The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to the FOX television network tomorrow night for UFC on FOX 3: “Diaz vs Miller” from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The card is headlined by a lightweight bout between Nate Diaz and fellow top contender Jim Miller.

Tomorrow’s co-main event features a welterweight matchup pitting rising star Johny Hendricks against former title challenger Josh Koscheck. Alan Belcher battles Rousimar Palhares and Pat Barry takes on Lavar Johnson. MMAGirls’ Joanne Spracklen previews the UFC on FOX 3 main card.

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Thirteen-year-old “Muay Thai Genius” Saya Ito faces one of the toughest tests of her 83-fight kickboxing career on June 17th in Tokyo, Japan. Ito is set to battle fellow eighth-grader Yukari Yamaguchi at Shobukai: “Muaylok 2012 – 2nd” in a 44kg bout officially announced on Wednesday.

Ito, who has been training in kickboxing since age four, recently earned her 70th victory. She won the Top Run under-16 girls’ kickboxing tournament in October. Yamaguchi won her brief MMA debut at Jewels: “17th Ring” in December and is coming off of a kickboxing win under the J-Girls banner.

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Top-ranked amateur prospect Jessica Philippus will compete once more as an amateur on May 12th. The Missouri-based fighter is set to challenge Amanda Hein in a Kansas Super Fights women’s title bout in McPherson, Kansas. MMARising.com confirmed plans for the fight on Tuesday.

Philippus, who gave birth to daughter Kamilla in late January, was initially set to make her pro debut at Invicta FC 1 this past weekend. She opted to withdraw from the card when it became clear that she would not be able to cut to 105 pounds in time, and instead faces Hein in a 120-pound bout.

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A non-title rematch between Jewels Featherweight Queen Champion Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama and final Valkyrie titleholder Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada has been added to the May 26th Jewels: “19th Ring” event in Osaka, Japan. The featured 106-pound matchup was officially announced today.

Sugiyama and Tamada first faced off at Valkyrie 8 in November 2010, where Sugiyama upset the veteran. Tamada’s Valkyrie Flyweight Championship was not on the line and the promotion folded this past year. Also added to “19th Ring” today was a bout between Yukiko Seki and Yuko Kawabata.

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UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones had little trouble in successfully defending his title against rival “Suga” Rashad Evans at UFC 145 on April 21st in Atlanta. Jones earned a clear-cut Unanimous Decision victory after five rounds and retains his spot atop the 205-pound rankings.

In women’s action, Invicta Fighting Championships staged its debut card on April 28th. Former Strikeforce champ Marloes “Rumina” Coenen began her climb back up the 145-pound ranks, while Jessica Penne put on her best performance to date by stopping Lisa Ellis in the 105-pound co-feature.

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I’m currently five weeks out from my fight with Aisling Daly at CWFC 47 in Dublin on June 2nd. The usual question I’m asked is how training is going. I’m never quite sure how to answer this. The standard answer for a fighter to give is, “yeah, it’s going really well. I’m feeling great; in the best shape of my life. I can’t wait to fight!” And some of the time, that would be true enough.

The thing is, though, an eight-week training camp is a long time. A lot of stuff happens in that time, and I’m fairly sure that nobody really feels fantastic all the way through it. Nor would that necessarily be a good thing.

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Former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Marloes “Rumina” Coenen returned to 145 pounds and scored a convincing win over French rival Romy Ruyssen on Saturday night at Invicta Fighting Championships 1 in Kansas City, Kansas. Coenen spoke with MMARising.com after her fight.

While the rivalry with Ruyssen was settled on Saturday, another remains for Coenen. The 31-year-old Dutch star still has eyes on a rematch with Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois, whom she was originally set to face on last night’s card, but she does not feel that Dandois will ever answer the challenge.

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On Saturday night in the co-main event of Invicta Fighting Championships 1, Jessica Penne put on her most impressive performance to date in her second fight in the atomweight division. Penne stopped veteran opponent Lisa Ellis with punches in the third round of a back-and-forth battle.

Penne believes that she has found a new home at 105 pounds, where she no longer gives up a size and strength advantage to opponents who cut significant amounts of weight. She spoke with MMARising.com following her victory and discussed the debut Invicta FC card and her fighting future.

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