Following back-to-back wins this year, Shizuka Sugiyama looks for her third victory of 2012 when she faces former Strikeforce title challenger Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi at Jewels: “22nd Ring” on December 15th in Tokyo, Japan. The 130-pound matchup was added to the card today.

Sugiyama returned to Jewels in July after a year-long trip to Australia to study English and jiu-jitsu. She has won three of her past five fights and is now set to take on her toughest opponent to date. Modafferi looks to get herself back on track by earning her first victory under the Jewels banner.

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Jewels stars Mika “Future Princess” Nagano and Rina Tomita will face off in a featured 52kg bout on December 15th at Jewels: “22nd Ring” in Tokyo, Japan. The trilogy fight was officially announced by the promotion today and will serve as Tomita’s retirement bout after a four-year career in MMA.

Also on the card, fast-rising prospect Satomi Takano faces her toughest test to date when she battles former Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada. The December Jewels event will be contested inside a cage for the first time in the promotion’s history and also features the retirement of Naoko Omuro.

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Former UFC title challengers are set to collide on February 2, 2013 when standout wrestler Jon Fitch meets jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia at UFC 156 in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC officials announced plans for the welterweight matchup on Thursday evening. Both fighters are coming off of big wins.

Fitch recently returned to action for the first time in more than nine months at UFC 153 in Brazil and earned a thrilling Unanimous Decision victory over rising star Erick “Indio” Silva. On the same UFC 153 card, Maia dispatched of former contender Rick “The Horror” Story with a first-round neck crank.

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Former Strikeforce and DREAM Heavyweight Champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem hopes to return to action to face one-time EliteXC titleholder Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at UFC 156 on February 2nd in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Vegas Review Journal first reported the bout on Tuesday.

Overeem’s return will be subject to licensing from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which suspended the Dutch fighter for elevated testosterone levels earlier this year. Overeem is unbeaten in his past 12 fights. Silva has won four of his past six and stopped Travis “Hapa” Browne at UFC on FX 5.

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Veteran wrestler Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger made a successful flyweight debut on Saturday evening at Fight Hard MMA in St. Charles, Missouri. Evinger scored a Split Decision victory over long-time Brazilian standout Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm in the night’s main event.

Also on the Fight Hard MMA card, Tamikka “Boom Boom” Brents made her long-awaited pro debut and stopped Jessica “Raising Havoc” Halverson. In other action on Saturday night, Sadae “Manhoef” Suzumura submitted teen prospect Shino VanHoose at Pancrase Progress Tour 12 in Tokyo, Japan.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its first trip to CotaiArena in Cotai, Macau tonight for UFC on Fuel TV 6: “Franklin vs Le.” The event was headlined by a middleweight matchup between former UFC champion Rich “Ace” Franklin and one-time Strikeforce 185-pound titleholder Cung Le.

Also on the card, Thiago Silva faced unbeaten Bulgarian prospect Stanislav Nedkov in a light heavyweight showdown. Paulo Thiago faced Dong Hyun “Stun Gun” Kim at welterweight, while Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi battled Mac Danzig at 155. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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Two of MMA’s fastest-rising female prospects, Tecia “The Tiny Tornado” Torres and “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant, will collide in a strawweight bout at Invicta Fighting Championships 4 in January. MMARising.com confirmed plans for the matchup with sources close to the promotion this week.

Torres made a successful pro debut with a Unanimous Decision victory over fellow three-time amateur champion Kaiyana Rain at Invicta FC 3 this past month and remains unbeaten in her eight-fight MMA career. VanZant is also undefeated and she has won all three of her bouts since debuting in April.

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A bout between unbeaten atomweights “Lightning” Liz McCarthy and Jodie Esquibel is in the works for Invicta Fighting Championships 4 in January. MMARising.com has confirmed with sources close to the promotion that verbal agreements are in place for the targeted 105-pound matchup.

McCarthy made her professional debut under the Invicta FC banner in July and put on arguably the best performance of her career in stopping Jessica Philippus at the end of round one. Esquibel has won both of her pro bouts for the Jackson’s MMA Series and is one of the top strikers in the division.

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