Citing a foot injury suffered during training, New Mexico’s Angela Magana has withdrawn from the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament. She was scheduled to face unbeaten pound-for-pound queen Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii at Bellator 24 on August 12th in a first-round tournament matchup.

Bellator has reportedly secured a replacement for Magana, though contracts have not yet been signed and the name of the replacement has not been released. Fujii’s new opponent will have less than one week to prepare for the fight, while Fujii will now have to switch focus accordingly.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California tonight for UFC 117: “Silva vs Sonnen.” The event was headlined by a UFC Middleweight Championship bout between champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva and outspoken wrestling standout Chael Sonnen.

Elsewhere, welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago “Pitbull” Alves squared off for a second time, while former long-time champion Matt Hughes faced Ricardo “Big Dog” Almeida in an important 170-pound bout for both. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the impressive card.

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A featured women’s bout has been added to the upcoming Jackson’s MMA Series 2 card on September 4th. Julie “Fireball” Kedzie, one of the true pioneers of women’s MMA in North America, will square off with unbeaten prospect Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio at 135 pounds.

Kedzie, a former HOOKnSHOOT Grand Prix Champion and EliteXC veteran, returned to competition in June on the debut Jackson’s MMA Series card. In her first fight in nearly a year, Kedzie defeated Malissa Sherwood. D’Alelio, meanwhile, stopped Melissa Steele with punches on July 24th.

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This Saturday’s UFC 117 rematch between welterweight contenders Jon Fitch and Thiago “Pitbull” Alves will serve as a title eliminator bout. UFC President Dana White confirmed the news today and stated that the winner will face either Georges “Rush” St. Pierre or Josh Koscheck.

Fitch won the pair’s first meeting in June of 2006 by stopping Alves with an upkick and follow-up punches. Both fighters are undefeated since that time, save for five-round decision losses to reigning champion St. Pierre. Alves has not competed since the St. Pierre title fight at UFC 100 last July.

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With ten days to go until the inaugural Strikeforce 135-pound women’s tournament, the promotion has finalised the event’s preliminary reserve bout. Highly-touted Gracie Academy prospect Colleen Schneider will face fellow Californian Liz Carmouche. Both will make their Strikeforce debuts.

The reserve bout will take place on the unaired undercard of Strikeforce Challengers 10 on August 13th at the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. The winner of the fight will advance to the finals of the one-night tournament only if a tournament finalist is injured or otherwise unable to continue.

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With just six fights to his name, UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar has already done the improbable and now assumes the top spot in the heavyweight divisional rankings. Lesnar rallied to submit Shane Carwin at UFC 116 to solidify his status as the top heavyweight in the sport.

In women’s action, Strikeforce Women’s Welterweight Champion Sarah Kaufman still reigns supreme at 135 pounds after her powerbomb slam knockout victory over Roxanne Modafferi. Kaufman also takes another step towards the top spot in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings.

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The Ultimate Fighting Championship made its second appearance on the Versus network tonight with “UFC On Versus 2” from the San Diego Sports Arena in San Diego, California. The card was headlined by light heavyweight star Jon “Bones” Jones taking on Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko.

Also on the main card, middleweight standout Yushin “Thunder” Okami took on wrestling powerhouse Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, while Jake Ellenberger faced John “Doomsday” Howard at 170 pounds. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the event.

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After a rollercoaster of uncertainty, Brazil’s Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm has secured a visa in time to compete in the August 13th Strikeforce 135-pound women’s tournament. Sherdog.com first reported on the update and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed the news with MMARising.com.

Late Tuesday night, MMARising.com learned that Damm’s participation in the tournament was at great risk due to visa issues that were attributed to Strikeforce not obtaining the necessary documents in a timely manner. The problems have since been resolved and Damm will compete as planned.

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