MAIN EVENT – Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship
Ronda Rousey (134.5) vs Miesha Tate (134.5)
SHOWTIME MAIN CARD
KJ Noons (156) vs Josh Thomson (155)
Kazuo Misaki (169.5) vs Paul Daley (171)
Lumumba Sayers (185) vs Scott Smith (186)
Bristol Marunde (184) vs Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (184.5)
SHOWTIME EXTREME PRELIMS
Alexis Davis (135.5) vs Sarah Kaufman (135.5)
Roger Bowling (170) vs. Brandon Saling (170.5)
Pat Healy (155) vs Caros Fodor (155.5)
Conor Heun (155) vs Ryan Couture (154)
Now greenlit for the show is a co-headlining featherweight title bout between champion Jose Aldo and Canadian striker Mark Hominick. Also confirmed by the promotion was a light heavyweight tilt featuring former champions Randy Couture and Lyoto Machida, and a welterweight duel between Nate Diaz and Rory MacDonald.
The 12-fight card, which takes place April 30 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, will be headlined by a welterweight title fight pitting longtime champion Georges St. Pierre against the highly-regarded Jake Shields.
A dominant champion, Aldo possess knockout power in all four limbs. Since beginning his stint under the Zuffa banner in 2008, “Junior” has annihilated all comers, winning five straight fights inside the blue cage of World Extreme Cagefighting before demolishing then-champion Mike Thomas Brown at WEC 44 in 2009. The once-beaten Brazilian has since defended his title twice, dominating both former champion Urijah Faber and powerful judoka Manny Gamburyan in 2010.
In Hominick, Aldo faces an accurate puncher with tremendous footwork and speed. An Ontario native, Hominick has won five straight fights since dropping his WEC debut to Josh Grispi in 2008. Prior to cutting to 145 pounds and joining the WEC, the Canadian went 2-0 as a lightweight in the UFC in 2006. A former TKO featherweight champion, Hominick most recently dispatched of training partner George Roop at UFC “Fight for the Troops 2,” knocking Roop out in just 88 seconds.
A former five-time UFC champion, Randy Couture is perhaps the most recognizable name in all of mixed martial arts. “The Natural” began his career in 1997 and owns career victories over such notables as Maurice Smith, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. Couture will enter the Machida bout on a three-fight win streak, having most recently toppled boxer-turned-MMA fighter James Toney at UFC 118.
After going undefeated in his first 16 pro fights, Machida has lost back-to-back contests. The Brazilian karate black belt was first knocked out in a rematch with former Pride Fighting Championships standout Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, losing the light heavyweight title in the process. His last appearance in the cage also resulted in defeat, as another former champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, earned a split decision victory over Machida at UFC 123 in November.
The younger brother of Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz, 25-year-old Nate has won two of his last three fights. He was bested in his most recent outing, however, as Korean import Dong Hyun Kim was awarded a close split decision over the Californian. A brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Diaz holds nine of his 13 career wins by submission.
One of the sport’s brightest prospects, MacDonald is only 21 years old. After a successful UFC debut against Mike Guymon one year ago, MacDonald fell just short in his sophomore effort with the promotion, losing by third-round TKO to former WEC champion Carlos Condit with only seven seconds left in the fight.
The UFC today made the event official and announced the first signed bout on the card: a featherweight rematch between Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan.
The event, which airs live on Spike TV, is likely to be headlined by a light heavyweight matchup between former champion Tito Ortiz and Pride Fighting Championships veteran Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
The controversial first meeting between Garcia and Phan took place at “The Ultimate Fighter 12” finale in December. Although Phan consistently beat Garcia to the punch, out-striking the Greg Jackson product as tallied by both CompuStrike and Fight Metric, Garcia was awarded a split decision victory in what was deemed Sherdog.com’s 2010 “Robbery of the Year.”
Prior to that contest, Phan had competed on Season 12 of “TUF,” losing in the semifinals to eventual runner-up Michael Johnson. Phan began his fighting career in 2001 and has fought some of the best lightweight and featherweight competitors in the world, including Josh Thomson, Michihiro Omigawa and Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante. The 27-year-old has lost four of his last six fights.
