Ronda Rousey

MMA’s most dominant female fighter, Ronda Rousey, retained her UFC women’s bantamweight title with a 34-second victory in the main event of Saturday’s “UFC 190: Rousey vs. Correia” card in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While many had predicted a quick submission finish for the champion, Rousey instead showcased her improved boxing skills and knocked out challenger Bethe Correia with a right hook to the temple.

Leading up to Saturday’s title tilt, Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) did not hide the fact that Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) had upset her by making derogatory comments about her family and about her friends in the “Four Horsewomen” stable. Correia earned her title shot by defeating “Horsewomen” members Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler, and she continued to provoke Rousey with defamatory comments in the weeks prior to the fight.

In response, Rousey promised to make an example of Correia, and she did just that by destroying the challenger on the feet. Rousey put Correia on the defensive early on by landing a series of short uppercuts in the clinch and Correia was forced to roll backward after losing her balance. As she returned to her feet, Rousey swarmed on her with punches and knees against the cage. Correia survived the initial onslaught, but Rousey landed a looping right hook behind the ear that sent an unconscious Correia crashing face-first to the canvas.

Following her latest title defense, talk turned again to a potential super fight between Rousey and Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane Justino. Both Rousey and UFC president Dana White have expressed an interest in making the fight happen at 135 pounds, while Justino has requested that the bout be contested at 140 or 145 pounds.

Whether the Rousey-Justino fight ever takes place remains to be seen, but Rousey’s next opponent has already been determined and she will soon battle Miesha Tate in a trilogy fight. Rousey submitted Tate in each of the pair’s first two meetings, but Tate has given the champion her toughest tests to date and remains the only woman to take Rousey out of the first round.

Gadelha spoils Aguilar’s UFC debut, wants strawweight title shot

The UFC 190 PPV card kicked off with an intriguing strawweight contender’s bout between Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who signed with the UFC earlier this year and famously proclaimed that she had “decided to become UFC champion.”

Gadelha, who dropped a controversial split decision to reigning UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in December, got right back into title contention by shutting down Aguilar’s offense en route to a one-sided unanimous-decision victory. Aguilar was never able to get anything going in the fight and suffered her first defeat since September 2010.

In Rounds 1 and 2, Gadelha controlled the action with stiff jabs, right hands and slam takedowns. She bloodied Aguilar’s nose with punches and hurt her with a right hook early in the second stanza. Aguilar’s only success came in the form of leg kicks in Round 3, which she used to slow down Gadelha’s offense. Gadelha still scored with knees and one-twos, and she took Aguilar down once more before the final bell to seal the fight in her favor.

All three judges scored the bout 30-27 for Gadelha, who campaigned for a rematch with Jedrzejczyk in the coming months once both have recovered from hand injuries. Aguilar, who held the top spot at 115 pounds for two years while a planned Invicta FC title bout between Gadelha and Carla Esparza was scrapped three times, now faces a difficult road ahead in order to get back into championship contention in the talent-rich UFC women’s strawweight division.

Jessica Eye vs. Julianna Pena announced for UFC 192

Bantamweight contender Jessica Eye (11-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) looks to rebound from her disappointing decision loss two weeks ago when she steps back into the cage on Oct. 3 at “UFC 192: Cormier vs. Gustafsson” in Houston, Texas. Eye is set to battle “TUF 18” winner Julianna Pena (6-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who has won back-to-back fights inside the octagon.

Eye debuted for the UFC in October 2013 and scored a huge victory over former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman, but the win was later overturned when Eye tested positive for marijuana metabolites. She has since dropped two of three fights against the bantamweight division’s elite, and most recently suffered a one-sided unanimous-decision loss to Miesha Tate at UFC on FOX 16 on July 25. The setback dropped Eye out of title contention for the time being, and she is in need of an impressive victory in October.

Pena has endured three serious knee injuries that have kept her on the sidelines for the better part of the past six years, but the 25-year-old persevered and became the first-ever female winner of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2013 when she stopped Jessica Rakoczy at the TUF 18 Finale. She was kept out of action for all of 2014 due to injuries and returned to the cage with a dominant first-round TKO win over Milana Dudieva at UFC Fight Night 63 in April. She now takes a step up in competition to face Eye, but a victory would vault Pena from prospect status into a legitimate contender at 135 pounds.

Quick results

Strawweight – Silvia Gonzalez (2-0) def. Carina Cabanas (0-1) via KO (punches) at the 24-second mark of Round 1 at “The Fight Club: Pilsen Submission MMA 3” on July 17 in Asuncion, Paraguay. 16-year-old Gonzalez picked up her second first-round knockout victory of the year by stopping Cabanas, who stepped into the fight as a short-notice replacement.

Flyweight – Mabelly Lima (2-0) def. Debora Oliveira (0-1) via unanimous decision at “Limo Fight Championship 16: Morada Nova” on July 17 in Morada Nova, Ceara, Brazil. Lima kept her unbeaten record intact with her second win under the Limo FC banner.

Flyweight – Kaline Medeiros (5-4) def. Sarah Payant (1-1) via submission (kimura) at the 3:24 mark of Round 1 at “Bellator 140: Lima vs. Koreshkov” on July 17 in Uncasville, Conn. Medeiros has won four of her past five fights and she is set to compete again on Sept. 11.

Featherweight – Zarah Fairn dos Santos (3-1) def. Liubov Belyakova (2-1) via TKO (punches) in Round 1 at W.I.N. Fighting Championship on July 18 in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Dos Santos has won back-to-back fights since returning to the sport in March.

Atomweight – Jenny Huang (2-0) def. Elena Pashnina (0-2) via split decision at “ONE Championship 29: Kingdom of Warriors” on July 18 in Yangon, Myanmar. Taiwan’s Huang made a successful atomweight debut with the three-round victory.

Strawweight – Silvania Monteiro (3-1) def. Caroline Silva (0-1) via submission (armbar) at the 2:32 mark of Round 1 at Corujao Fight on July 18 in Sao Joao Batista, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Monteiro made a quick return to action following a win in June and picked up her second straight victory via first-round armbar.

Flyweight – Polyana Viana Mota (5-1) def. Giselle Campos (3-2) via submission (armbar) at the 1:32 mark of Round 1 at Maraba Combat 1.0 on July 18 in Maraba, Para, Brazil. Viana Mota bounced back from the first loss of her pro career with the victory. She has finished her opponents in all five wins.

Atomweight – Jenna Serio (2-1) def. Rachel Sazoff (1-5) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at “Cage Fury Fighting Championships 50: Smith vs. Williams” on July 18 in Atlantic City, N.J. Serio got herself back on track with the victory after suffering her first defeat in January.

Bantamweight – Kelly Faszholz (2-0) def. Summer Bradshaw (2-3) via submission (guillotine choke) at the 1:55 mark of Round 3 at “Sparta Combat League 42: Evolution” on July 18 in Castle Rock, Colo. The stoppage win earned Faszholz the SCL women’s bantamweight title.

Flyweight – Aline Nery (4-5-1) def. Nayara Hemily (1-2) via unanimous decision at Favela Kombat 15 on July 19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was Nery’s first fight since September 2012 when she dropped a decision to current UFC contender Juliana de Lima Carneiro.

Atomweight – Jenny Silverio (3-1) def. Maria Lopez (0-4) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:06 mark of Round 1 at “Real Fighting Championships 34: It’s Time” on July 24 in Tampa, Fla. Silverio has won three straight fights since dropping a decision to unbeaten prospect Julia Jones in her February 2014 pro debut.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

Claudia Gadelha

What was originally thought to be a broken finger is actually a torn ligament for UFC women’s strawweight No. 1 contender Claudia Gadelha, whose title fight will have to wait for her recovery.

Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) hurt her left hand early in the first round of her UFC 190 bout with Jessica Aguilar (19-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) earlier this month. The Brazilian battled through the damage to take a dominant unanimous-decision win and to set up an anticipated rematch with reigning 115-pound champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

Gadelha hoped to book the fight as soon as possible. However, with the extent of the damage to her hand has now known, Gadelha won’t get her crack at UFC gold until at least January.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

“I partially tore a ligament in my middle finger,” Gadelha told Brazilian news outlet Combate. “The doctor gave me three months to be 100 percent and do anything with that hand. I will spend 20 days with my finger immobilized. I’m already feeling better. I can move it, but I will need three months to punch with this hand again, so I believe the fight could happen in January.”

Gadelha earned one of the most significant victories of her career when she defeated Aguilar to earn the title shot. Gadelha completely shut down the former WSOF titleholder to set up a second showdown with Jedrzejczyk.

The 26-year-old is just one fight removed from a bout with the champ, but she has an argument at being the best in the weight class. She suffered a split-decision loss to the current champion at UFC on FOX 13 in December for the first and only defeat of her career.

The catch, however, is that many believe Gadelha won the fight. Of the 14 media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com, 12 granted Gadelha the victory. The judges felt differently, though, and Jedrzejczyk had her hand raised and then moved on the capture the UFC title in her next bout.

Gadelha has been vocal about her desire to rematch the dangerous Polish striker. UFC President Dana White confirmed it will happen, but it looks as though Gadelha must get her health in order first.

For more on the UFC’s schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

In what could be history’s biggest night for women’s MMA, January’s UFC 195 event will apparently have a second title fight.

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will likely rematch Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in the co-headliner of the card. Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Holly Holm meet in the UFC 195 main event, as UFC officials announced earlier today.

UFC President Dana White then confirmed the Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha plans with the Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire (via Twitter), though the organization hasn’t made a formal announcement.

UFC 195 takes place Jan. 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The undefeated Jedrzejczyk looks for her second title defense after winning the belt form Carla Esparza and defending it with a recent TKO of Jessica Penne. Both bouts earned fight-night bonuses. Just prior to the pair of title fights, the 28-year-old Polish striker narrowly defeated Gadelha in late 2014. Most media outlets scored the fight for Gadelha (via MMADecisions.com).

