In action Friday morning, Suvi Salmimies and Isabelle Pare fight to a draw at Cage 28 in Finland.

In the second quarterfinal of TUF 20, Jessica Penne defeated Aisling Daly by decision after a third extension round. You can read MMA Rising’s report in the fight here.

Next Wednesday, the finally two quarterfinal matches as Carla Esparza faces Tecia Torres in a match a year in the making, and Rose Namjunas takes on Joanne Calderwood.

Irene Alana has an unknown illness and is out of InvictaFC 10 next weekend against Marion Reneau. A replacement has yet to be named.

Two female bouts have been announced for MMA Super Heroes last card of 2014.

Tournament winner Renata Baldan looks to recover from her first loss as she takes on unbeaten Luciana Treze in a strawweight contest, and Karina Santana de Oliveira looks to gain her second win as a pro against flyweight prospect Mariana Leonardo.

Australia’s XFC (not to be confused with XFC International) will start its flyweight tournament February 28, 2015 in Brisbane.

The opening round features Terissa Wall (1-0) taking on Kate Da Silva (7-2) and Jaz Walker (1-0 ammy) battling Hera Tamati (0-1).

We wish a speedy recovery to InvictaFC vet Jasminka Cive as she is battle a staph infection.

Rumors

Still some heavy rumors that InvictaFC 11 will be in Denver.

Scheduled Fights

Pro MMA

Thompson and Da Silva

Princesses of Pain is back as they are set for their all female MMA card this weekend in New Zealand.

In the main event, champion Kate da Silva will start her drop in weight classes, taking on Rhiannon Thompson in a 132 pound catchweight bout.

In the co-main event, Tairi Ford and Gaela Nixon duke it out in a flyweight contest.

All fighters made weight.

In other matches on the card:

• Gentiane Lupi vs Alex Sorthis
• Hera Tamati vs Catherine Drinnann
• Charlene Watt vs Bridget Lords
• Barbara Verlinden vs Tracey Burns

You can watch a preview of the card here.

Amateur standout Roma Pawelek will make her long awaited pro debut as she takes on the undefeated Ashleigh Heustis at Beatdown in Newtown, ND.

Also on the card, InvictaFC vet Kathina Catron battles Rachael Smith.

In other pro bouts:

• In a pair of bouts at It’s Lanna Time 2 in Germany, Katharina Lehner takes on Sandra Redegeld, and Ania Fucz faces Cinja Kiefer
• Karine Silva battles Sarah Silva at AFC 14 in Lages, Brazil

Ammy MMA

In amateur action:

• In a pair of bouts at Spar Star in Inglewood, CA, Danielle Mack fights Farren Romero and JaShonna Owens faces Selena Lorigo
• Jady Larissa takes on  Paula Eletrica at Copa Striker’s House 44 in Brazil

Brækhus and Retzke

Boxing

Pound for pound queen Cecilia Braekhus will defend her four titles this weekend in Frederiksberg, Denmark.

The 26-0 WBA/WBO/WBC/IBF World welterweight champion will take on #1 contender Jennifer Retzke.

Retzke (15-1-1) has only lost once in the past 4 years. She is the current IBO welterweight champion, but will not be defending her title.

Both Brækhus (64.6 kg) and Retzke (66 kg) made weight.

Also on the card,  Klara Svensson will defend her  interim WBC World light welterweight title against Lucia Morelli.

In Guanajuato, Mexico, Jessica Gonzalez will defend her interim WBC World female bantamweight title for a second time against Magali Rodriguez.

Gonbzalez (5-1) won the title last year, and is coming off a split draw to Estrella Valverde this past August. Rodriguez (14-5-1) is coming off a TKO win over Marisela Landa in August and is looking for her first win.