Known for his wild offense and gutsy performances, Garcia has earned “Fight of the Night” honors in three of his last four performances. After fighting George Roop to a split draw in March, Garcia took part in a “Fight of the Year” candidate against Chan Sung Jung at WEC 48 in April, edging out another much-debated split decision. He came up on the wrong end of the judges’ scorecards in his next outing, however, as he was out-pointed by the more accurate Mark Hominick at WEC 51.
Also rumored for UFC Fight Night 24 is a welterweight scrap between former title challenger Dan Hardy and the returning Anthony Johnson, as well as a heavyweight tilt pitting Mike Russow against Jon Madsen.
The event, which will go down March 3 from the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., will be headlined by a welterweight showdown between dangerous Dane Martin Kampmann and the resurgent Diego Sanchez. The show’s main card will air live on the Versus network.
Kimmons has lost two of his last three bouts and holds a 3-3 record inside the Octagon. “The Rosedale Reaper” looked sharp in his debut at “The Ultimate Fighter 7” Finale, as he choked out Rob Yundt with a first-round guillotine. Kimmons was not as impressive in his sophomore effort, as he was submitted less than 90 seconds into his fight with former International Fight League middleweight champion Dan Miller at UFC Fight Night 15. Since then, Kimmons has earned wins over Joe Vedepo and Steve Steinbeiss, while falling to hard-punching Jorge Rivera. Most recently, Kimmons was submitted by Aussie Kyle Noke in the second round of their UFC 122 affair.
A member of Korean Top Team, Yang is a veteran of Deep and Sengoku Raiden Championship. The 26-year-old fought his way to an undefeated record before he made his UFC debut in October, suffering his first career loss in a split decision to Chris Camozzi at UFC 121. “The Ox” holds eight of his nine career victories by knockout and has never been finished.
Also scheduled for the event is a pair of middleweight bouts, as C.B. Dollaway takes on Mark Munoz and Alessio Sakara squares off against Maiquel Jose Falcao Goncalves. Additionally, former WEC bantamweight champion Brian Bowles will lock horns with the Greg Jackson-trained Damacio Page.
Diego Sanchez vs. Martin Kampmann
C.B. Dollaway vs. Mark Munoz
Alessio Sakara vs. Maiquel Jose Falcao Goncalves
Brian Bowles vs. Damacio Page
Thiago Tavares vs. Shane Roller
Takeya Mizugaki vs. Francisco Rivera
Rob Kimmons vs. Dongi Yang
Igor Pokrajac vs. Todd Brown
* Erik Koch vs. Cub Swanson
* Rousimar Palhares vs. Alexandre Ferreira
* Steve Cantwell vs. Cyrille Diabate
* Not Official
The matchup was added to the promotion’s website on Wednesday. The event, which goes down March 3 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., will be headlined by a welterweight scrap between dangerous Dane Martin Kampmann and the resurgent Diego Sanchez.
Pokrajac comes fresh off a December unanimous decision defeat at the hands of “The Ultimate Fighter” alum Stephan Bonnar in the co-main event of the “TUF 12” finale. The Croat has lost three of his last four contests, including losses to Vladimir Matyushenko and James Te Huna. His lone victory since joining the UFC came at the expense of James Irvin in August. Pokrajac submitted Irvin in the first round of their fight with a rear-naked choke. Prior to entering the UFC, Pokrajac had won eight straight contests.
Brown was unsuccessful in his UFC debut, losing by Tim Boetsch by unanimous decision at UFC 117 in August. Prior to that bout, the “Bulldog” had won seven contests in a row, including a 2008 victory over kickboxing legend Rick Roufus. Brown has scored seven of his 15 career victories by knockout and has submitted five opponents. He has never been finished in his 17-fight career.
Also scheduled for UFC Live 3 is a pair of middleweight scraps featuring C.B. Dollaway squaring off with Mark Munoz and Alessio Sakara going up against Maiquel Falcao Goncalves. The card will also showcase a bantamweight rematch between former WEC champion Brian Bowles and Damacio Page.
In a three-day span from Dec. 30 to Jan. 1, six Top 10 featherweights were in action, and, in two cases, they head-to-head with one another. The performances turned in were not exactly what people expected.
Hatsu Hioki had developed a reputation for not being the most strategically inclined fighter in the world. However, in his Sengoku Raiden Championship featherweight title bout with brutal-hitting Brazilian Marlon Sandro, Hioki was positively electric, taking apart Sandro on the feet and on the ground to capture the SRC crown in the most impressive performance of his already distinguished career.