Gadelha most recently rebounded from the Jedrzejczyk defeat with an impressive decision victory over former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190 earlier this month. The 26-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, who began her career in heavier weight classes,  was then promised a title shot in the post-fight press conference.

The latest UFC 195 card now includes:

• Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm – for women’s bantamweight title
• Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gadelha – for strawweight title

For more on UFC 195, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Claudia Gadelha

UFC 195 took one hit on Friday when Ronda Rousey’s UFC women’s bantamweight title defense against Holly Holm was moved up to UFC 193, and now it appears that the other women’s title fight scheduled for the card is in jeopardy.

UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is currently scheduled to defend her title on the card against Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in a rematch of their UFC on FOX 13 fight, which Jedrzejczyk won by controversial split decision. Gadelha knocked off Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190 to earn her shot at the championship.

UFC 195 takes place Jan. 2 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports stated that an attempt was made to move a bout between Jedrzejczyk and Valerie Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to UFC 193 as the co-main event to Rousey vs. Holm, but Letourneau wouldn’t be ready in time for the bout. Iole said on Twitter that Gadelha was injured and thus Letourneau entered the mix.

UFC officials confirmed to MMAjunkie they are currently exploring options for Jedrzejczyk.

“We are currently reviewing options for Joanna’s next defense,” a UFC official told MMAjunkie. “Valerie has been discussed if Claudia cannot compete due to injury.”

Letourneau defeated Maryna Moroz by unanimous decision at UFC 190 to run her winning streak to four.

A report by Globo states that the injury to Gadelha is a torn ligament in her middle finger.

For more on UFC 195, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Claudia Gadelha

Claudia Gadelha will be ready for a title fight with strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the challenger today assured.

As MMAjunkie previously reported, UFC officials are “reviewing options for Joanna’s next defense” since Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is reportedly nursing an injury, which could open the door for Valerie Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) to get the next shot at Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC).

Jedrzejczyk is currently slated to defend her title at UFC 195, which takes place Jan. 2 and airs on pay-per-view from MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The event recently lost a planned headliner between women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Holly Holm after it was moved up to UFC 193 on Nov. 14. The UFC also wanted to put Jedrzejczyk on the card, possibly against Letourneau since Gadelha is injured, according to Yahoo! Sports. Letourneau, though, reportedly also wouldn’t be ready, according to the report.

However, Gadelha today tweeted she “will be ready when Joanna is ready,” presumedly at UFC 193 or UFC 195.

According to Gadelha, she’s simply recovering from a finger injury suffered in her recent win over former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar (via Twitter):

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha first fought at UFC on FOX 13 fight in late 2014. Jedrzejczyk won via controversial split decision, though according to MMADecisions.com, nearly every major media outlet scored the fight for Gadelha.

The 26-year-old Brazilian rebounded from the loss with her dominant performance against Aguilar. UFC officials promised the winner would receive a title shot.

After the narrow Gadelha win, Jedrzejczyk went on to win the title from Carla Esparza and then defended it with a dominant performance against Jessica Penne. Both of the victories came via TKO, and the 28-year-old Polish fighter has garnered a strong fan following during her short title reign.

For more on UFC 193 and UFC 195, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) will meet Valerie Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) – not Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), as originally planned – at UFC 193.

UFC officials today announced the bout, which takes place Nov. 14 at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne and is expected to set a UFC attendance record. The main card, including a headliner between women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

The Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha rematch was initially expected to take place at UFC 195, and though the challenger is reportedly nursing a hand injury, she recently announced she’d be ready to fight Jedrzejczyk whenever the champ wanted.

UFC officials, though, ultimately decided to go a different direction. Now, the UFC has its first event with females in the headliner and co-headliner.

The undefeated Jedrzejczyk looks for her second title defense after winning the belt form Carla Esparza and defending it with a recent TKO of Jessica Penne. Both bouts earned fight-night bonuses. Just prior to the pair of title fights, the 28-year-old Polish striker, who’s quickly become one of the UFC’s biggest fan favorites, narrowly defeated Gadelha in late 2014, though most media outlets scored the fight for the Brazilian (via MMADecisions.com).

Letourneau enters the title fight with three consecutive UFC victories and an overall four-fight winning streak. The 32-year-old Canadian, who suffered a submission loss to vet Roxanne Modafferi in the elimination round of “The Ultimate Fighter 18,” signed with the UFC anyway. Most recently, she earned a unanimous-decision victory over Maryna Moroz.

The latest UFC 193 card now includes:

• Champ Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm – for women’s bantamweight title
• Champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau – for strawweight title
• Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva
• Michael Bisping vs. Robert Whittaker
• Akbarh Arreola vs. Jake Matthews
• Kyle Noke vs. Peter Sobotta
• Anthony Perosh vs. Gian Villante
• Ricardo Abreu vs. Daniel Kelly
• Steven Kennedy vs. Richard Walsh
• Jared Rosholt vs. Stefan Struve
• Brendan O’Reilly vs. William Macario
• Danny Martinez vs. Richie Vaculik
• Ryan Benoit vs. Ben Nguyen

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Paige VanZant

One of the UFC’s fastest rising female stars, Paige VanZant, picked up her fourth straight victory this past Saturday at UFC 191 in Las Vegas. The popular 21-year-old easily dispatched of “TUF 20” contestant Alex Chambers in strawweight action on the main card.

VanZant (6-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) kept Chambers (5-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) on the defensive throughout the one-sided fight by pinning her against the cage and landing numerous knees to the body and head. Chambers attempted a guillotine choke late in the opening round, but VanZant continued her dominance in Round 2. She first threatened with a rear-naked choke in a scramble on the ground, then dropped Chambers with strikes shortly before the bell.

Chambers, who indicated after the fight that she had sustained a knee injury in the second stanza, was very tentative at the beginning of Round 3. VanZant swarmed on her with punches and scored with a right hook and a knee. Chambers dropped levels and VanZant took advantage by locking on another rear-naked choke. She transitioned to an armbar and Chambers was forced to submit at the 1:01 mark of the third round.

VanZant maintains that she is still two years away from a title shot, but her soaring popularity and string of UFC victories may lead UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby to place VanZant in championship contention sooner than she has planned. VanZant has finished three of her past four opponents since suffering her lone career setback against Tecia Torres in early 2013.

Earlier on the UFC 191 card, Raquel Pennington (6-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) avenged a past loss by submitting Jessica Andrade (13-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) in a bantamweight rematch.

Andrade eked out a split-decision win in the pair’s first meeting at UFC 171 in March 2014, and she was very aggressive with her punches early in Round 1 of the rematch. Pennington escaped to her feet after having her back taken, and the fighters traded knees in the clinch, but Andrade finished the round strong with two more key takedowns.

Pennington countered kicks from Andrade in Round 2 by taking her down, but Andrade immediately attacked with her signature guillotine choke. The process repeated itself once more, and Pennington escaped from the choke for a second time. Just as Andrade tried to get back to her feet, Pennington trapped her in a tight rear-naked choke. Andrade attempted to hold out until the bell, but she was forced to tap out at the 4:58 mark of Round 2.

The crucial victory allowed Pennington to avenge one of her two split-decision setbacks in the UFC. She also dropped a close decision to upcoming title challenger Holly Holm at UFC 184.

Mizuki Inoue, Ji Yeon Kim victorious in Deep Jewels 9 title fights

Deep Jewels strawweight champion Mizuki Inoue (9-4) rebounded from a pair of defeats inside the Invicta FC cage by successfully defending her title on Aug. 29 in the Deep Jewels 9 headliner in Tokyo. Inoue earned her third victory over rival Emi Fujino (16-9) in an entertaining fight.

Inoue, who defeated Fujino under kickboxing rules in 2010 and again in a November 2013 MMA rematch at Deep Jewels 2, initiated a series of clinch battles early in the trilogy bout. She countered Fujino’s punching combinations by pinning her against the cage and used effective jabs to keep Fujino at a distance.

Fujino rushed forward with punches in the second stanza and Inoue fired back with more jabs and an elbow. Fujino took her down, but Inoue fought off a guillotine choke and she closed out the round with hammerfists from the top. In Round 3, Inoue picked Fujino apart with flurries to the body and head. The doctor was called in to check on Fujino’s swollen face, but action resumed and Inoue dominated the striking exchanges until the final bell.

All three judges scored the fight for Inoue, who retained her title with the much-needed win.

In the Deep Jewels 9 co-main event, undefeated Gladiator champion Ji Yeon Kim (4-0-2) captured her second MMA title belt by defeating veteran Takayo Hashi (15-6-1) in a rematch for the Deep Jewels bantamweight championship. The fighters had previously battled to a two-round unanimous draw at a Road FC event in March 2014.

Kim opened the action with stiff jabs and straight left hands, and she repeatedly thwarted Hashi’s efforts to take the fight to the ground. Hashi finally dragged Kim down to the mat in Round 2, but she could not keep her there for long and Kim stuffed more takedowns after the fight returned to the feet.

The final round began with an exchange of left hooks and Kim dropped Hashi with one of her best punches of the fight. She took Hashi’s back on the ground and later scored with ground and pound from the top until the final bell sounded.

The judges were united and all three scored the title fight for Kim. The South Korean rising star has won four straight fights since beginning her pro career with two draws against Japanese standouts Shizuka Sugiyama and Hashi.

Rounding out the MMA portion of the Deep Jewels 9 card, former interim strawweight champion Emi Tomimatsu (9-10) finished short-notice replacement opponent Natsuki Shimomakise (0-1) with an armbar in an atomweight bout. The technical submission stoppage came at the 2:43 mark of Round 1.