In other boxing bouts:

• In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fernanda Soledad Alegre takes on Ana Laura Esteche
• Enis Pacheco faces Paola Rojas in Montelibano, Colombia
• In Samobor, Croatia, Ivana Habazin battles Galina Gumliiska
• Megan Ouvrard fights Cyrielle Hebert in Charente-Maritime, France

Miscellaneous News

In action Wednesday:

• In pro MMA at PeruFC, Mariana Moraes defeated Cristina Mejía by unanimous decision
• In boxing in New York, New York, Heather Hardy defeated Elizabeth Anderson by unanimous decision.

In action Thursday at Circuito Team Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Juliana Velasquez defeats Priscila de Souza by unanimous decision in a pro MMA bout. In amateur action, Karoline Martins defeated Nicole Ball by knockout.

At OneFC Friday morning, Ana Julaton defeated Walaa Abas by unanimous decision and  Jujeath Nagaowa defeated Tharoth Sam by TKO round 2.

Justino

Cyborg Justino has given up on going to 135 for now.

The InvictaFC featherweight stated to MMA Fighting her injury has delayed the cut and she is questioning if she can even make 135.

The plan is for Justino to defend her 145 title at InvictaFC’s 11th event in February. We are expecting an announcement Friday night during InvictaFC 10 on the location and opponent.

On Wednesday’s episode of TUF 20, two fighters advanced to set the semi-finals.

Former InvictaFC champion Carla Esparza defeated Tecia Torres in a grudge match. Esparza’s wrestling is what gave her the edge in the majority decision win. Esparza will face another former InvictaFC champion in Jessica Penne in the semi-finals.

The other semi-final saw Rose Namajunas submit Joanne Calderwood by kimura. Namajunas used her bjj skills to attack Calderwood. Calderwood tried to make up ground with strikes in round two, but Namajunas was able to get the kimura on the ground to get tap. This was the first time Calderwood was submitted in an MMA competition. Namajunas will face Randa Markos in the semi-finals.

You can read MMA Rising’s accounts of the matches here.

Both semi-finals will air this coming Wednesday on Fox Sports 1 with the finals the following Friday.

You can see six of the 8 bouts set for the TUF 20 finale here.

Awakening Fights are looking for nominees for the WMMA Awards.

The female fighting site is asking fans for three nominees per category by December 10, and will open voting soon after.

You can enter your picks here.

You can add Julia Jones versus Alyssa Garcia to the four other matches announced for Rock Xtrreme Combat in Texas January 10th.

V3 has announce an amateur bantamweight title match in Memphis for January 24 pitting two top amateur prospects.

We have us a challenger for the undisputed V3 female champ, Amberlynn Orr (8-1) will take on Alyssa Vasquez (6-4).

It will most likely be streamed and we will have more info closer to the event.

Gina Carano made a visit to the CSA gym in Dublin, CA this past week. CSA is home gym to Alexis Davis, Zoila Gurgel, and Miriam Nakamoto among others. She was just visiting there and not there to train, at least no seriously.

You can see a pic of her and Frausto here.

On the podcast Sunday at 1 p.m. pst/4 p.m. est, we will talk to InvictaFC’s Marion Reneau, who was supposed to be fighting Friday night. We will review the action from the card, and her aspirations in the promotion.

You can listen here live on Sunday.

Rumors

Rose Namajunas has brought in RFA star Kyra Batara into training camp. Batara, an atomweight star, comes from a solid wrestling background. (Hint hint!)

We should be expecting some female bout announcements in the next few weeks from the UFC. Holly Holm says she will be ready to go come February, and TUF 18 winner Juliana Pena in March.

Sarah Kaufman is now challenging Jessica Andrade to a fight her next.

Scheduled Bouts

Pro MMA

Friday night is InvictaFC 10 on UFC Fight Pass. Stream starts at 6 p.m. pst/9 p.m. est. You can see our preview of the card here.

On Saturday, undefeated Ashlee Evans-Smith will make her UFC debut taking on Raquel Pennington in Las Vegas. Both Smith (135.5) and Pennington (136) made weight.

