An ear infection has forced NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly out of a planned title defence against Jessica “Evil” Eye at Bellator Fighting Championships 66 on April 20th in Cleveland, Ohio. Eye will now face Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez in a 131-pound catchweight bout on the card.
MMARising.com confirmed Daly’s illness with multiple sources this week. She is still expected to face Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton in a Cage Warriors 125-pound women’s tournament bout on June 2nd. Rodriguez makes her Bellator debut on short notice after her Invicta FC 1 bout was scrapped.
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Ukrainian prospect Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova looks to rebound from her first professional setback when she faces Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood at Super Fight League 3 on May 6th in New Delhi, India. The featured bout was officially announced earlier today and will be contested at 125 pounds.
Ovchynnikova brought an unblemished record into her SFL debut at the promotion’s inaugural event in March, but succumbed to a second-round rear-naked choke from Serbia’s Sanja Sučević. Calderwood earned a quick TKO victory in February in Scotland’s first professional female MMA bout.
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Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña returns to action in her home state of Washington later this month in the main event of Conquest of the Cage 11. The unbeaten 22-year-old faces off against Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras on the April 19th card in Airway Heights. The bout was announced today.
Peña was originally in talks to face Brazilian prospect Claudia Gadelha for Freedom Fight on April 21st, but that event was scrapped this week. Peña will likely battle Gadelha at an event to be determined later this year, but must first get past Moras, who has won both of her MMA bouts to date.
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Reign Training Center representative Ashlee “The Terminator” Evans-Smith improved to 5-3 as an amateur and claimed the vacant Tuff-N-Uff 140-pound women’s title Saturday at Tuff-N-Uff: “The Fist-ival” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Evans-Smith took a clear-cut decision over Bridgette “Black Wolf” Batch.
Jocelyn “Lights Out” Lybarger captured the Tuff-N-Uff 125-pound women’s title by edging out Ashley Yoder via Split Decision. Lybarger’s twin sister, Jillian, withdrew due to an injury that prevented her from making weight and her 115-pound title was awarded to Stephanie “The Shark” Gonzalez.
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Strikeforce tournament veteran Colleen “The Beautiful Disaster” Schneider earned her second win as a professional tonight at Super Fight League 2 in Chandigarh, India. Schneider stopped England’s Cherie Buck with a barrage of punches and elbows midway through round two of the night’s co-feature.
While both fighters took the bout on short notice, Schneider appeared to be well-prepared right from the opening bell and she controlled much of round one on the ground. Schneider wasted little time in taking Buck down again in the second round before finishing her off with strikes from the top.
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An untimely injury has forced unbeaten rising star Cat “Alpha” Zingano off of the upcoming Invicta Fighting Championships 1 card on April 28th in Kansas City, Kansas. MMARising.com confirmed the news with a source close to the promotion today. The nature of Zingano’s injury is currently unknown.
Zingano was scheduled to face XFL champion Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez in a bantamweight clash on the inaugural Invicta FC card. The bout has been scrapped entirely and the all-female event will now proceed with 11 fights. Rodriguez may still compete in the event of another main card injury.
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Lightweight rivals Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout and Spencer “The King” Fisher will face off for a third time at UFC on FX 4 on June 22nd in Atlantic City, New Jersey. UFC officials announced the bout on Tuesday. Fisher defeated Stout in the pair’s June 2007 rematch at UFC Fight Night 10.
Both fighters enter the trilogy bout coming off of losses to Thiago Tavares in their most recent fights, but Stout has won four of his past six and remains a threat in the lightweight division. By contrast, Fisher is in need of a big victory in June after dropping four of his past five inside the Octagon.
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Top-ranked strawweight fighters Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii and Jessica “Jag” Aguilar are set to face off in a featured matchup at Bellator Fighting Championships 69 on May 18th in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney confirmed the bout with MMARising.com earlier today.
Fujii and Aguilar will fight at 115 pounds, but both are likely to be part of a Bellator 125-pound women’s tournament that is currently targeted for late 2012 or early 2013. Rebney discussed tentative plans for the eight-woman tournament and listed names of some of its potential participants.
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