In a featured grappling bout, newcomer Natsumi Mukai upset Deep Jewels mainstay Megumi Sugimoto with a first-round kimura. The technical submission finish came at the 3:29 mark of the opening stanza.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Valerie Letourneau

Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends title against Valerie Letourneau at UFC 193

Undefeated UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) received a new date and opponent for her next title defense this past week. Jedrzejczyk, who was originally expected to face rival Claudia Gadelha in a rematch at UFC 195, instead battles bantamweight-turned-strawweight contender Valerie Letourneau (8-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at “UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm,” which takes place Nov. 15 (Nov. 14 with the time difference in the U.S.) in Melbourne, Australia.

UFC officials made the change due to concerns over Gadelha’s recovery time from a finger injury suffered in her dominant win over Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190. Gadelha is expected to be cleared to return by February, but she will have to wait until next year for her chance to avenge her contentious split-decision loss to Jedrzejczyk this past December.

Jedrzejczyk has quickly become one of the UFC’s most dominant champions. She captured the 115-pound title with a second-round knockout victory over Carla Esparza at UFC 185 and made a successful title defense in June when she stopped Jessica Penne in the UFC Fight Night 69 main event. In both fights, Jedrzejczyk dismantled the former Invicta FC champions on the feet.

Letourneau’s path to a title shot has been an unconventional one. After being eliminated in the opening round of “TUF 18” in 2013, Letourneau was brought back into the UFC on short notice after winning an easy fight outside of the promotion. She edged out Elizabeth Phillips at UFC 174 and then opted to make the move down from bantamweight to the strawweight division. Letourneau won her 115-pound debut by defeating “TUF 18” finalist Jessica Rakoczy at UFC 186 and most recently upset the previously unbeaten Maryna Moroz this past month.

The Jedrzejczyk-Letourneau strawweight title tilt serves as the co-main event for UFC 193, which is headlined by a UFC women’s bantamweight championship bout between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm.

Tecia Torres meets Michelle Waterson at UFC 194 in December

Michelle Waterson

Four weeks after Jedrzejczyk and Letourneau clash for the strawweight title, another pivotal 115-pound women’s bout takes place when highly-touted Tecia Torres (6-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) battles former Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson (13-4 MMA, 1-0 UFC) at “UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor,” which is set for Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.

Torres has rebounded well from her disappointing showing on “TUF 20” with back-to-back wins inside the octagon. She handily defeated veteran Angela Magana at the TUF 20 Finale and most recently outpointed fellow “TUF 20” alum Angela Hill at UFC 188 in June. Waterson relinquished her 105-pound Invicta FC title in December when she was submitted by Herica Tiburcio, but UFC officials chose to sign Waterson anyway and she made the most of the opportunity by finishing Magana with a third-round rear-naked choke at the TUF 21 Finale in July.

The winner of the bout between Torres and Waterson will likely find herself on a short list of strawweight title contenders alongside Claudia Gadelha, who returns to action next year.

Zoila Frausto returns to face Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger in RFA title fight

Zoila Frausto

Former Bellator women’s strawweight champion Zoila Frausto (12-4) makes her long-awaited return to MMA competition on Oct. 9 when she makes her promotional debut at RFA 31 in Las Vegas. Frausto moves back down to her former home at 115 pounds to face Jocelyn Jones-Lybarger (5-1) for the vacant RFA women’s strawweight title.

Frausto has not competed in MMA since December 2013 when she was defeated by veteran Brazilian contender Vanessa Porto at Invicta FC 7. The loss was Frausto’s third in a row after she had put together a seven-fight winning streak that led to her crowning as Bellator’s first and only women’s strawweight champion. Outside of MMA, Frausto has won back-to-back Muay Thai bouts, and she captured a world title in the process.

Jones-Lybarger does not yet hold the same notoriety as her opponent next month, but RFA fans have become familiar with the Phoenix native thanks to three straight victories inside the RFA cage. After picking up a pair of decision wins for the promotion this past year, Jones-Lybarger put herself in RFA title contention by defeating Maria Rios in February. She had planned to face Kinberly Novaes in a title eliminator this past month, but the fight was scrapped on relatively short notice when Novaes discovered that she was pregnant.

The vacant title fight between Frausto and Jones-Lybarger serves as the RFA 31 co-main event.

Quick results

Flyweight – Isabelle Pare (5-0-1) def. Amanda Lino (1-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 1:02 mark of Round 1 at Extreme Fighting Championship 43 on Aug. 27 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South African. Pare has finished three straight opponents in the first round. The French flyweight prospect is 4-0 in 2015.

Featherweight – Marloes Coenen (23-6) def. Arlene Blencowe (6-5) via submission (armbar) at the 3:23 mark of Round 2 at Bellator 141 on Aug. 28 in Temecula, Calif. Coenen controlled the action on the mat throughout the fight until she was able to secure a belly-down armbar for the tapout win. She has won two straight since signing with Bellator, but opponents remain scarce for Coenen as Bellator attempts to develop its 145-pound division.

Also on the Bellator 141 card, Adrienna Jenkins (19-6) def. Lissette Neri (6-3) via TKO (punches) at the 2:38 mark of Round 1 in a featherweight bout, and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (2-0) def. Maria Rios (2-3) via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) at flyweight.

Bantamweight – Priscila de Souza (9-6) def. Kessiny Mara (1-9) via submission (armbar) in Round 1 at Palmeira Fight 2 on Aug. 29 in Palmeira, Parana, Brazil. De Souza halted a two-fight losing skid with the first-round victory over Mara, who moved up in weight for the fight.

Catchweight (120) – Elsewhere on the Palmeira Fight 2 card, Ana Beatriz Mattos (1-0) def. Helaine Ribeiro (2-8) via unanimous decision. 19-year-old Mattos made a successful pro debut in the fight following a brief amateur career that included two stoppage wins.

Strawweight – Jamie Colleen (2-0) def. Danielle Taylor (5-1) via KO (punch) at the 1:47 mark of Round 4 at “King of the Cage: Bitter Rivals” on Aug. 29 in Ontario, Calif. Colleen, who returned to the cage for the first time since her February 2013 pro debut, captured the KOTC women’s strawweight title with the vicious knockout victory.

Flyweight – Cristina Stanciu (4-0) def. Iren Racz (4-3) via submission (triangle choke) at the 2:25 mark of Round 1 at Romanian Xtreme Fighting 19 on Aug. 31 in Galati, Romania. Stanciu has earned first-round finishes in three of her four wins to date and she made quick work of Racz, who was competing for the second time in nine days.

Lightweight – Gabrielle Holloway (5-3) def. Andria Wawro (3-3) via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) at “Camp Lejeune: For The Leathernecks 4” on Sept. 2 in Jacksonville, N.C. This bout was a rematch from the pair’s first meeting in August 2012, which Holloway won via technical decision when the bout was stopped in the third round. She once again prevailed in the rematch and captured the Camp Lejeune women’s lightweight title in the process.

Flyweight – Jingnan Xiong (6-1) def. Daria Chibisova (0-3) via unanimous decision at “Kunlun Fight 30: Muay Thai Night” on Sept. 4 in Zhoukou, Henan, China. Xiong bounced back from her first pro loss against Colleen Schneider in June with the convincing victory.

Catchweight (120) – Ana Leao (1-0) def. Leticia Lima (1-3) via TKO (punches) in Round 1 at Invictus Show Fight 1 on Sept. 4 in Benevides, Para, Brazil. Leao kicked off her pro career with a quick victory following a brief stint as an amateur.

Catchweight (139) – Eeva Siiskonen (3-3-1) and Melinda Fabian (1-1-1) fought to a unanimous draw after three rounds at Carelia Fight 11 on Sept. 5 in Imatra, South Karelia, Finland.

Strawweight – Silvania Monteiro (4-1) def. Ana Beatriz Melo (0-2) via unanimous decision at Arena Sul Fight 1 this past Saturday in Governador Celso Ramos, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Monteiro went the distance for the first time in her pro career and picked up her third straight win.

Catchweight (132) – Alejandra Lara (5-1) def. Janeth Alvarado (0-1-1) via TKO (retirement) at the 5:00 mark of Round 1 at Cage Fight Nights 6 on this past Saturday in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Lara rebounded from her first pro loss by capturing the CFN women’s 60kg title.

Bantamweight – Marciea Allen (5-2) def. Jan Finney (8-12) via unanimous decision at “Alpha Sports One: IT Fight Series 35” on this past Saturday in Springfield, Ohio. Allen has racked up back-to-back wins over veterans Carina Damm and Finney this year.

Atomweight – Julia Jones (4-0) def. Paulina Granados (2-2) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) at Rocks Xtreme MMA 17 on this past saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas. Jones is one of the fastest rising atomweight prospects in the sport today and she kept her undefeated pro record intact with her biggest victory to date over Granados, who made her long-awaited return to the cage following a two-year hiatus.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

The weigh-ins for next week’s UFC Fight Night 77 are set for Friday in Brazil and feature a star-studded Q&A and other fan events surrounding the scale proceedings.

UFC Fight Night 77 takes place Nov. 7 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo. Following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, the rest of the card airs on FOX Sports 1.

On the eve of the event, which features a middleweight trilogy fight in the headliner between Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson, fans are invited to Friday’s schedule of events.

The doors at Ibirapuera Gymnasium open to fans at 4 p.m. BRST local time (2 p.m. ET). The events include:

• 4:30 p.m. BRST: Meet-and-greet session with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Anthony Johnson, Claudia Gadelha and Brazilian Octagon Girls Jhenny Andrade, Camila Oliveira and Luciana Andrade.
• 6 p.m. BRST: Q&A with the Nogueira brothers, Johnson and Gadelha.
• 7 p.m. BRST: UFC Fight Night 77 weigh-ins
• 8 p.m. BRST: Screening of “Born to Fight” documentary on Ronaldo Souza.

