Despite the recent earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan, Pancrase pushed ahead with its “Impressive Tour 2” event on Sunday night in Osaka. Strikeforce veteran and former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano submitted Chisa Yonezawa in a featured bout.
Akano travelled south to Osaka alongside long-time friend and AACC trainer Megumi Fujii, as the pair took the opportunity to move away from the Tokyo region amidst ongoing warnings of radiation leaks from the north. Needing just 40 seconds to defeat Yonezawa, Akano earned her 17th pro victory.
This weekend featured a pair of women’s bouts showcasing four prospects at 125 pounds in two very different areas of the world. Rising star Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak picked up her third victory as a professional and eleventh overall by defeating Amber “A.J.” McAvoy at Wright Fights 2 in Missouri.
Leading amateur promotion Tuff-N-Uff held its third event of 2011 Saturday night at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the main event, Edmond “The Albanian Assassin” Xhelili avenged his lone loss by defeating Jason Richey for the Tuff-N-Uff Middleweight Championship.
The mixed martial arts industry has undergone a drastic change today with the announcement that Ultimate Fighting Championship parent company, Zuffa, LLC, has purchased the UFC’s biggest competitor, Strikeforce. UFC President Dana White first announced the news to MMAFighting.com.
Shark Fights 14 took place tonight at the Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, Texas. The HDNet-televised event was headlined by a middleweight battle between UFC veterans Matt “Suave” Horwich and Danillo “Indio” Villefort, and served as the first of many Shark Fights events that will air on the network.
After a massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Japan at approximately 2:45 P.M. local time, Jewels has cancelled “Twelfth Ring.” The event had been scheduled to take place this evening at Shinjuku FACE in Tokyo, but the country is currently reeling from earthquake damage.
A new promotion in Japan, lead by former Pride Fighting Championships president Nobuyuki Sakakibara and vice president Hiroyuki Kato, will hold its first event on April 18th. Dubbed the “Japan Cup,” the event will feature the first and second rounds of an eight-man bantamweight grand prix.
Valkyrie Flyweight Champion Mei “V.V” Yamaguchi will make her Pancrase debut on April 3rd when she takes on promotional veteran “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba. The featured bout will be part of Pancrase Impressive Tour 3 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan, and will be contested at 115.5 pounds.