Wand Fight Team prospect Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez will take a step up in competition when she returns to action on December 10th. Gutierrez will face Strikeforce veteran Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman in a featured bout at Crowbar MMA: “Winter Brawl” in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Gutierrez earned a dominant third-round stoppage of Tammie Schneider at “Fall Brawl” on September 11th and has now won three straight fights since dropping her pro debut in November 2009. Schuckman has won two of three fights since her lone Strikeforce appearance last September.

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Unbeaten prospect Rin Nakai moved her mixed martial arts record to a perfect 8-0 on Sunday at Greatest Common Multiple’s all-female Valkyrie 7 event in Tokyo, Japan. She submitted Mayumi “Super Benkei” Aoki in the first round of their Valkyrie Open-Weight Grand Prix semi-final bout.

Continuing her move up from the 125-pound division, Nakai weighed in at 144.5 pounds for the open-weight fight and dominated the brief bout with Aoki before securing an armbar late in the first round. She will now face Mizuho Sato in the finals of the tournament at Valkyrie 8 in November.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana tonight for UFC 119: “Mir vs Cro Cop.” The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champ Frank Mir and 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović.

Also on the main card, Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira looked to take one step closer to the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship and a rematch with Mauricio “Shogun” Rua when he faced off with Ryan “Darth” Bader. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all fights on the televised card.

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DREAM came to the Nippon Gaishi Hall in Nagoya, Japan tonight with a ten-fight card at Dream.16. The event was headlined by the finals of the 2010 DREAM Light Heavyweight Grand Prix when former Strikeforce and DREAM champion Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi faced Tatsuya Mizuno.

In other featured bouts, Japanese legend Kazushi Sakuraba took on Jason “Mayhem” Miller, while DREAM Lightweight Champion Shinya “Tobikan Judan” Aoki battled Marcus “Maximus” Aurelio. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for all of the fights on the DREAM card in Nagoya.

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Seven days after she faces Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight (135-Pound) Champion Sarah Kaufman in California, Marloes “Rumina” Coenen will battle Lena Buytendijk at Ultimate Glory 12 in Amsterdam. The October 16th fight was officially announced by Golden Glory trainer Martijn de Jong today.

Coenen will carry a huge edge in experience into the bout with Buytendijk, who was submitted by Sheila Gaff in her pro debut in March, but it remains to be seen what condition Coenen will be in following the fight with Kaufman on October 9th. Injuries could potentially cancel the Glory 12 bout.

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The lineups are set for the 2010 Rough Stone Grand Prix tournaments, which kick off at Jewels: “Tenth Ring” on October 10th in Tokyo, Japan. Earlier today, Jewels announced the first-round matchups for each of the three weight classes, which are set at 48, 52 and 56 kilograms.

Also announced was a non-tournament bout at 58kg between rising T-Blood star Miki Morifuji and women’s MMA veteran Aya “Ariya” Koyama. Morifuji is fresh off of a win over Jewels postergirl Shizuka Sugiyama, while Koyama, a pro wrestler, returns to MMA for the first time in over six years.

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One day after he was removed from the main event of UFC 122, former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort has been named the number one contender for Anderson “The Spider” Silva’s middleweight title. UFC President Dana White announced the change earlier today.

Silva had been set to defend his title against Chael Sonnen in a rematch from their August bout, but Sonnen is now facing a one-year suspension following a positive test for steroids. While he plans to appeal, Sonnen’s status and eligibility will not be known until at least December.

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The main event for the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return to Germany has changed. UFC 122, set for November 13th, will now be headlined by a middleweight bout between former UFC title challenger Nate “The Great” Marquardt and top contender Yushin “Thunder” Okami.

Okami was originally set to face former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort in the main event, but Belfort was removed from the fight on Tuesday. Instead, Marquardt will step in to face the Japanese standout in a number one contender’s bout to determine a title challenger.

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