The full UFC Fight Night 77 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX Sports 1, 10 p.m. ET)

• Vitor Belfort vs. Dan Henderson
• Patrick Cummins vs. Glover Teixeira
• Thomas Almeida vs. Anthony Birchak
• Piotr Hallmann vs. Alex Oliveira
• Gilbert Burns vs. Rashid Magomedov
• Corey Anderson vs. Fabio Maldonado

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Gleison Tibau vs. Abel Trujillo
• Yan Cabral vs. Johnny Case
• Clay Guida vs. Thiago Tavares
• Chas Skelly vs. Kevin Souza

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6:30 p.m. ET)

• Viscardi Andrade vs. Gasan Umalatov
• Pedro Munhoz vs. Jimmie Rivera
• Matheus Nicolau vs. Bruno Korea

For more on UFC Fight Night 77, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

SAO PAULO – Claudia Gadelha is eager to avenge her only career loss to UFC champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and she wants the opportunity regardless of whether the strawweight title is on the line.

Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) suffered a split-decision loss to Jedrzejczyk (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) at UFC on FOX 13 in December 2013 in what represents her lone career blemish. Twelve of 14 media outlets on MMADecisions.com scored the fight in Gadelha’s favor, and a rematch has appeared imminent ever since.

Jedrzejczyk is scheduled to put her title on the line against Valerie Letourneau at UFC 193 on Saturday in Melbourne, Australia. Gadelha believes the belt will stay put with the Polish fighter, but even if it doesn’t, she’s adamant she wants Jedrzejczyk to be her next opponent.

“I want to fight Joanna,” Gadelha told MMAjunkie. “Even if she loses the title, I don’t care about the title –I want to fight her. I think she will win the fight and the UFC said if she wins the fight and nothing happens to her, we will fight in February. I will fight her anywhere.”

Gadelha had expected to fight Jedrzejczyk following her unanimous decision victory over former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190 in August. Unfortunately, she suffered a hand injury in the contest and was not prepared in time for UFC 193.

The 26-year-old originally anticipated the matchup to take place in December or January, but when the UFC reshuffled its schedule and put two women’s title fights with Jedrzejczyk and Ronda Rousey on UFC 193, it altered the plans of everyone involved.

“Joanna, after her last injury, she said she was going to be ready in December or January; so I got hurt (at UFC 190) and I said I’ll be ready in December or January also,” Gadelha explained. “Then they brought her to November and I don’t know what happened because she said she’ll be ready in December or January, not November.

“For November was not going to be good for me because of my finger was hurt. So I think what happened was because they tried to bring her down to Ronda’s card and she said she was going to fight on that card even though she said before that she was not going to be ready. That’s it, that’s what I think happened.”

Gadelha is set to travel to Australia to witness Jedrzejczyk vs. Letourneau in person. She expects Jedrzejczyk to leave with the victory and if asked, she’ll gladly step in the octagon to immediately challenge her rival face-to-face.

“I think Joanna will win because Valerie, she lose a lot of weight and she lose a lot of performance in that division,” Gadelha said. “So I think Joanna can win that fight pretty easy.”

“My challenge for her is already on. She knows I want to fight her already anyways. I’ll make that happen anyways. Even if they don’t want to make that happen, I’ll make that happen. So if they want me to get inside the octagon and challenge her, I will.”

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(ALSO SEE: Joe Silva’s Shoes: What’s next for Ronda Rousey and UFC 193’s other losing fighters?)

Holly Holm stole the show at Saturday’s UFC 193 pay-per-view event when she upset and knocked Ronda Rousey out cold to win the women’s bantamweight title.

Pegged as a significant underdog (8-1 to 12-1 for most of fight week), Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) handled Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) from pillar to post before she ended the title fight with a second-round head-kick knockout to capture UFC gold.

Holm’s victory was the most notable outcome of the event, but other winners emerged, as well. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) defended her strawweight title in the co-main event while Mark Hunt (11-10-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC), Robert Whittaker (15-4 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Jared Rosholt (14-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) picked up noteworthy victories.

After every event, fans wonder whom the winners will be matched up with next. And with another night of UFC action in the rearview mirror, it’s time to look forward, put on a pair of Joe Silva and Sean Shelby’s shoes, and play UFC matchmaker for UFC 193’s winning fighters.

* * * *

Jared Rosholt

Ruslan Magomedov

Should fight: Ruslan Magomedov
Why they should fight: Rosholt added another win to his impressive UFC record, but unfortunately an impressive record only goes so far when you consistently fail to deliver memorable action. That was again the case in Rosholt’s unanimous-decision win over Stefan Struve.

Rosholt relied heavily on his wrestling ability to take the fight from Struve. Grappling is and will always be his strong point, but Rosholt needs to turn the corner with his striking if he hopes to compete with the elite of the heavyweight division.

Although Magomedov’s (14-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) UFC record is perfect, he’s won all of his bouts by decision and has shown a lack of killer instinct that top fighters in the heavyweight division display with regularity.

Rosholt and Magomedov are both facing the same problem that’s preventing them from taking a leap into title contention. Perhaps a matchup between the two would produce a breakout performance.

Robert Whittaker

Roan Carneiro

Should fight: Roan Carneiro
Why they should fight: Whittaker earned the biggest victory of his career when he outpointed Uriah Hall via unanimous decision to prove why he’s a threat in the UFC middleweight division.

“The Reaper” played Hall’s game for three rounds and won. Would he do the same against a high-level grappler such as Carneiro (20-9 MMA, 3-3 UFC)? It would be a much riskier proposition.

The matchup would be a classic clash of striker vs. grappler, and both men are capable of pulling the fight into their respective strengths and ending it there.

If Whittaker could get past a jiu-jitsu specialist like Carneiro, he would further validate his status as a top fighter in the division and potentially enter the title discussion.

Mark Hunt

Travis Browne

Should fight: Winner of Travis Browne vs. Matt Mitrione at UFC Fight Night 81
Why they should fight: After a pair of decisive losses, Hunt showed his gas tank has yet to run dry when he scored a first-round knockout of Antonio Silva in the rematch of their memorable December 2013 classic.

Hunt arrived in the octagon in the best shape of his UFC career, and the hard work showed in his performance. He clipped “Bigfoot” with a hard shot and finished the fight quickly to get back on track.

“The Super Samoan” can share the cage with any heavyweight on any day, and he’s going to make a fight of it. He said he thinks he’s capable of one more title run, and at 41, there’s no time to waste.

The winner of January’s UFC Fight Night 81 matchup between Browne (17-3-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) and Mitrione (9-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) would be an established opponent who could help move Hunt up the rankings. Moreover, there’s high potential for a big knockout, as is the case ever time Hunt enters the octagon.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Should fight: Claudia Gadelha
Why they should fight: After her record-setting beatdown of Letourneau to defend her strawweight title for the second time, Jedrzejczyk appears to have what it takes to rule the 115-pound division long into the future.

With that said, Jedrzejczyk’s most formidable challenge may come in her next title defense, which should be a rematch against rival Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha fought once before. They competed in a title eliminator at UFC on FOX 13 in December in a very close fight that Jedrzejczyk won by split decision. The victory moved her into the title bout, which led the Polish fighter to her current position as champion.

Gadelha has been declared the No. 1 contender to Jedrzejczyk’s belt on multiple occasions. It’s a matter of if, not when, it happens, and a few minor changes to Gadelha’s tactics could make her the next next strawweight titleholder.

Holly Holm

Should fight: Ronda Rousey
Why they should fight: Watch the video above for an explanation of why Holm should rematch Rousey for her first title defense.

For complete coverage of UFC 193, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Conor McGregor

In this week’s Twitter Mailbag, what happens if Conor McGregor loses at UFC 194? And if he can’t beat Jose Aldo, who in the world can?

We’ll also walk the fine line between getting pumped for future fights without jinxing them, and discuss the UFC’s plans for a new rehab facility that might require some arm-twisting to get fighters to visit.

Got a question of your own? Tweet it to @BenFowlkesMMA.

Honestly, I have to say that it’s McGregor who has the best chance of beating Aldo right now, if only by process of elimination. Look around the featherweight ranks. Who else is there who hasn’t already tried? Guys like Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, Ricardo Lamas, they’ve all had their shots at Aldo. At least McGregor represents a fresh challenge. He also happens to be the only person other than Aldo to beat Mendes, so he must know a thing or two about this fighting business.

As for what happens if the Great Irish Hope loses to the Brazilian Menace, then it might get tricky. McGregor is big business for the UFC right now. If he gets wrecked by Aldo, a lot of the air will leak out of that balloon. Still, McGregor’s appeal is built on his magnetic personality and his ability to drum up an interesting rivalry with just about anybody. If he loses to Aldo, he’ll just go pick on someone new. He might even do it in a new weight class.

I’ve heard a lot of theories to explain why Reebok has screwed up so big and so often on UFC gear. Intentional self-sabotage – the corporate equivalent of trying to get your significant other to dump you just so you don’t have to the do the dirty work – is a popular one. So is “trolling,” that term which seems to have become a catch-all for the Internet age.

It’s telling that so many people feel the need to come up with an elaborate explanation for this, but conspiracy theories tend to ignore the obvious answers. In this case, I think Reebok is so consistently getting it wrong because it doesn’t care enough to get it right. Its deal with the UFC apparently isn’t important enough to merit a closer inspection, and so products are consistently rushed to market before they’re ready. It’s a frantic sort of laziness, which is a great recipe for incompetence.

As for Giblert Melendez vs. Anderson Aldo? Well, let’s just say one of those sounds like a lethal combination of two great fighters. The other one sounds like the nerdy kid who gets picked on in an after-school special.

