Strikeforce’s upcoming “Fedor vs Rogers” card on November 7th will still feature a women’s bout after all, as highly-ranked contender Roxanne Modafferi has stepped in to replace an ailing Erin Toughill and will face Dutch standout Marloes Coenen in a rematch from their 2007 battle.

Modafferi, who regularly competes at 135 pounds, earned a Split Decision victory over Coenen in the 2007 meeting and became K-GRACE Tournament Champion in the process. She will look to pick up her second victory over Coenen in her Strikeforce debut.

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Mere hours after the cancellation of the top contender’s bout between Sarah Kaufman and Takayo Hashi, a medical issue has forced Erin Toughill to withdraw from her title eliminator bout against Marloes Coenen, which was set to be a part of the Strikeforce: “Fedor vs Rogers” card on November 7th.

Details surrounding Toughill’s withdrawal have not been released, but the cause is said to be due to an “undisclosed medical condition.” There has been no word as to whether Coenen will still compete on the card, but the lack of top challengers makes her participation unlikely.

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With just over three weeks until the event, a highly-anticipated women’s bout between undefeated Canadian Sarah Kaufman and top Japanese contender Takayo Hashi has been removed from the November 20th Strikeforce Challengers 5 card. The fight may be rescheduled for 2010.

Kaufman confirmed speculation that she would no longer be facing Hashi at the event earlier today. The bantamweight bout was conspicuously absent from the fight card when Strikeforce released their revamped website design early yesterday, which sparked rumours that the fight was off.

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Unable to shake off an ongoing illness, UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar has withdrawn from his upcoming UFC 106 title defence against top contender Shane Carwin. The fight has been tentatively rescheduled for UFC 108 on January 2, 2010.

A light heavyweight rematch between Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin will now headline the UFC 106 card, which takes place on November 21st. The co-main event features the promotional debut of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, who takes on rising star Luiz Cane.

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Keeping her perfect professional record intact, Elena “Babydoll” Reid rose to 4-0-0 in mixed martial arts with a third-round stoppage of Masako Yoshida, a Japanese veteran of 36 fights, at Extreme Beatdown 5 on Saturday night in New Town, North Dakota.

Reid, a former WIBA and IFBA Flyweight Champion in boxing, has excelled since debuting in MMA in late 2007. With the victory over Yoshida, she captured her first title in mixed martial arts by becoming the first Extreme Beatdown Women’s Flyweight Champion.

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While the event was completely overshadowed by UFC 104 and Dream.12, Greatest Common Multiple’s all-female Valkyrie division showcased another solid night of fights at “Valkyrie 3,” which saw veteran gatekeeper Misaki Takimoto stop Yasuko Mogi in the main event.

Elsewhere on the card, Naoko Omuro remained undefeated in the promotion with a Unanimous Decision over Yukiko Seki, while Sachiko Yamamoto rebounded from her loss to Omuro at Valkyrie 2 with a second-round submission of Maho Muranami.

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After the extremely controversial conclusion to their five-round title bout at UFC 104 last night, top light heavyweight stars Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida have already verbally agreed to a rematch according to UFC President Dana White, who made the announcement in the hours after the event.

Machida escaped with a close but Unanimous Decision in a judges’ verdict that was soundly booed by the audience and harshly criticised by fans online, as Rua appeared to have won a minimum of three rounds.

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For the first time ever at Olympia Dream.12: “The Cage of the Rising Sun,” the DREAM promotion showcased an event contested entirely inside the confines of a white cage. All fights were scheduled for three five-minute rounds for this event only.

Headlining the card was a brief heavyweight bout between reigning Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair “Demolition Man” Overeem and former PRIDE mainstay James “The Colossus” Thompson. MMARising.com has live play-by-play from the event as the action happened.

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