Former EliteXC and Strikeforce champ Jake Shields will welcome Japanese star Yoshihiro Akiyama to the welterweight division when the two face off at UFC 144 on February 26, 2012 in Saitama, Japan. UFC officials announced the bout today. Akiyama makes the drop down after three defeats at 185.

The card is also expected to feature a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Frankie “The Answer” Edgar and Ben “Smooth” Henderson, who picked up a big win this past weekend. Edgar avenged the lone defeat of his career by stopping Gray “The Bully” Maynard at UFC 136 last month.

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A lightweight bout between former EliteXC champion “King” K.J. Noons and once-beaten prospect Billy Evangelista is now official for the upcoming Strikeforce: “Melendez vs Masvidal” card on December 17th in San Diego, California. Strikeforce officials confirmed the matchup earlier today.

Both fighters are coming off of setbacks against main event participant Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal in their most recent Strikeforce appearances. Noons challenged unsuccessfully for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship in October 2010. Evangelista will look to rebound from his first pro loss.

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Knockout artist Junior “Cigano” dos Santos needed just 64 seconds to capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship tonight at UFC On FOX 1 in Anaheim, California. Dos Santos dropped former champion Cain Velasquez with a looping right hook and finished the fight with punches on the ground.

The brief bout aired alone on the promotion’s historic first broadcast on the FOX network, which served as a prequel for a seven-year deal between the UFC and FOX that kicks off in 2012. Dos Santos will make the first defence of his new title against the winner of Alistair Overeem and Brock Lesnar.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship debuted on the FOX television network tonight with UFC On FOX 1 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The historic event was headlined by a UFC Heavyweight Championship bout between Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior “Cigano” dos Santos.

Elsewhere, former WEC Lightweight Champion Ben “Smooth” Henderson faced Clay “The Carpenter” Guida in a pivotal lightweight matchup, while Dustin “The Diamond” Poirier took on Pablo “The Scarecrow” Garza in a featherweight bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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Pro wrestling veteran Kyoko Kimura scored a significant upset in her mixed martial arts debut tonight at Pancrase Impressive Tour 11 in Tokyo, Japan. Kimura defeated judoka and MMA pioneer Megumi Yabushita by TKO after the ringside doctor intervened and stopped the bout following round one.

Kimura, who initiated a challenge to Yabushita for the fight, dominated much of the opening round from back control while using strikes to set up choke attempts. Yabushita made it to the bell, but she was unable to continue due to a foot injury and the bout was stopped, giving Kimura a big victory.

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Welterweight prospect Rory “Ares” MacDonald has been forced to withdraw from the upcoming UFC 140 event due to injury. MacDonald’s opponent, Brian “Bad Boy” Ebersole, will now face Claude “The Prince” Patrick on the December 10th card, which takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

UFC officials announced the change today, but did not elaborate further on MacDonald’s injury and a timetable for his return is unknown. Ebersole has won back-to-back fights inside the Octagon since making his long-awaited UFC debut in February. Ontario’s Patrick has not lost in over nine years.

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A pair of lightweight bouts have been added to the upcoming UFC 142 card on January 14, 2012 at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sam “Hands of Stone” Stout faces Thiago Tavares, while Terry Etim clashes with Edson Barboza. Both bouts were officially announced earlier today.

Stout and Tavares are both coming off of knockout wins in their most recent bouts at UFC 131 and 134, respectively. Etim returned from a lengthy injury hiatus and destroyed Edward “Falo” Faaloloto at UFC 138, while Barboza remains unbeaten at 9-0 and has won all three of his bouts in the Octagon.

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ProElite came to the i wireless Center in Moline, Illinois tonight for ProElite 2: “Big Guns.” The event was headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia and Andreas “Big Daddy” Kraniotakes, and also featured the opening round of the inaugural ProElite heavyweight grand prix.

In the co-feature, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski looked for his second straight win when he took on 300-fight veteran Travis “The Ironman” Fulton, while Reagan Penn faced Evan Cutts in a clash of unbeaten prospects at 170 pounds. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s ProElite card.

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