My answer to the first question is, depends who wins. Paige VanZant seems like a commodity that the UFC has invested in, much more so than Rose Namajunas at this point. That’s a little baffling to me since a) when it comes to experience and raw skill, they don’t seem so far apart, and b) as someone who has interviewed and written abut them both, I can tell you right now that Namajunas is the more interesting personality, and it’s not even close.

The big difference between them, at least in the eyes of UFC executives, seems to be sheer, overwhelming blondeness. Which, fine, whatever. But if Namajunas beats PVZ, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the UFC give her the next title shot after Claudia Gadelha gets another chance against champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. If VanZant wins, however, I’d expect to see the UFC take it slow and build her up a little more first.

That leads to your second question. Are either Namajunas or VanZant ready for Jedrzejczyk? Probably not. Few people outside of Gadelha can say that they are. And if Jedrzejczyk retains her title? Well, remember what her last two opponents have looked like after a few rounds in the cage with her? If your primary interest in VanZant is her pretty face – sorry, I mean “it factor” – and the money that face brings, you’d be wise to keep it as far from Jedrzejczyk’s fists as you can.

Um, because it’s awesome? Because it feels like an old school fight, but in a new school way? In Demian Maia and Gunnar Nelson we have two great jiu-jitsu practitioners who have also become pretty great MMA fighters. We also have a fight that suddenly feels extremely relevant to the welterweight title picture. So yeah, you put stylistic fun together with divisional importance, you can’t help but get all …

That seems like an oversimplification of the Northcutt clan’s position on the Tristar gym in Montreal. From what I’ve read, Sage Northcutt’s dad didn’t want to leave him there for too long, away from home and out of his usual training comfort zone before his fight with Cody Pfister, which makes some sense to me. Northcutt has said he plans to go back to Tristar after this fight, and clearly there are some great minds and great fighters up there to learn from.

But in general, having a family member so involved in your fight career can be double-edged sword. Ask anyone from Floyd Mayweather to Duke Roufus, the latter of whom recently explained to MMAjunkie why fighting is “a tough thing to do as a family sometimes.”

On one hand, family is comfortable. You can trust family (or at least, you’d like to think so, depending on who your family happens to be). I know I trust my dad, and even when I disagree with him I never have any doubt that his advice is based on nothing other than his understanding of my best interests. That’s not always true with a coach or a manager. They might have ulterior motives, or they might just have too many other fighters to worry about.

But those deep emotional bonds that come with familial relationships can also hinder you. If things aren’t working out with a coach or manager, you can say so. But how do you tell your dad that you don’t want him involved in your career anymore? What’s that going to be like around the dinner table come Christmas?

If I were the UFC, I wouldn’t worry one bit about Benson Henderson going to a regional organization like Road FC or ONE. I would, however, want to keep him out of Bellator, which could put a fighter like him to good use right about now. At the same time, if I were Henderson, I’d want to see that $200,000 from Road FC upfront, and in cash money.

At this point, Daniel Cormier is going to look for any possible excuse to needle Jon Jones about absolutely anything. Call it a relationship dynamic. These are the two guys who couldn’t even stop bickering with one another during the lull in a satellite interview. So of course Cormier is going to find some way to turn a positive into a negative when talking about Jones’ newly jacked physique.

Does he believe it? That’s the question. After the way the first fight went, Cormier has to find some way to convince himself that the rematch will be significantly different. That’s not easy. Whether he’s trying to get in Jones’ head or his own, the psychological barrier to victory is one Cormier has to find some way around.

Thanks a lot, man. Guess it’s only a matter of time until we hear that Chris Weidman had a safe dropped on his head right before Luke Rockhold came down with dengue fever. You happy now? Or do you want to go ahead and tell us how awesome the main card fight between Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza is, just so they can both slip on the same banana peel during their walk to the scales next Friday?

The UFC calls its fighters independent contractors, but by almost any existing definition, they aren’t. They ought to be considered employees, and if the matter were ever brought before the IRS, I think the UFC would have a hard time arguing otherwise.

At the same time, the UFC’s effort to address the injury epidemic in MMA is laudable. Sure, it doesn’t sound so great to claim that you’ll have to “twist some arms” to get your fighters to play along, but this is one of those instances when fighters should want to play along.

But we should be wary any time we hear UFC executives saying that what they’re doing is “no different than if you played for a professional sports team.” That’s an argument the UFC makes very selectively. Talk about the degree of control management can exert on the athletes, and you’ll hear all about what other major pro sports leagues do. You start talking money and revenue splits, however, then suddenly UFC executives want you to know that they aren’t the NFL or NBA. Funny how that works, isn’t it?

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

LAS VEGAS – A rematch between UFC strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha is in the works, UFC President Dana White confirmed following Thursday’s UFC Fight Night 80 event.

White did not mention a timetable for the bout, which was in the works for this past month’s UFC 193 pay-per-view event before a hand injury scratched Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), but he said the Brazilian-born Gadelha is “ready to go.”

Now, the only thing holding her up may be Jedrzejczyk’s (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) hand, which was surgically repaired after she defeated Valerie Letourneau at the Nov. 15  event.

The champ dominated Letourneau over five rounds to secure her second title defense but didn’t emerge unscathed.

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha first met in a non-title fight at UFC on FOX 13 in 2014, with Jedrzejczyk taking a split decision. Although Gadelha faired well early in the fight, she tired in later rounds as Jedrzejczyk rallied.

In recent interviews, Gadelha said she felt she had won the bout and relished a rematch with the current champion, regardless of whether she held the belt. Even before UFC 193, she said she had recovered and was ready to take on Jedrzejczyk.

Now, she’ll get her wish.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk isn’t necessarily keen on facing Claudia Gadelha in her next title defense.

The UFC women’s strawweight champ told MMAjunkie Radio she thinks the top Brazilian contender needs to jump one more hurdle before they face each other in a rematch.

But she can certainly understand why Gadelha is game.

“Everybody wants to fight with the champion,” Jedrzejczyk told MMAjunkie. “Better money, better exposure. But you know, man, she did one fight in 2015. I think she should have one more fight, and then we’ll see what’s going to happen.

“If it’s going to be Claudia next, I don’t mind,” she added. “I’m already champ. That’s all I can say.”

Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC), who recently underwent surgery for her second hand injury this year, had just woken up when she heard the news that the UFC expects Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) to be her next title challenge, so she didn’t want to give an official reaction before hearing from the promotion.

The strawweights first met one year ago at UFC on FOX 13 in what was the second octagon fight for both. The bout had immediate title implications, with the highly hyped Gadelha expected to get a shot at then-champ Carla Esparza with a win. However, Jedrzejczyk dropped Gadelha early and resisted efforts to grapple before winning a split decision.

Since then, Gadelha has claimed she won the fight. But Jedrzejczyk said her opponent should just let it go.

“How many times do we have split decisions? So many times,” she said. “But I won this fight, and she should stop complaining about it. But I’m a different fighter. It’s been 12 months, and I’m a different fighter.

“I’m on a different level right now. Of course, Gadelha, she’s still No. 1 ranked, and I’m on top. But that’s all. She’s a tough opponent.”

Gadelha’s success in the first bout came from using her size and strength to bully Jedrzejczyk, denying her the opportunity to use the striking skills that have won several kickboxing titles. A rematch could see a similar approach from the challenger, but Jedrzejczyk said she’ll be ready.

“I’m still getting better,” she said. “I just started. (The UFC) just gave me a chance.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo

In this week’s Twitter Mailbag, we look at rumors of a rift between Conor McGregor and the UFC brass, plus insinuations that Jose Aldo and other Brazilian fighters have been harmed more by USADA testing than by their opponents.

Also, now that movement coaching is all the rage, who should be the next fighter to get himself chased around by a dude with a broom? And what’s up with these heavyweights at UFC on FOX 17 this Saturday? All that, plus many other very, very important questions.

You can ask a question of your own by firing it off to @BenFowlkesMMA on Twitter.

* * * *

@benfowlkesMMA since the UFC implemented their new drug testing program, every Brazilian champion has lost their belt. Coincidence?

—
Tony Shuck (@shuckystyle) December 17, 2015

By “every Brazilian champion,” you mean one guy: Jose Aldo. He’s the only Brazilian champion who has lost a UFC title since July 1, 2015, when the USADA testing program went into effect. And he lost that title in 13 seconds, via one-punch knockout. It’s not like he gassed out in a grueling fight or even fought long enough for us to see any change in his skills or abilities. He got punched and he fell down. That’s it.

Just generally, we need to stop doing the thing where we try to identify broad, damning trends that have developed in the slightly less than six months that the USADA program has been in place. At the very least, we need to hit the pause button until we have a larger sample size. This thing hasn’t been in play long enough for us to know what the effects will be. Although, of course, that clearly won’t stop us from speculating.

@benfowlkesMMA Have the UFC brass created a monster they can't control in McGregor? And if so, how happy does that make you?

—
Logan Smith (@LoganasaurusRex) December 16, 2015

According to UFC President Dana White, rumors of a rift between McGregor and the UFC brass are all a creation of the “hair dresser media.” (Shows what he knows; hairdressers have to have licenses and skills, unlike MMA media.) At the same time, there’s a lot of smoke for there to be no fire here.

Even if there’s not an actual rift, at this point McGregor is a big enough star that he can call his own shots. That hasn’t happened a whole lot in the UFC. It’s happened even less in instances in which the potential shot-caller actually seems inclined to do so.

If it makes me happy, it’s only because I like to see fighters getting what they’ve earned. We talk a lot about the low pay for fighters on the undercard, but it’s the superstars like McGregor who are actually underpaid. He’s bringing in huge sums of money for the UFC, and these days he could do it more or less by himself. What’s more, he seems to realize that. He seems willing to flex the muscle he has, which is what it’s going to take for fighters to get more control over their careers and their finances.

