A busy month of MMA in September was notable for two dominant victories. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones retained his title and top spot at 205 by stopping Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Daniel Cormier enters the heavyweight ranks after knocking out Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva.

Elsewhere, the all-female Jewels promotion kicked off its inaugural Jewels Featherweight Queen Grand Prix at “16th Ring.” With a narrow victory, Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama remains atop the 106-pound ranks, while Kikuyo Ishikawa jumps to number two after upsetting Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada.

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Injuries and illness have resulted in a number of late changes to Saturday’s Freestyle Cage Fighting 49 and BlackEye Promotions 5 cards. In Shawnee, Oklahoma, the main event of FCF 49 now features Kaitlin Young taking on local favourite Liz Carreiro, who steps in to replace Jan “Cuddles” Finney.

The main card of BlackEye 5 in Fletcher, North Carolina has also undergone changes. Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider has replaced Sofie Bagherdai and faces Ivana Coleman. Ashley “Smashley” Cummins awaits a new opponent after Angelica “The Messenger” Brotherton withdrew due to an illness.

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Sixteen-year-old grappler Shino VanHoose will make her mixed martial arts debut against Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa at Pancrase Impressive Tour 10 this Sunday in Tokyo, Japan. The bout was announced earlier this month and is now set for the “Pancrase Gate” undercard portion of the event.

VanHoose earned a pair of submission victories at an April “Roll Festival” grappling event and debuted for Pancrase in August by defeating Satoko Kameda in a catch wrestling match. She will make her MMA debut against the much more experienced Ichikawa, who looks to capture her first win.

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Jessica “Evil” Eye was successful in her Bellator Fighting Championships debut on Saturday night at Bellator 51 in Canton, Ohio. Competing in front of friends in her home state, Eye earned a Split Decision win over Casey “KO” Noland in a catchweight bout after Noland came in over the 125-pound limit.

On Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma, veteran Tonya Evinger picked up a quick win over Xtreme Fighting League champion Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez at XFL: “Rumble on the River 5.” Despite taking the bout on just two days’ notice, Evinger was dominant and finished Rodriguez with a rear-naked choke.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado tonight for UFC 135: “Jones vs Rampage.” The card featured a UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between Jon “Bones” Jones and former undisputed UFC champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

In other action, recent title challenger Josh Koscheck looked to get back on the winning track against former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes, and Nate Diaz faced long-time PRIDE ace Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all fights on tonight’s UFC card.

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DREAM began the 2011 DREAM World Bantamweight Grand Prix tonight at Dream.17: “Fight For Japan” at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. In the main event, reigning DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki faced “Razor” Rob McCullough in a non-title matchup.

Also on the card, former lightweight rivals Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri and Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen squared off in a much-anticipated rematch in the featherweight division, and Caol “Uno Shoten” Uno battled “Lion” Takeshi Inoue. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s DREAM card.

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Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos has an opponent at last. The Brazilian star will face once-beaten Japanese standout Hiroko Yamanaka in a title bout announced by the promotion today. The fight is expected to take place on December 17th in San Diego.

Santos has not fought since a June 2010 destruction of an overmatched Jan “Cuddles” Finney, as she has sat on the sidelines awaiting a new contract. Having recently signed a new deal, Santos now returns to the cage against Yamanaka, who will hold a significant height and reach advantage.

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Strikeforce returned to the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada this evening for Strikeforce Challengers 19: “Larkin vs Rossborough.” The event was headlined by a light heavyweight bout between unbeaten rising star Lorenz “The Monsoon” Larkin and Nick “Leatherface” Rossborough.

In other action on tonight’s main card, Ryan Couture rebounded from the first professional loss of his career by defeating Maka Watson in lightweight action. Shawn Jordan submitted Strikeforce veteran Lavar “Big” Johnson with a second-round keylock in the night’s heavyweight co-main event.

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