Former Lightweight King of Pancrase Maximo “Maxi” Blanco will reportedly make his Strikeforce debut against former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson at an event planned for September. MMAWeekly.com first reported on the potential 155-pound matchup earlier today.

Blanco most recently earned a Unanimous Decision win over Won Sik Park at SRC: “Soul of Fight” on December 30th. He has won six straight fights, with five ending by way of knockout. Thomson last fought at K-1 Dynamite!! on New Year’s Eve and dropped a decision to Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri.

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A fractured foot has forced Brazilian standout Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes out of a planned 135-pound women’s matchup against Julie “Fireball” Kedzie at Strikeforce: “Overeem vs Werdum” on June 18th in Dallas, Texas. MMADieHards.com was first to report on Nunes’s withdrawal from the fight.

Nunes made an instant impact in her Strikeforce debut in January when she knocked out Julia “The Jewel” Budd in just 14 seconds. She had planned to return to her natural weight class of 135 pounds to face Kedzie, but has now been forced off of the card. The bout may be rescheduled for a later date.

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Former Smackgirl and Valkyrie champion Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji will return to action against Jewels postergirl Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka at Jewels: “15th Ring” on July 9th in Tokyo, Japan. The fight, which will be Tsuji’s first in nearly 17 months, was officially announced today.

Tsuji has not fought since losing her Valkyrie Featherweight Championship to “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi on February 11, 2010. She had surgery to correct shoulder and knee injuries during her time away from competition and will now return to face Ishioka, who campaigned for the fight with Tsuji.

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Shooto Lightweight Champion Hatsu Hioki has officially vacated his Shooto title and may soon sign with a promotion in North America. The submission specialist, who also holds the Sengoku Featherweight Championship, will reportedly be in attendance at UFC 131 on June 11th in Vancouver.

Hioki has fought three times in North America before. All three bouts came in the former TKO promotion in Canada, where Hioki captured and defended the TKO Featherweight Championship with two wins over recent UFC title challenger Mark Hominick. His last TKO bout came in October 2008.

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Former DEEP Featherweight Champion Takafumi Otsuka will next compete on June 24th at DEEP: “54 Impact” when he faces rising star Hiroshi “Iron” Nakamura for the vacant DEEP Bantamweight Championship. The title fight matchup was officially announced by the promotion earlier today.

Otsuka most recently competed in the DREAM Japan Bantamweight Grand Prix, but suffered a Split Decision loss to Kenji Osawa in the opening round. Nakamura last fought in February when he defeated Masakazu Imanari in a non-title fight. Imanari has now vacated his DEEP bantamweight title.

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Strikeforce and BodogFIGHT veteran Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm got back on the winning track on Friday evening with a quick submission of Maguilla “Gorilla” Deize at Amazon Fight 8 in Belém, Pará, Brazil. Damm used a keylock to defeat Deize at 2:41 of the opening round.

In the night’s main event, Damm’s husband, Luis “Sapo” Santos, fought to a Draw with old rival Carlos Alexandre “Índio” Pereira. The pair first faced off in late 2007, with Pereira taking a Unanimous Decision win, but nothing was solved after three rounds on Friday and the rematch was ruled even.

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After a series of delays and cancellations, 2004 Olympic Silver Medallist Sara McMann was victorious in her long-awaited pro MMA debut last night at Universal Cage Combat: “Revolution” in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. McMann needed just 1:41 to submit Christina Marks early in the first round.

The freestyle wrestler, who won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Games, was initially set to compete as a professional in MMA last year, but she has endured event cancellations and countless opponents who have backed out of fights. McMann will compete again against Julie Malenfant on June 17th.

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DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki and Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen were among the winners in non-tournament bouts tonight at DREAM: “Fight For Japan” in Saitama, Japan. Aoki submitted Rich “No Love” Clementi, and Hansen edged “The Endless Fighter” Mitsuhiro Ishida.

In other action on the card, Katsunori Kikuno earned a Unanimous Decision win over Daisuke Nakamura, while Caol “Uno Shoten” Uno defeated “Wicky” Akiyo Nishiura in another two-round decision. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue was also victorious tonight, as he stopped Koichiro Matsumoto in the first round.

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