Smith (3-0) won the CSA featherweight tournament last year and soon signed to the World Series of Fighting. She got the TKO over Marciea Allen in June and was waiting for another fight. She was released from the WSOF just as the UFC offer came around.

TUF 18 vet Pennington (4-4) is coming off a close loss to Jessica Andrade this past March. Pennington won her official UFC debut with a decision over Roxanne Modafferi.

The fight will kick off the UFC televised prelims on Fox Sports 1.

MMA Super Heroes will close its year with two female bouts.

Tournament champion Renata Baldan is lookig to recover from her first loss as she takes on Luciana Treze. Also, Karina Santana de Oliveira takes on Mariana Leonardo in a flyweight bout.

In other pro bouts:

• At Roshambo in Australia, Megan Anderson takes on Zoie Shreiweis
• Ariel Beck faces Angela Hayes at Fightforce on Butte, MT
• At Maringá Combat in Maringa, Parana, Brazil, Hevellyn Moura battles Hilana Rezende
• Jessica Zomchik fights Stacey Sigala at Gladiators of the Cage in Pittsburgh, PA. In amateur action, Jena Baldwin takes on Jamie Driver and Melissa Gasdick faces Sarah Click

Ammy MMA

In amateur MMA:

• At Conflict MMA in Hardeeville, SC, Jenna Fox faces Annie DeCresente
• At SGB in Ireland, Jaye Hayes battles Sinead Kavanagh
• In a pair of bouts at British Challenge MMA in Colchester, Essex, England, Jaye Haynes fights Sinead Kavanagh and Wendy McKenna faces Ameesha Bhudia (125)
• At Cowboy Extreme Fighting in San Antonio, Texas, Dominique Gallegher-Gonzales takes on Stephanie Builderback and Laurie Ashby battles Brandi Narvaez (115)
• In a pair of bouts at Rumble at the Roseland in Portland, OR, Chun Yang fights Hailea Brooks and Kalyn Schwartz takes on Lisa Spangler 
• Yumi Matsumoto faces Danielle Alfapada at King of the Cage in Las Vegas, Nevada
• At Matrix Fights in Philadelphia, PA, Serena DeJesus battles Amanda Kramny
• Victoria Franco fights Makana Clemons at Kingdom 3 in Houston, TX

Boxing

Undefeated Nicole Wesner will look for her first world titles as she takes on Gina Chamie for the vacant WIBF and vacant WBF lightweight title in Vienna, Austria.

Wesbner (8-0) has only started as a pro two years ago, but has stayed active on her run to a title match. Chamie is the former WBC Youth lightweight title holder.

WBC World flyweight champion Shindo Go will look to defend her title for the third time as she takes on Arely Mucino in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Go (14-2) is on a four fight win streak and has 9 KOs to her credit. She has yet to be stopped. Mucino (20-2) if the former interim WBA and IBF World flyweight champion .

In Sonora, Mexico, Jackie Nava will defend her WBC and WBA super bantamweight title against Sayda Mosquera.

Nava (30-4) won her past seven fights, gaining the belts along the way. Undefeated  Sayda Mosquera (7-0) is the current WBC Latino female bantamweight champion

In Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Sonya Lamonakis and Carlette Ewell will fight in a rematch for the vacant IBO World heavyweight title. The two faced each other in 2012 and fought to a draw.

Lamonakis (9-1-2) is coming off back to back wins and is the current New York State heavyweight title. Ewell (15-7-1) is returning after a two year absence since her draw with Ewell.

Karine Rinaldo will defend her EBU female super bantamweight title against Nevenka Mikulic in  Corse-du-Sud, France.

Rinaldo (10-1-1) won the vacant title this past June with a TKO win over Marianna Gulyas. Mikulic (4-2-1) has finished in all but one of wins.