On New Year’s Eve, another Brazilian champion fell, as Bibiano Fernandes had little offense to offer rival Hiroyuki Takaya in their rematch, as the “Streetfight Bancho” outlasted Fernandes over 20 minutes to take the Dream featherweight title.
Then, amidst the shadows of UFC 125, Brazilian Diego Nunes took his game to another level against former featherweight kingpin Mike Thomas Brown, earning a hard-fought split decision win and emerging in a new tier of competition in the rapidly intensifying 145-pound division.
And all of that is to say nothing of the thrilling UFC lightweight title bout between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, which set the preliminary bar for 2011’s “Fight of the Year” and will lead to a third encounter between the 155-pound rivals later this year.
Page Two: Heavyweight Rankings
K-1 and Dream parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group today confirmed the match-up at a press conference in Tokyo. “Dynamite” will take place on New Year's Eve at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
Overeem is undefeated in his last nine bouts, a streak which extends over three years. His most recent conquest was a May drubbing of Brett Rogers in Strikeforce, but MMA isn’t the only forum in which “The ‘Reem” has been impressive. The Golden Glory product is less than a month removed from winning the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix, defeating Tyrone Spong, Gokhan Saki and Peter Aerts in a single night to take the coveted kickboxing crown.
Duffee’s last appearance in the cage also came in May, when he was shockingly knocked out by veteran Mike Russow at UFC 114. Plagued by a knee injury, the previously-unbeaten Duffee was cut by the promotion in September. Duffee is currently scheduled to compete on Jan. 29 at Titan Fighting Championships 16 in Kansas against “The Ultimate Fighter 10” alum Abe Wagner.
Two “Dynamite” bouts are scheduled to be held under “special rules,” the details of which the organization also revealed today.
Dream lightweight champion Shinya Aoki’s clash with K-1 Max veteran Yuichiro Nagashima will feature one three-minute kickboxing round, followed by a standard five-minute MMA round. The fighters will use open-fingered gloves throughout. If no winner is decided in the eight minutes of competition, the fight will be declared an automatic draw.
Meanwhile, Bob Sapp’s super-heavyweight “IGF rules” bout with former sumo Shinichi Suzukawa will feature a rule set similar to modern MMA, but the fighters will not wear gloves. Closed-fist strikes are forbidden, though palm strikes are legal. The match is being produced by the Inoki Genome Federation, Antonio Inoki’s pro-wrestling promotion.
The matchups were made official at a press conference in Tokyo, where K-1 and Dream parent company Fighting and Entertainment Group also confirmed the participation of Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem. Also announced was an “IGF special rules” match between Bob Sapp and former sumo Shinichi Suzukawa, which will be produced by Japanese pro-wrestling icon Antonio Inoki’s Inoki Genome Federation. “Dynamite” will go down on New Year's Eve at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.
On Tuesday, FEG added a welterweight MMA attraction between Nigerian kickboxer Andy Ologun and debuting former pro-baseball player Katsuaki Furuki.
Le Banner has not fought under MMA rules since 2006, when he defeated Jimmy Ambriz at K-1 Hero's 4 in Tokyo. His most recent trip inside the kickboxing ring resulted in defeat, as he forfeited his fight against Kyotaro Fujimoto in October after failing to answer the bell for a fourth round at the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 in Seoul.
After winning judo gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Ishii made an unsuccessful MMA debut at last year’s “Dynamite,” losing a unanimous decision to fellow gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida. Since then, Ishii has gone undefeated, submitting two of his last three opponents. Most recently, he submitted Katsuyori Shibata with a first-round kimura at the K-1 World Max 2010 Final on Nov. 8.
WEC lightweight champion Benson Henderson (155) will defend his crown on Thursday against challenger Anthony Pettis (154.5) from the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The winner of the contest will automatically become the No. 1 contender for the UFC title, which will be contested between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard on Jan. 1 at UFC 125.
Henderson comes off an April victory in a rematch against rival Donald Cerrone. A winner in his last 10 outings, the MMA Lab product holds eight of his career 12 victories by submission. Henderson captured the WEC interim title at WEC 43 in his first fight with Cerrone, and he legitimized his claim to the belt when he defeated Jamie Varner for the undisputed title just three months later at WEC 46.
