, plus six amateur grappling matches added to the card today.

Read More…

Mixed martial arts legend Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii makes her return to action against final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi at Vale Tudo Japan 2012 on December 24th in Tokyo. The featured female matchup was officially announced for the Christmas Eve card today.

Fujii has not fought since suffering a contentious decision loss to top-ranked strawweight fighter Jessica “Jag” Aguilar at Bellator 69 in May. The defeat halted Fujii’s three-fight winning streak. Yamaguchi most recently defeated grappling specialist Emi Tomimatsu in a rematch at Jewels: “20th Ring.”

Read More…

A welterweight rematch between fast-rising star Rory “Ares” MacDonald and former UFC title challenger “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit is now in the works for UFC 158 on March 16, 2013 in Montréal, Québec, Canada. MMAjunkie.com first reported on plans for the targeted matchup today.

MacDonald and Condit first faced off at UFC 115 in June 2010. MacDonald dominated much of the opening two rounds before Condit rallied back and secured a TKO win with seven seconds remaining in the fight. MacDonald campaigned for the rematch after defeating B.J. Penn this past weekend.

Read More…