But really, this is the kind of fighter whom the UFC brass has claimed to want at various points over the years. A fighter who understands this business, one whose ambitions stretch beyond one weight class and into superstar legend territory, a fighter who realizes that you only get a short time in this game, so you’d better make all the money you can, while you can. How often have we heard White wishing out loud for just such a fighter?

Now he’s got one. If there’s no rift whatsoever, I don’t see why he wouldn’t be absolutely thrilled about it.

@benfowlkesMMA people keep mentioning Rockhold fighting with staph and how tough he is, but wasn't this putting Weidman at risk?

—
Justin Gause (@justinlg) December 17, 2015

Not really. Luke Rockhold said he’d had a staph infection during training camp, and had been on antibiotics up until the fight. Generally, staph stops being contagious shortly after the antibiotic treatment begins. The real danger was to Rockhold’s teammates, who might have shared mat space with him before he recognized and treated his infection.

Side note: As someone who has had a grappling-related staph infection, let me say that it’s no fun at all. Even if you treat it right away, the strong antibiotics doctors usually prescribe for it can be really tough on the stomach. And if you don’t treat it right away, perhaps because you’re in denial about what it is, let’s just say you’re only making the eventual medical intervention much, much worse.

@benfowlkesMMA Did you go total James brown mental when Gunni and Maia hit the ground? https://t.co/qfsyidQq0a

—
BombergianJokerFace (@AcidHaze) December 16, 2015

@benfowlkesMMA Why is at always so empty during the prelims? Who buys a ticket and only watches main card? Or am I missing something? Splain

—
Carl S (@NightOneMMA) December 16, 2015

On a UFC TV broadcast, you usually only get a good view of the seats at cageside. Particularly at Las Vegas pay-per-view events, these seats are often reserved for VIPs, casino comps, the guy from the Red Hot Chili Peppers with the ill-advised mustache, etc. If they don’t belong to famous people, these seats were likely purchased by rich people, who may feel like they have other things to do in Vegas than watch Court McGee fight in the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

@benfowlkesMMA who will be (or SHOULD be) the next fighter to use ido portal?

—
Chase McGeary (@chasemcgeary) December 16, 2015

We’re talking about the guy with the yoga teacher hairdo who chased McGregor around with a broomstick at open workouts, right?

Look, I’m not saying that “movement coaches” can’t be helpful, or that a lot of fighters in MMA couldn’t stand to do more non-contact training, particularly as fight time nears. What I am saying is that Gunnar Nelson was right there with McGregor for all that movement training, and it didn’t save him.

I suspect that, if McGregor’s movement training is fueling his success, it’s for the same reasons that eating ice cream before bed helped Rickey Henderson steal bases. When you’re already great at what you do, you can make a lot of unconventional training methods seem genius.

As for who should be next to bring in a movement coach, well, if UFC Fight Pass had a show that was just Ido Portal, Mark Hunt and a broomstick, you better believe I’d watch it.

@benfowlkesMMA Overeem and JDS are about to finally collide after 3 years of waiting. Does the winner get the winner of Cain/Verdum? #TMB

—
Vern Russell (@lynn_lruss1980) December 16, 2015

It’s actually a little closer to four years than three since these two were first scheduled to scrap, but man, am I the only one to whom it feels like much, much longer?

Back in the spring of 2012, when Alistair Overeem’s drug-test failure knocked him out of a UFC heavyweight title bout against then-champion Junior dos Santos, we were living in very different times.

For instance, the scourge of testosterone-replacement therapy was still alive and well. That’s how we got the great cosmic joke of Overeem being pulled from the bout due to unauthorized testosterone use, only to have Frank Mir step in and fight JDS with the help of sanctioned testosterone use.

Also back then, Anderson Silva was the UFC middleweight champ while Georges St-Pierre (and also Carlos Condit) as the UFC welterweight champ. McGregor was just a guy who Irish people wanted the UFC to hurry up and sign, and Dos Santos was still up one fight to nothing against Cain Velasquez.

What happens to the winner of this fight probably depends, at least in part, on who the winner of the other fight is. If Velasquez ends up with the title and Dos Santos ends up with a win over Overeem, I suspect the UFC will take a closer look at that upcoming bout between Stipe Miocic and Andrei Arlovski at UFC 195.

If Werdum keeps the belt, however, that could be very good news for JDS, who has a win over the current champ from back in the days when Dos Santos still had hair.

In other words, the distant future at heavyweight is subject to what happens in the near future. And if you think you can guess how it’s going to go, just look at how weird the recent past was.

@benfowlkesMMA it's a bad year for ufc Champs...think it's a good thing for cowboy? #TMB

—
chucky (@chucky50187) December 16, 2015

It very well might be. Donald Cerrone has been forced into his version of hibernation, waiting for this bout since May, when he usually prefers to fight every few weeks. If he can make that work for him by showing up fresh and hungry, I think he stands a very good chance of taking the lightweight title from Rafael dos Anjos.

If, however, all that extra time to dwell on the fight ends up hampering his mental game, he could be in for a rough night. All I know for sure is that if Cerrone is ever going to capture a UFC belt, the time, as they say, is now.

@benfowlkesMMA How should the UFC's Muslim and Mexican fighters take Dana's endorsement of Trump?

—
Jay Flatiron (@jayflatiron) December 16, 2015

Honestly, once I saw what White actually said about Donald Trump, it seemed to me like “endorsement” was maybe not the right word for that situation. It wasn’t so much White saying that Trump was a brilliant man who’d make a great president. Instead, it was more like White saying that he doesn’t love any particular candidate but Trump was nice to him and helped him out so, fine, he’ll vote for that guy.

True, if I were, say, a Muslim fighter from Dagestan, I might be rooting against the guy who wants to keep me out of the U.S. based on my religion. Then again, I’m not sure you need to be in one of the many groups targeted by Trump to be against the guy.

Still, so what? You and your boss don’t have to agree on who should be president. In fact, I might even say that workers opposing the preferred political candidates of the rich people who employ them is the American way.

@benfowlkesMMA if you're the UFC's matchmaker who do you give Joanna Champion next? Gadelha, Thug Rose, or long shot in Markos/KK winner?

—
Nate Jim Lahey (@BurgersMMA) December 16, 2015

Claudia Gadelha has earned that UFC women’s strawweight fight. As soon as Joanna Jedrzejczyk is healthy enough to fight, those two should do it again in what might very well be the most competitive women’s 115-pound title fight we’ve seen yet. After that? That’s where it gets tricky.

Rose Namajunas seems like the rising star in the division, especially after her one-sided win over Paige VanZant. But Namajunas is still officially just 4-2 as a professional, with her last two UFC wins coming against similarly inexperienced opposition. In short, it seems like “Joanna Champion” might murder Namajunas right now, which makes you want to wait until she can get a little more seasoning.

But what are we supposed to do in the meantime? That’s the hard part, because you look around that strawweight division right now and you see a lot of inexperienced, still relatively raw fighters populating the top 10. It doesn’t make sense to promote lower-ranked fighters ahead of someone like Namajunas just because we want to make the most of her chances. At the same time, if the 23-year-old “Thug Rose” goes out there and gets smashed before she can even come into her prime, watching from our couches might not be such an enjoyable experience.

@benfowlkesMMA Do you think last week's weight cutting fatality will help wake up athletic comms and maybe some fighters to these dangers?

—
Nick Jenkins (@ngjenkins) December 16, 2015

It might have an effect on athletic commissions, at least the ones that are paying attention. But then, that in itself is a pretty short list, and some of those commissions – most notably California – are already hip to the dangers of extreme weight cuts.

As for whether it will be a wake-up call for fighters, sadly, I doubt it. It’s not that fighters don’t know how dangerous weight-cutting can be. It’s just that many of them thinks it’s dangerous for other people, but not for them.

Just look at these two tweets from recently retired lightweight Nick Newell, who’s about as reasonable and introspective fighter as you’ll find in this sport (as evidenced by his explanation for his early retirement).

Cutting weight, not unlike getting hit in the head a bunch, is something that fighters know to be dangerous. But so much of the fighter mindset is on disregarding danger and silencing doubts that it’s sometimes hard for them to even get themselves to believe that they’re facing the same risks as everyone else. Ideally, that’s why you have athletic commissions, to help protect them from themselves to some extent. You know, ideally.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @BenFowlkesMMA. Twitter Mailbag appears every Thursday on MMAjunkie.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

UFC women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk said she is “99 percent” likely to coach the 23rd edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” opposite rival Claudia Gadelha.

Speaking on Monday to Polish MMA outlet MMARocks.pl, Jedrzejczyk stopped short of confirming the news. But “TUF 20” vet Tecia Torres later backed the report, recently telling fans she heard the strawweight rivals will coach against each other on the reality show.

In an email to MMAjunkie, a UFC official declined comment on the show’s casting. If confirmed, the coaches would mark the first time women’s strawweights have coached on the long-running reality series, which just wrapped up its 22nd season featuring now-featherweight champion Conor McGregor and popular ex-champ Urijah Faber.

In previous interviews, Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) welcomed a coaching spot on “TUF,” though a rematch with Gadelha wasn’t at the top of her list. She said Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) needs one more win to cement her status as the No. 1 contender.

But Jedrzejczyk’s timeline doesn’t match with UFC President Dana White, who said Gadelha will be the next challenger to Jedrzejczyk’s title.

Jedrzejczyk defeated Gadelha via split decision one year ago at UFC on FOX 13 to become the No. 1 strawweight contender. Since then, the Polish champ has run roughshod over the division, stopping Carla Esparza to win the title and defending it twice in bouts opposite Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau.

