The month of May featured the crowning of a new UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who once again takes over the top spot in the 205-pound rankings. Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem enters the heavyweight ranks after his crushing defeat of Brett “The Grim” Rogers.
In women’s action, Roxanne Modafferi’s upset of Tara LaRosa at Moosin results in a major shift atop the Women’s Pound-For-Pound Rankings, while the Unified Women’s Rankings also feature significant changes.
After younger sister Stephanie competes one week earlier, Strikeforce veteran Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto may also make her Bellator debut later this month. Frausto is tentatively set to face British star Rosi Sexton in a planned 120-pound bout at Bellator 23 on June 24th.
According to a report from earlier today, women’s MMA veteran Lisa Ward will no longer face Tammie Schneider at Bellator 22 on June 17th. Instead, the submission ace will battle Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto, the younger sister of Strikeforce veteran Zoila Frausto.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight for UFC 114: “Rampage vs Evans.” The event was headlined by a long-awaited grudge match between bitter rivals and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champions Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Suga” Rashad Evans.
The White Cage returned tonight as DREAM presented Dream.14 from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The eight-fight event was headlined by a non-title welterweight matchup between Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz and Japanese legend Hayato “Mach” Sakurai.
A 120-pound catchweight bout is in the works between the number one pound-for-pound female fighter in the world, Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii, and Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider for Bellator 21 on June 10th. MMARising.com has learned that bout agreements have been distributed and the fight is expected to be formally announced this week.
Strikeforce middleweight contenders Tim Kennedy and Trevor Prangley will square off in a featured bout at Strikeforce: “Live” in Los Angeles, California on June 16th. The promotion officially announced the fight today and also confirmed that Bobby “The Dominator” Lashley is injured and will no longer compete against Ron Sparks.
A Sengoku Middleweight Championship rematch between Jorge Santiago and Kazuo “The Hitman” Misaki is in the works for Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 on June 20th in Tokyo, Japan. MMAjunkie.com was first to report on the planned bout and at least one fighter has signed on to fight.