The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the Bell Centre in Montreal, Québec, Canada tonight for UFC 124: “St. Pierre vs Koscheck 2.” The main event featured a five-round rematch for the UFC Welterweight Championship between champion Georges “Rush” St. Pierre and Josh Koscheck.

Also on the main card, unbeaten heavyweight Sean “Big Sexy” McCorkle faced Stefan “Skyscraper” Struve, while TUF season winners Mac Danzig and Joe “Daddy” Stevenson squared off in a pivotal lightweight showdown. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s UFC card.

Read More…

Despite a last-minute opponent change, Jewels star Hiroko Yamanaka will still compete on the upcoming Jewels: “Eleventh Ring” card on December 17th. Yamanaka will face tough veteran Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel, who will move up in weight to face the much larger Yamanaka at 143 pounds.

Yamanaka had been scheduled to face Olympic medallist Randi Miller, but Miller withdrew from the fight for the second time this year. Helsel is coming off of a decision loss to Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly in late November and will give up a significant height and reach advantage to Yamanaka.

Read More…

UFC heavyweight Chris Tuchscherer presented another solid night of action tonight at Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” in Grand Forks, North Dakota. TUF alum Dane “Red Horse” Sayers dominated Wayne “Butch” Hajicek in the main event, stopping the veteran with punches in the second round.

In a pair of excellent women’s bouts, Colorado’s Cat “Alpha” Albert-Zingano remained unbeaten with a one-sided stoppage victory over Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm, while two-time All-American wrestler Carla Esparza earned a hard-fought decision win over fellow prospect Nina Ansaroff.

Read More…

Russian prospect Yana Kunitskaya needed just 34 seconds to hand Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois the first defeat of her career today at M-1 Challenge 22 in Moscow. The bout was contested entirely on the feet until Kunitskaya dropped Dandois with a flurry that ended the brief battle.

While Dandois’s striking has improved, she was a step behind Kunitaskaya in the fight today and was unable to close the distance to set up one of her textbook judo throws. Kunitskaya, who also fought and won less than three weeks ago, put herself in 145-pound contendership with the quick victory.

Read More…

Three additional fights have been added to the all-day Sengoku Raiden Championship “Soul of Fight” event on December 30th. Among them is an SRC Featherweight Championship bout between reigning champion Marlon Sandro and talented submission specialist Hatsu Hioki.

Also on the card, former middleweight contender Kazuo “The Hitman” Misaki will return to action to welcome journeyman Mike “Crazy Boy” Seal to SRC, while Valkyrie Open-Weight Champion Rin Nakai faces Mika “Hari” Harigai in a women’s match. Nakai captured the Valkyrie title in late November.

Read More…

According to a press release today, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will hold a press conference on December 15th to announce plans for an event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The promotion last held an event in Brazil, in the city of São Paulo, at UFC: “Ultimate Brazil” on October 16, 1998.

Textual, the UFC’s public relations representatives in Brazil, also announced that past and present UFC stars Anderson Silva, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Jose Aldo, Vitor Belfort and Royce Gracie will all be in attendance at the press conference, which will be held at the Palácio da Cidade.

Read More…

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will make its long-awaited debut in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada at UFC 131 on April 30, 2011. The date for the historic event, which will take place at the 69,000-seat Rogers Centre, was officially announced by the promotion earlier today.

Live attendance records for MMA events in North America are expected to be broken when the UFC makes its first trip to the “MMA mecca” of Toronto. In addition, a UFC Fan Expo is also planned for the event and will take place on April 29th and 30th at the Direct Energy Centre in the city.

Read More…

Jewels postergirl Saori “Shooting Star” Ishioka has a busy month ahead. Already tentatively set to compete on the first DEEP card in Macau, China on January 8th, Ishioka will face once-beaten prospect Yuko “Amiba” Oya in a 52kg reserve match at Jewels: “Eleventh Ring” on December 17th.

MMARising.com first learned of Ishioka’s participation on the Jewels card last month and confirmed plans for the bout with Oya with sources earlier this evening. A previously announced fight between Hiroko Yamanaka and Randi Miller is officially off, but Yamanaka will likely remain on the card.

Read More…