Torres, who recently picked up her third UFC win, is also in the hunt for a title at 115 pounds. But she also noted the options for women in the UFC will not expand as expected.

Torres said plans to promote a women’s flyweight division are now on hold. The news comes on the heels of Holly Holm’s stunning upset of women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey, which opened up new options for bantamweights such as Miesha Tate, who was promised a title shot only to see the UFC choose Holm.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Claudia Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk

For just the second time in the history of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series female coaches will take the helm for two teams of up-and-coming fighters.

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and rival Claudia Gadelha will coach “The Ultimate Fighter 23,” which will feature women’s strawweight and men’s light-heavyweight competitors.

“TUF 23” was announced during tonight’s UFC Fight Night 81 broadcast and will air on FOX Sports 1. The premier date has yet to be announced.

Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) will serve as just the second set of female coaches on the shows long history after ex-UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate faced off in the competition on Season 18 in 2013.

Although there have been plenty of international seasons of the show, “TUF 23” will mark the first time two non-American fighters coach the U.S.-based version of the series. Jedrzejczyk hails from Poland while Gadelha was born in Brazil.

The stint as coaches will set up a championship rematch between Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha for The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale on July 8 in Las Vegas. The fight has been in the making for some time after they first met at UFC on FOX 13 in December 2014, where Jedrzejczyk won a narrow split decision to jumpstart her run toward the UFC belt.

Gadelha has been pining for a rematch ever since the lone defeat of her career. She dominated former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190 in August and had hoped to fight Jedrzejczyk soon after, but a finger injury derailed her plans.

Jedrzejczyk instead fought Valerie Letourneau at UFC 193 in November, who she beat by unanimous decision for her second successful 115-pound title defense. Unfortunately, Jedrzejczyk suffered a hand injury of her own that required surgery and put her on the sidelines until later this year.

With the champion forced to recover from injury it opened the door to step in as coaches for “TUF 23.” More information regarding the cast of fighters set to compete on the show is expected in the coming weeks.

For more on the UFC’s schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is set for her next title defense, and it comes against a familiar foe.

On July 8 at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale in Las Vegas, the unbeaten Polish star faces Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Claudia Gadelha in a much-anticipated rematch from the pair’s initial meeting in late 2014.

Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) engaged in a closely contested bout at UFC on FOX 13 that ended in a split-decision victory for Jedrzejczyk, who went on to capture the UFC strawweight title from Carla Esparza this past March. She destroyed Jessica Penne in June and most recently defeated Valerie Letourneau at UFC 193 in November.

Gadelha rebounded from her razor-thin loss to Jedrzejczyk by putting herself right back into title contention with a big victory back in August. Facing off against former WSOF champion Jessica Aguilar, Gadelha dominated the action from bell to bell en route to a clear-cut unanimous-decision win. She then set her sights on avenging the lone defeat of her career.

Before Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha square off in July, they’ll first serve as opposing coaches on “The Ultimate Fighter 23.” Each woman leads a team composed of male light heavyweights and female strawweights, and the season will crown two new “TUF” winners.

“TUF 23” debuts April 20 on FOX Sports 1 and culminates with the main event championship rematch between Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha in July.

‘Cyborg,’ Souza win quickly at Invicta FC 15

Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino

After once again abandoning plans to move down to 135 pounds, Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane Justino kept her streak of first-round finishes intact with a vicious knockout victory on Jan. 16 at Invicta FC 15 in Costa Mesa, Calif. The hard-hitting “Cyborg” stopped Daria Ibragimova late in the opening round of their main-event matchup.

Justino (15-1) battered Ibragimova (9-2) with punches, knees and elbows on the feet while fighting off a series of takedown attempts from the Russian challenger. Ibragimova’s strategy finally yielded success in the form of a brief takedown, but Justino quickly returned to her feet and floored Ibragimova with a big right hook. A dazed Ibragimova tried to tap out as Justino finished her off with punches at the 4:58 mark of Round 1.

In spite of her latest dominant victory, options for future fights remain very limited for Justino, who has officially given up on the idea of cutting down to bantamweight. Invicta FC’s featherweight division lacks top-tier challengers, and the UFC appears to be less and less open to bringing Justino in for non-title catchweight bouts. Her best option for the future may be with Bellator, which continues to develop its 145-pound women’s division.

In the Invicta FC 15 co-feature, charismatic strawweight champion Livia Renata Souza (9-0) needed just 90 seconds to retain her 115-pound title. Souza finished previously undefeated contender DeAnna Bennett (8-1) with a devastating kick to the body in what was arguably the champ’s most impressive performance to date.

Following an early exchange of strikes on the feet, Souza landed a nice right hook and followed with a liver kick that dropped Bennett. Unable to move or defend, Bennett ate a series of follow-up punches from Souza, and the fight was waved off at the 1:30 mark. Souza, who earned a “Performance of the Night” bonus for her efforts, hopes to move on to the UFC in the near future, and she endeared herself to fans following her quick victory by showcasing her wit and humor in a light-hearted interview.

Stepping in on short notice, Colleen Schneider (10-6) picked up a key victory over Raquel Pa'aluhi (5-5) in a potential Invicta FC bantamweight title-eliminator. Schneider opened a cut above Pa’aluhi’s left eye with punches and elbows in Round 1, and she attempted a rear-naked choke before the bell. Pa’aluhi pinned Schneider against the fence in Rounds 2 and 3, and scored multiple takedowns, but Schneider continued to target her damaged eye with jabs.

Pa’aluhi’s facial cuts and swelling may have influenced the judges, who awarded a close split-decision victory to Schneider with scores of 29-28 twice and 28-29. She has won four straight bouts and may challenge for Invicta FC’s bantamweight title in the coming months.

Elsewhere on the Invicta FC 15 card, top atomweight contender Amber Brown (6-1) submitted late replacement Shino VanHoose (4-4). Brown countered a takedown by trapping VanHoose in a guillotine choke on the way down. She tightened her grip on the choke, and VanHoose was forced to submit at the 2:36 mark of Round 1. Brown is now expected to move on to face Invicta FC atomweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki later in 2016.

Deep Jewels strawweight champion Mizuki Inoue (10-4) made a successful return to the Invicta FC cage by submitting veteran Lacey Schuckman (11-9) in an entertaining battle. Inoue attacked with armbars and rear-naked chokes in the first two rounds, but Schuckman escaped and countered with an inverted triangle choke. Inoue mounted Schuckman in the final round and used punches to set up a fight-ending armbar at the 3:41 mark of Round 3. The impressive finish earned Inoue a “Performance of the Night” bonus.

The third and final performance bonus on the Invicta FC 15 card went to “TUF 20” contestant Angela Hill (3-2), who demolished Alida Gray (4-3) in a strawweight fight. Hill battered Gray with punches and dropped her for good with a knee to the body at the 1:39 mark of Round 1.

In the Invicta FC 15 “Fight of the Night,” Megan Anderson (5-2) overcame early danger and finished Amber Leibrock (1-1) late in their featherweight showdown. Both women landed huge shots in Round, 1 and Leibrock rocked her opponent, but Anderson came on strong as the fight progressed and stopped Leibrock with punches and knees at the 2:33 mark of Round 3.

Ham vs. Rawlings rebooked for UFC Fight Night 85

Seo Hee Ham

Former Deep Jewels atomweight champion Seo Hee Ham seeks her second straight UFC victory when she steps back into the octagon on March 20 at “UFC Fight Night 85: Hunt vs. Mir” in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Ham is set to face off against hometown star Bec Rawlings in a featured strawweight matchup on the card.

Ham (16-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and Rawlings (6-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) were initially slated to meet at UFC Fight Night 65 this past May, but Ham was forced to withdraw due to a nasal fracture, and Rawlings went on to easily defeat Lisa Ellis. Rawlings was sidelined for the remainder of 2015 after suffering a stress fracture in the neck of her femur. Ham returned from her injury and earned her first UFC win by edging Cortney Casey at UFC Fight Night 79 in November.

Inoue, Yamaguchi added to Deep Jewels 11 card

Mizuki Inoue

Fresh off of her Invicta FC 15 victory earlier this month, Deep Jewels strawweight champion Mizuki Inoue (10-4) is set to compete again on March 6 at Deep Jewels 11 in Tokyo. Inoue faces talented kickboxer Nori Date (0-1) in a non-title strawweight bout.

Inoue made the first defense of her Deep Jewels title this past August, when she outpointed veteran Emi Fujino in a competitive trilogy fight. The victory got her back on track following a pair of setbacks in the Invicta FC cage, and Inoue kept the momentum going by submitting Lacey Schuckman at Invicta FC 15. She holds a significant edge in experience over her Deep Jewels 11 opponent, but 17-year-old Nori surprised many by engaging in a closely contested bout with Fujino in November that ended with Fujino eking out a narrow decision victory.

Also confirmed for the Deep Jewels 11 card is an atomweight bout between Inoue’s teammate, top Japanese prospect Yukari Yamaguchi (1-0), and Nori’s Team Date stablemate, Hana (1-0). Yamaguchi has followed in her teammate’s footsteps by capturing multiple titles in shoot boxing, and she also claimed the prestigious J-Girls mini flyweight championship in a November kickboxing match. The 17-year-old won her pro MMA debut this past June, and she’s arguably Japan’s brightest female prospect. Hana transitioned from kickboxing to MMA this t past year and impressed onlookers by dominating Pan Hui in a one-sided fight at Deep Jewels 10.

In other confirmed atomweight bouts at Deep Jewels 11, Mina Kurobe (5-2) faces Renju Date (0-0), and the aforementioned Hui (1-1) takes on Real Date (0-0). Natsumi Sugie meets Kana Inamura in a 46kg amateur MMA bout, and Tomo Maesawa battles highly-touted prospect Natsumi Mukai in a strawweight grappling match.