A powerful striker with good submissions, Pettis has won three consecutive fights. His only pro loss came to veteran Bart Palaszewski at WEC 45 in a split decision. Just 23 years old, the Roufusport product has finished all but one of his defeated opponents.
Both co-main event competitors also made weight on Wednesday, as bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz tipped the scales at 134.5 pounds, and challenger Scott Jorgensen registered 135 pounds. The winner of the contest will be crowned the UFC's first-ever 135-pound champion.
Cruz has won his last seven fights, and his only career defeat came to longtime featherweight champion Urijah Faber in Cruz's promotional debut at WEC 26 in 2007. Since his drop to bantamweight Cruz has conquered all comers, earning victories over Charlie Valencia, Brian Bowles and Joseph Benavidez (twice).
Jorgensen is riding a five-fight winning streak, earning “Fight of the Night” honors twice in that span. “Young Guns” holds victories over Brad Pickett, Antonio Banuelos and Takeya Mizugaki. Jorgensen has only lost thrice in his career, and he has never been knocked out.
Benson Henderson (155) vs. Anthony Pettis (154.5)
Dominick Cruz (134.5) vs. Scott Jorgensen (135)
Donald Cerrone (155) vs. Chris Horodecki (155)
Bart Palaszewski (156) vs. Kamal Shalorus (156)
Tie Quan Zhang (155.5) vs. Daniel Downes (154.5)
Jamie Varner (156) vs. Shane Roller (155)
Brad Pickett (136) vs. Ivan Menjivar (135)
Eddie Wineland (136) vs. Ken Stone (135)
Danny Castillo (155.5) vs. Will Kerr (155)
Ricardo Lamas (156) vs. Yuri Alcantara (154.5)
Renan do Nascimento Mota Pegado (136) vs. Chris Cariaso (136)
Hornbuckle has posted 20 wins in his last 22 appearances. A finalist in the 2010 Bellator welterweight tournament, the 29-year-old American Top Team rep last appeared at Bellator 25 in August, when he defeated UFC exile Brad Blackburn by unanimous decision at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago. Hornbuckle rose to international prominence in 2009 after he knocked out Akihiro Gono and Nick Thompson in consecutive bouts. A potent finisher, he has secured 20 of his 22 career victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission.
The well-traveled Chonan has rattled off three wins in four fights. The 34-year-old owns notable victories over Japanese ace Hayato “Mach” Sakurai, former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton, Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts rep Joey Villasenor and reigning UFC middleweight king Anderson Silva. In fact, his flying scissor heel hook submission against Silva at Pride Shockwave 2004 remains a staple of many a highlight reel. Chonan has not fought since he stopped Jun Hee Moon on third-round punches at Deep 50 Impact in October.
Meanwhile, Japanese MMA pioneer Megumi Fujii will square off with Valkyrie alum Emi Fujino in a pivotal women’s matchup.
Fujii has not competed since her 22-fight winning streak was halted in a split decision defeat to Zoila Frausto two months ago in the 2010 Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament final. A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, the 36-year-old has trained under Shooto veteran Hiroyuki Abe and one-time UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett. Fujii has delivered 18 of his 22 career victories by submission.
In 13 professional appearances, Fujino has never been finished. The 30-year-old has lost four of her past five fights but needed just 24 seconds to submit Anna Saito with a first-round rear-naked choke at Valkyrie 8 on Nov. 28.
A high-stakes showdown pairing featherweight champion Marlon Sandro with the world-ranked Hatsu Hioki will headline “Soul of Fight,” which will also feature the 2010 SRC welterweight grand prix final between Yasubey Enomoto and Keita Nakamura.
