A planned women’s bout between Sanja Sučević and Bethany Marshall has been scrapped from Super Fight League 2 on April 7th in Chandigarh, India. Spanish prospect Karla Benitez now faces off against one-time Strikeforce competitor Colleen “The Beautiful Disaster” Schneider on the card.

The promotion revealed the change on its official website on Thursday. No reason was given for the Sučević-Marshall bout’s cancellation, though the size disparity may have played a factor. Benitez is coming off of a December loss to Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii, while Schneider last fought in June.

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Okinawa, Japan’s first female mixed martial artist, Kikuyo Ishikawa, will compete at home for the first time at Pancrase Progress Tour 6 on May 20th. Ishikawa faces unbeaten teen prospect Shino VanHoose on the card, which takes place at Music Town Oto-Ichiba in Koza, Okinawa.

Pancrase officials announced the matchup today. Ishikawa has spent her entire career in Jewels, where she won the promotion’s 48kg Rough Stone Grand Prix in 2010. VanHoose, a 16-year-old grappler who transitioned to MMA in October, has won two of her three bouts by submission.

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Serbian prospect Sanja Sučević will make a quick return to action when she competes at Super Fight League 2 on April 7 in Chandigarh, India. Sučević is expected to face unbeaten American Bethany Marshall on the card. The targeted matchup was revealed on the promotion’s official website today.

Sučević picked up the biggest victory of her MMA career at Super Fight League 1 earlier this month when she submitted the previously undefeated Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova in the second round. Marshall has not fought since a March 2011 victory at M-1 Challenge 24 in her native Virginia.

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This Saturday, Singapore’s first female mixed martial artist, Nicole Chua, makes her pro MMA debut at ONE Fighting Championship 3: “War of the Lions” at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang. Chua faces multi-time kickboxing champion Jeet Toshi in ONE FC’s inaugural women’s bout.

Chua has fought extensively in Muay Thai in recent years and she trains with one of Asia’s premier gyms, Evolve MMA. As a full-time accountant, Chua must balance her career with a demanding training schedule, but she feels that she is fully prepared for any scenario in her fight this weekend.

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UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva makes the next defence of his title against rival Chael Sonnen when the Ultimate Fighting Championship travels to João Havelange Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The rematch, announced today, takes place at UFC 147 on June 23rd.

UFC officials hope to set a new attendance record with the event. The mark to beat of roughly 55,000 fans was set this past April at UFC 129 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. UFC 147 also features a second rematch when Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva battles Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort once again.

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The North American Allied Fight Series returned to Chapparells Community Center in Akron, Ohio tonight for NAAFS: “Midwest Combat Challenge 19.” The amateur fight card was headlined by an all-Ohio welterweight battle between unbeaten prospects Joshua Lasich and Dave Lastafka.

Tonight’s event also featured a total of five women’s bouts. In 120-pound main card action, Rebecca “Trainwrecka” Gruitza faced Ashley Delk, while “Rowdy” Ronda Gale took on Ricardo Almeida understudy Rachel Sazoff at 115. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s NAAFS card.

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I’m so very excited to be fighting for Invicta Fighting Championships on their inaugural card in April. They have done such a great job with promoting the event so far. Seeing all of the other fighters be so enthusiastic about Invicta FC is inspiring as well. Thank you to everyone for the support!

The first week of my camp got off to a frustrating start. I was coming off of a minor knee injury that seemed to get tweaked in every practice. Last week was awesome, though, and I didn’t feel it at all. I have five weeks left in my eight-week training camp and I am feeling stronger every day.

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Unbeaten Finnish prospect Katja Kankaanpää picked up the biggest victory of her young MMA career tonight in the main event of Botnia Punishment 11 in Seinäjoki, Finland. Kankaanpää defeated final Valkyrie Featherweight Champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi by Unanimous Decision after three rounds.

Kankaanpää looked to have a significant size and strength advantage over her opponent, and she used it to reverse Yamaguchi’s takedowns as the fight progressed. After a dominant second round, Kankaanpää closed out round three with a big takedown en route to the well-earned decision win.

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