Three amateur bouts have been added to the undercard of this Saturday’s Jewels: “16th Ring” event in Tokyo, Japan. The all-female card now includes an MMA rematch between Tamaki Usui and Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa, who first faced off in July. Usui won the pair’s first bout in just 14 seconds.
Also announced were two Under-15 kickboxing tournament matches. In one, 12-year-old “Muay Thai Genius” Saya Ito returns to Jewels to face Ryouka, while former M-1 40kg female champion Miiri Sasaki looks to rebound from an August defeat when she makes her Jewels debut against Chihiro Imoto.
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As quickly as he was removed from the UFC 137 card, Nick Diaz is back on. The outspoken former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion will now battle “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn at the October 29th event in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC President Dana White confirmed the news earlier this evening.
Yesterday, White announced that Diaz had been removed from the UFC 137 main event against Georges “Rush” St. Pierre for failing to show up to a pair of mandatory press conferences. White said that Diaz could not be trusted, but he nevertheless added Diaz back to the card’s co-main event today.
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Rising star Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets will return to action at XFC 14: “Resurrection” on October 21st in Orlando, Florida. The unbeaten 26-year-old will face off with tough veteran Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel in a featured 125-pound bout. The promotion officially announced the fight today.
Kheyfets earned a pair of victories in the XFC last year, but the promotion has not yet held an event in 2011 and Kheyfets kept busy with a May victory on a Reality Fighting card. Helsel fought four times in 2010, but was unable to secure a win and she will now look to put an end to her losing streak.
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Despite taking the fight on less than three days’ notice, NAAFS champion Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly needed just 20 seconds to submit Angela Hayes at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship: “Fight Night 2” tonight in Amman, Jordan. Daly has now won back-to-back fights since suffering a loss in April.
With the quick and impressive win over Hayes, Ireland’s Daly now has her sights set on a rematch with Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff, who handed her the second defeat of her career. Daly stepped into the bout with Hayes after Gaff fell ill this week. She will defend her NAAFS title in November.
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Fresh off of one of the biggest wins of his UFC career, former PRIDE legend Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira will have a chance to avenge his first stoppage loss when he faces Frank Mir for the second time at UFC 140 on December 10th in Toronto, Ontario. Verbal agreements are now in place.
UFC officials announced plans for the Nogueira-Mir rematch earlier today. Mir became the first man to ever knock out Nogueira when the two first met for the UFC Interim Heavyweight Championship at UFC 92. Mir has been victorious in three of five fights since, while Nogueira has won two of three.
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As a result of an injury, Matt “The Real One” Grice has withdrawn from his bout with Nam Phan at UFC 136 on October 8th in Houston, Texas. Phan will now have an opportunity to avenge a highly controversial loss from last year when he rematches Leonard “Bad Boy” Garcia on the Texas card.
The UFC announced today that verbal agreements are now in place for the rematch. Garcia defeated Phan via Split Decision in a 2010 Robbery of the Year candidate in December. Both fighters are coming off of losses and need to win in order to ensure that they will remain on the UFC roster.
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Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz will no longer compete for the UFC Welterweight Championship on October 29th in Las Vegas, Nevada. Diaz was removed from his UFC 137 main event bout today after failing to show up for two mandatory press conferences and his UFC tenure may be over.
In a surprise announcement, UFC President Dana White confirmed today that “The Natural Born Killer” Carlos Condit has stepped in to challenge Georges “Rush” St. Pierre for the title. Condit was previously set to face “The Prodigy” B.J. Penn on the same card. Penn awaits a new opponent.
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A broken hand has forced Diego “The Dream” Sanchez out of his UFC 135 bout with former long-time champion Matt Hughes on September 24th in Denver, Colorado. Former title challenger Josh Koscheck has now stepped in to face Hughes. UFC President Dana White confirmed the change today.
Koscheck was initially expected to compete in a middleweight bout on an upcoming card, but will remain in the welterweight division to face Hughes in a battle of powerful wrestlers. Koscheck has not fought since December, when he dropped a Unanimous Decision to Georges “Rush” St. Pierre.
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