Yasubey Enomoto vs. Keita Nakamura
Taiyo Nakahara vs. Akitoshi Tamura
Manabu Inoue vs. Shunichi Shimizu
Kazuo Misaki vs. Mike Seal
Masanori Kanehara vs. Yoshiro Maeda
Maximo Blanco vs. Won Sik Park
Ryo Chonan vs. Dan Hornbuckle
Mamed Khalidov vs. Yuki Sasaki
Jadamba Narantungalag vs. Kazunori Yokota
Dave Herman vs. Yoshihiro Nakao
Megumi Fujii vs. Emi Fujino
Mika Harigai vs. Rin Nakai
Hitomi Akano vs. Roxanne Modafferi
Amy Davis vs. Misaki Takimoto
WEC Bantamweight Championship (Winner will be crowned UFC Champion)
Dominick Cruz (134.5) vs Scott Jorgensen (135)
Donald Cerrone (155) vs Chris Horodecki (155)
Bart Palaszewski (156) vs Kamal Shalorus (156)
Tiequan Zhang (155.5) vs Danny Downes (154.5)
Jamie Varner (156) vs Shane Roller (155)
Brad Pickett (136) vs Ivan Menjivar (135)
Eddie Wineland (136) vs Ken Stone (135)
Danny Castillo (155.5) vs Will Kerr (155)
Ricardo Lamas (156) vs Yuri Alcantara (154.5)
Renan Barao (136) vs Chris Cariaso (136)
Shivers is a former cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights” and played a brief time in the National Football League. “The Perfect Storm” was eliminated in his first fight on the show, falling to semi-finalist James McSweeney by majority decision. The 33-year-old holds a perfect 2-0 professional record, registering two stoppage wins in a local Mississippi promotion in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
Butler is 1-3 and will be making his Strikeforce debut. After starting his career with a win, Butler has lost three straight fights, all by knockout. His lone victory also came by TKO stoppage as he finished fellow Challengers 12 competitor Jacob Noe at a Cage Assault event in 2009.
Accompanying the Shivers-Butler matchup will be three additional undercard bouts. Wesley Little will take on Noe in a light heavyweight contest, and the card will be rounded out by a pair of middleweight scraps: Jeremiah Riggs vs. James Sharp and Jamie Houston vs. Dave Martin.
The event will be headlined by former international lightweight force Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, as he takes on Justin Wilcox. The show will also feature what should be an explosive standup battle between Dream welterweight champion Mariusz Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf. In a light heavyweight tilt, former University of Tennessee linebacker Ovince St. Preux will meet Strikeforce veteran Antwain Britt.
Also on the card will be a women’s 115-pound championship fight between Megumi Fujii and Zoila Frausto. The event will go down at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
Lombard (183.25) captured the title by winning Bellator’s Season 1 middleweight tournament, turning back Jared Hess in the final to become the promotion’s inaugural 185-pound champion. Lombard is the owner of a 19-fight winning streak, with his only blemish in that span being a draw to Kyle Noke in 2007. Since winning the Bellator middleweight title, the American Top Team fighter has been on a tear, finishing all but one of his six opponents in the first round. His last two fights have been demolitions, as the native Cuban ran through Jay Silva and Herbert Goodman in six and 38 seconds, respectively.
Shlemenko won Bellator’s Season 2 middleweight tournament to become the number one contender for Lombard’s title. Like Lombard, the Russian is on quite a roll, having won 15 of his last 16 contests. A knockout specialist, Shlemenko (184.75) holds nearly two-thirds of his 30 career wins by KO, including his first-round stoppage of Bryan Baker in the Season 2 tournament final.
Fujii (113.5) has long been considered one of the pound-for-pound best in MMA, as she has amassed a perfect 22-0 record, with 18 submission victories to her credit. Training under former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, “Mega Megu” is coming off an armbar submission victory over Lisa Ward in the women’s tournament semi-final.
Frausto’s last appearance was not as impressive as Fujii’s, however, as the “Warrior Princess” eked out a contentious split decision victory over the spunky Jessica Aguilar at Bellator 31 to advance to the final. Frausto (114.5) owns only one loss, a March 2010 defeat to Strikeforce 135-pound contender Miesha Tate.
Hector Lombard (183.25) vs. Alexander Shlemenko (184.75)
Megumi Fujii (113.5) vs. Zoila Frausto (114.5)
Mike Bernhard (185.75) vs. Dragan Tesanovic (185.5)
Tony Lopez (204.5) vs. Raphael Davis (205.5)
William Kuhn (170) vs. John Kelly (172.25)
Ralph Acosta (135) vs. Tulio Quintanilla (135.5)
Frank Carrillo (184.25) vs. Moyses Gabin (184.25)
Igor Almeida (184.5) vs. Dan Cramer (185.5)
Bounmy Somchay (161) vs. JP Reese (159.25)