The latest Deep Jewels 11 additions join a previously announced atomweight contender’s bout between former interim strawweight champ Emi Tomimatsu (10-10) and Saori Ishioka (13-8).

Quick results

Featherweight – Jessica Miele (5-2) def. Jamie Driver (0-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 2:01 mark of Round 2 at “Reality Fighting: Mohegan Sun” on Jan. 2 in Uncasville, Conn.

Catchweight (130) – Also on the Reality Fighting card, Janice Meyer (1-2) def. Sarah Payant (1-2) via split decision.

Strawweight title – Jamie Colleen (3-0) def. Calie Cutler (4-3) via TKO (punches) at the 1:24 mark of Round 5 at “King of the Cage: Thunder & Lightning” on Jan. 8 in Carlton, Minn.

Catchweight (128) – Jin Tang (24-8-4) and Karla Benitez (13-8-1) fought to a majority draw (30-28, 29-29, 29-29) at “Kunlun Fight 36: All-Star Festival” on Jan. 9 in Shanghai, China.

Catchweight (141) – Melinda Fabian (2-1-1) def. Paulina Borkowska (0-3) via submission (Ezekiel choke) at the 2:52 mark of Round 2 at “Professional League of MMA 62/AFC 6: Wyszkow” on Jan. 9 in Wyszkow, Poland.

Flyweight title – Katlyn Chookagian (6-0) def. Isabelly Varela (7-1) via unanimous decision (50-42, 50-42, 50-44) at “CFFC 55: Chookagian vs. Varela” on Jan. 9 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Catchweight (121) – Vy Srey Chai (2-1) def. Khadja Aiyada Verpoest (0-1) via KO (punch) in Round 2 at “Full Metal Dojo 8: Return of the Mack” on Jan. 10 in Phuket, Thailand.

Strawweight – Bharti Dhoundyal (1-1) def. Kirti Rana (1-2) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 3:30 mark of Round 2 at “BodyPower: India Open MMA Championships 2016” on Jan. 10 in Mumbai, India.

Strawweight title – Emily Ducote (1-1) def. Ronni Lawrence (0-3) via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-45, 50-45) at “OKC Fight Night: Charity Fight Night 2016” on Jan. 14 in Oklahoma City, Okla.

Featherweight – Zamzagul Fayzallanova (1-0) def. Jojua Liana (1-1) via unanimous decision at “Alash Pride: Atyrau the Beautiful” on Jan. 16 in Atyrau, Kazakhstan.

Atomweight – Gina Iniong (4-2) def. Vanessa Rico Fernandez (2-2) via submission (Achilles lock) at the 1:52 mark of Round 1 at Pacific Xtreme Combat 51 on Jan. 16 in Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Flyweight – Christina Kamenitsa (2-1) def. Marianthi Samouhou (1-3) via submission (armbar) at the 3:27 mark of Round 1 at “Cage Survivor: New Blood 2” on Jan. 17 in Athens, Greece.

MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.

LAS VEGAS – Think Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha looked tense at Friday’s “Unstoppable” press conference in Las Vegas? Perhaps it’s because they had a “full-blown fist fight, head kicks, nasty fight” in “The Ultimate Fighter” gym, according to UFC President Dana White.

“This was one of those crazy things where the season had ended and everybody was doing their thing, and I just didn’t expect that to happen,” White told MMAjunkie.

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha recently wrapped filming on “The Ultimate Fighter 23,” where the two strawweights served as opposing coaches. The two were brought back together on Friday at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena as part of the UFC’s “Unstoppable” press conference to feature a number of key matchups scheduled for the next several months.

As strawweight champ Jedrzejczyk took her seat, she made a few obvious gestures toward the Brazilian challenger. White said the movement was a stern reminder to Gadelha of their recent encounter.

“You notice when they were both showing each other the water bottles?” White asked. “Joanna Jedrzejczyk hit her with a water bottle, and then that’s how the fight started.”

Unfortunately for FOX Sports 1 viewers, it seems cameras were not able to capture the melee, so don’t expect to see the footage when “The Ultimate Fighter 23” begins its run. White said the episode happened after filming had wrapped.

“Show’s over,” White explained. “Cameras are put away.”

The UFC boss said he probably should have known something might happen when the two rivals, who met once before in December 2014, were brought together for the traditional season-ending face-off, where tensions escalated.

“Claudia goes, ‘Shut the (expletive) up, (expletive).’ She goes, ‘I’m so sick of listening to your mouth,’ and they started going at it, and I pulled them apart.

“In hindsight, everything is 20/20. I could see Joanna’s (expletive) wheels turning during the thing, and she just kept staring at her. Then when the room started to clear out, she hit her with a water bottle, and then game on.”

Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) and Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) meet again in the headlining bout of The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, which takes place July 8 in Las Vegas at a venue yet to be determined.

Until then, fight fans will have to settle for the weekly series, which debuts in April.

“Wait until you see this season,” White said. “They hate each other.”

To see White’s full media scrum in Las Vegas in support of the launch of EA UFC 2, click on the video below. Or hear his comments on Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha in the video above.

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk said she came out of filming “The Ultimate Fighter 23” with an advantage over Claudia Gadelha.

Tension between Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) and Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has always been strong. However, the relationship appeared to reach a new level of disdain during the six weeks of filming for the reality show. While no official season premier date has been announced, the show is expected to begin in April on FOX Sports 1.

At the UFC’s “Unstoppable” press conference this past Friday in Las Vegas, Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha traded coy comments about becoming “best friends” during the show. That was clearly code, because UFC President Dana White later revealed that emotions boiled over when Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha got in a “full-blown fist fight” after “TUF 23” had wrapped filming.

Jedrzejczyk and Gadelha will fight for the 115-pound title at The Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale in Las Vegas on July 8. The FOX Sports 1-televised championship bout is less than four months way, but Jedrzejczyk said she’s already won the psychological battle.

“I saw her every day for six weeks, so we became kind of ‘friends,'” Jedrzejczyk told reporters at a recent EA Sports media event. “It wasn’t hard. it was funny and I was enjoying every moment. I think it was hard for her. She might go crazy a little bit because one day I was nice, the next day I wasn’t. So, who knows?

“This fight started when they announced ‘TUF’ and announced our fight on Jan. 17 in Boston. I think I broke her already, but I cannot help (that) – it’s me, ‘Joanna Champion.’ I’ve just got to make sure I put on good preparations and I’m going to win the fight on July 8.”

Jedrzejczyk has a history with Gadelha that stems back prior to filming “TUF 23.” She handed the Brazilian her only career loss at UFC on FOX 13 in December 2014. It was a very close and competitive three-round fight, but ultimately Jedrzejczyk was awarded the spit decision victory, despite 12 of 14 media outlets on MMADecisions.com scoring it in Gadelha’s favor.

Since the first fight, Jedrzejczyk has done plenty to prove why she’s No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s strawweight rankings. She captured the UFC title and has already defended it twice. The No. 2-ranked Gadelha, on the other hand, has fought just once since that UFC on FOX 13 showdown.

Although that lone performance saw Gadelha handle former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar for a clear win at UFC 190 in August, Jedrzejczyk said the single victory doesn’t justify a title shot. Nevertheless, she was willing to grant Gadelha the opportunity so she could silence her rival once and for all.

“I think she doesn’t deserve to fight for the title,” Jedrzejczyk said. “I’ve fought three times since last time; she fought just one time after our fight. But OK, she’s a challenger, she’s still No. 1 (behind me) in the strawweight rankings, so she kind of deserves it. I’m happy that I’m going to face her. I’ve got so much respect for her. She’s a very good athlete. Her jiu-jitsu is amazing. But I am complete. I am a champion.”

For more on the TUF 23 Finale, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Wednesday night brought some major news for the landmark UFC 200 event this summer in Las Vegas.

We know the main event will be a welterweight non-title rematch between featherweight champ Conor McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) and Nate Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC), who will run back their fight from UFC 196 that UFC President Dana White said was in the ballpark of a promotional record for pay-per-view sales.

We also know there will be one title fight, albeit of the interim variety, when former featherweight champ Jose Aldo (25-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) meets former lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar (20-4-1 MMA, 14-4-1 UFC) for the temporary belt at 145 pounds. The interim tag was decided on by the UFC when McGregor wanted his next fight to be the rematch with Diaz and not a defense of his belt.

But Wednesday night on ESPN’s “SportsCenter,” UFC President Dana White said UFC 200, which takes place July 9 at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a main card on pay-per-view, could wind up with a women’s title fight. At the very least, he believes the event will have a couple women’s fights as part of the lineup.

“There will be a couple of women’s fights at UFC 200,” White said. “Actually, two or three, maybe. Could be (a title fight).”

If a women’s title fight were to make its way to the card, it would have to be between women’s bantamweight titleholder Miesha Tate (18-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), who took the title from Holly Holm (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in the UFC 196 co-main event earlier this month. Tate submitted Holm in the fifth round in a comeback effort to win her first UFC title.

Women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) puts her title on the line against Claudia Gadelha (13-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in the TUF 23 Finale on July 8, the night before UFC 200. The only way the 115-pound title could be up for grabs at UFC 200 is if that fight moved back a night, which isn’t likely to happen given it’s the promotional push behind the TUF 23 Finale.

After her win over Holm, it was expected that Tate would next rematch former champ Ronda Rousey. But Rousey isn’t likely to be ready until late in the year, and Tate has said she’d prefer to be a busy champion and not wait that long – even though she’s waited that long between fights in the past.

White’s “could be” for a title fight at UFC 200 certainly wasn’t definitive. But at the very least, fans of women’s MMA should be able to expect some action at the summer’s biggest event.

For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.