Xtreme Fighting Championships returned to HDNet tonight with XFC 13: “Unstoppable” from the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida. The event was headlined by an XFC Featherweight Championship bout between Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card and challenger Luis “Baboon” Palomino.

Also on the card, heavyweight prospect Chris “Beast Boy” Barnett looked to rebound from his first loss when he faced Mario Rinaldi, while Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets took on Marissa “Shorty” Caldwell in a featured women’s bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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A bout between Jewels star Hiroko Yamanaka and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medallist Randi Miller, first planned for August, has been announced for the upcoming Jewels: “Eleventh Ring” card on December 17th. The fight will be contested at 68kg (149.6 pounds) and will be Miller’s pro MMA debut.

Miller withdrew from the planned August bout due to what was first believed to be an injury. Later reports suggested that Miller had felt that she was not yet ready to make her pro debut at the time, but she will now do so against one of Jewels’s top fighters. Yamanaka has won six straight fights.

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Tachi Palace Fights returned tonight with TPF 7: “Deck The Halls” from the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, California. The solid event was headlined by a catchweight bout between hard-hitting UFC veteran James “The Sandman” Irvin and Brazil’s Jorge “Van Damme” Oliveira.

Also on the card, top-ranked flyweight Jussier “Formiga” da Silva made his Tachi Palace Fights debut against Danny Martinez, while John “The Natural” Alessio and Phil “The Pain” Collins squared off for the TPF Welterweight Championship. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the card.

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A pair of close decisions in November saw Yushin “Thunder” Okami and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson narrowly edge out Nate “The Great” Marquardt and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, respectively. Both Okami and Jackson move closer to the top of their divisions in this month’s rankings.

In women’s action, Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama upset Valkyrie champion Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada in a non-title bout and assumes the top spot in the strawweight division, while Rin Nakai continues to make inroads at 145. Tara LaRosa remains atop the 125-pound ranks with her win over Takayo Hashi.

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Injuries have led to a pair of late changes for this Saturday’s Strikeforce: “Henderson vs Babalu” event at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Former IFL contender Benji “Razor” Radach will return to competition after a lengthy layoff to face Ovince St. Preux in a light heavyweight matchup.

Also confirmed for the card this week is a heavyweight bout between former EliteXC champ Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Mike “Mak” Kyle, who replaces an injured Valentijn Overeem. Herschel Walker will no longer compete on Saturday due to a cut suffered in training, but hopes to return in 2011.

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A significant upset and controversial scoring were the two main stories at today’s Greatest Common Multiple “Valkyrie 8” event in Tokyo, Japan. The all-female card featured Valkyrie Featherweight Champion Mei “V Hajime” Yamaguchi battling Kyoko Takabayashi to a Draw in the main event.

Also on the card, Rin Nakai kept her perfect record intact as she became the first Valkyrie Open-Weight Champion. Nakai captured the title after the cageside doctor deemed her opponent, Mizuho Sato, unfit to continue due to an eye injury after round one. Nakai is now 9-0 with six stoppage wins.

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Rebounding from losses in Bellator, England’s Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton and Ireland’s Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly both picked up victories tonight at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 39: “The Uprising” in Cork, Ireland. Sexton stopped “Slick” Sally Krumdiack with punches in round two, while Daly bested Molly “The Maulinator” Helsel via Unanimous Decision.

Sexton was set to take part in the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament in August, but a loss to Zoila Frausto forced her out. Daly lost to Lisa Ward in the opening round, but she and Sexton impressed in tonight’s fights.

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Jewels has officially announced two more fights for their upcoming “Eleventh Ring” event on December 17th in Tokyo, Japan. In one matchup, promotional postergirl Shizuka Sugiyama will finally take on Mongolian wrestler Esui in an MMA bout. The two were originally set to face each other on July 31st in a shootboxing match, but Sugiyama was forced to withdraw due to injury.

Also announced was an opponent for Miki Morifuji’s retirement bout. Morifuji will face Kinuka Sasaki for the third time in an interesting matchup. Two of Kinuka’s three career wins have come in fights with the veteran Morifuji.

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