Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion Ayaka Hamasaki will make the next defence of her title against Japanese legend Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji at Jewels: “19th Ring” on May 26th. The event will take place at Azalea Taisho Hall as the promotion travels to Osaka, Japan for the first time.
Hamasaki most recently earned a first-round TKO win over South Korean rival Seo Hee Ham in December and remains unbeaten through six pro fights. Tsuji, a former Smackgirl and Valkyrie champion, returned from a lengthy injury layoff with a decision victory at Jewels: “15th Ring” in July.
Japan’s all-female Jewels promotion staged its first event of 2012 tonight at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan. Jewels: “18th Ring” was headlined by a bout between Mika “Future Princess” Nagano and Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino. Both fighters were looking to climb back into title contention.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia today for UFC on FX 2: “Alves vs Kampmann.” The card was headlined by a pivotal welterweight showdown between former top title contenders Thiago “Pitbull” Alves and Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann.
UFC Lightweight Champion Benson “Smooth” Henderson earned a close but Unanimous Decision victory over former champion Frankie “The Answer” Edgar at UFC 144 in Saitama, Japan. Henderson ascends to the number one spot in the lightweight rankings and awaits his first title challenger.
On Saturday night in Riverside, California, standout wrestler Carla Esparza will compete in the first five-round title fight of her two-year MMA career at MEZ Sports: “Pandemonium 6.” Esparza faces Angela Magana, a woman who helped to inspire her to pursue MMA just a few short years ago.
The lineup for the inaugural Cage Warriors 125-pound women’s tournament is now complete. Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff will face Brazilian prospect Jennifer Maia in the first semi-final bout at CWFC: Fight Night 4 on March 16th at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
A rematch between two of MMA’s top 125-pound female fighters is in the works for Bellator Fighting Championships 66 on April 20th in Cleveland, Ohio. Hometown favourite Jessica “Evil” Eye will look to avenge her lone defeat when she faces Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly for a second time.
Four new bouts have been added to Saturday’s Jewels: “18th Ring” event and the ten-fight card is now complete. Among the bouts announced by the promotion today was an amateur mixed martial arts matchup pitting Club Barbarian’s Satomi Takano against Alliance-Square Narita’s Miyuki Irie.