In other boxing bouts:

• In a pair of bouts in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Vanesa del Valle Calderon takes on Valeria Almiron and Valeria Vanesa Gramajo faces Natalia Vanesa Lopez
• Shelly Gibson battles Simone Hoyte in Georgetown, Guyana
• In Emilia Romagna, Italy, Simona Galassi fights Evgeniya Zablotskaya
• In a pair of bouts in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Jelena Mrdjenovich dukes it out with Pasa Malagic and Kandi Wyatt takes on Lita Mae Button
• Sabrina Giuliani faces Farida El Hadrati in Puy-de-Dôme, France
• In Differdange, Luxembourg, Caroline Thea Andre battles Gabriella Vetro

There is never a singular reason to pursue boxing and not one mindset to train in it.

This is one of the many lessons from Jill Morley’s award winning documentary “Fight Like a Girl”, which saw it’s major release to most formats this week. The movie follow Morely beginning her journey into the sport and the many female pugilists she encounters along the way. Among them, a boxer looking to snap a losing streak (Kim Tomes), one on the rise in the sport but fighting ageism (Susan Merlucci), and an undefeated pro recovering from mental stumbling blocks as she seeks gold (Maureen Shea).

Morely’s story of abuse and depression is the main focus of the movie, which proves fighting is not only a physical game but a mental one as well. Each fighter including Morely must not only fight opponents and fatigue; they also must overcome doubt, heartbreak, and past traumas.

Morely’s look into the lives of these female fighters give you a great insight into how a mind of a fighter works. Anyone, male or female, can relate to a person featured in the documentary, and it’s well worth a watch.

You can rent or own it on multiple formats:

• iTunes
• Dish Network
• Vubiquity
• DirecTV
• Blockbuster App
• Vudu (click here)
• Vimeo (click here)
• Google Play (Click here)

You can find out more on their website FightLikeaGirltheMovie.com.

Pro MMA

After a nine month absence, Raquel Pennington (5-4) came back to the octagon and handed Ashlee Evans-Smith her first pro loss at UFC 181 in Las Vegas, NV.

Smith used her wrestling to control the majority of the round, opening a gash in the middle of Pennington’s forehead. Towards the end of the round, Pennington landed a takedown and as Smith was standing up, Pennington took the back and was able to get the bulldog headlock on Smith. Pennington used it to choke out Smith and Smith was out right before the bell rang to end round 1. The ref stopped the fight.

Pennington gets back on the winning track after a close decision loss to Jessica Andrade.

Baldan Courtesy MMA Super Heroes

MMA Super Heroes ended the year with three female bouts in São Paulo, Brazil.

Tournament champion Renata Baldan recovered from her first pro loss by defeating Luciana Treze by unanimous decision. Baldan improves to 4-1.

Mariana Leonardo gains her 4th by defeating Karina Santana de Oliveira by TKO round 1 after Oliveira ends it inbetween rounds.

In an amateur atomweight bout, Solange Tirolli defeated Adriana Curtz by TKO in round 2.

Bantamweight prospect Jessica Zomchik earned her second professional 1st round armbar, this time defeating Stacey Sigala at Gladiators of the Cage in Pittsburgh, PA.

In two amateur bouts on the card, Jena Baldwin defeated Jamie Driver by split decision and Melissa Gasdick defeated Sarah Click by disuqalifcation after an illegal head kick round 2.

In other pro bouts:

• At Roshambo in Australia, Megan Anderson submitted Zoie Shreiweis by armbar round 1
• Ariel Beck defeated Angela Hayes by unanimous decision at Fightforce in Butte, MT
• At Maringá Combat in Maringa, Parana, Brazil, Hevellyn Moura defeated Jade Menezes by unanimous decision

Ammy MMA

In amateur MMA action:

• At Matrix Fights in Philadelphia, PA, Serena DeJesus submits Amanda Kramny by rear naked choke round 3
• Makan Clemons defeated Victoria Frano by unanimous decision at Kingdom 3 in Houston, TX
• At Dynasty Combat Sports in Lincoln, Nebraska, Erin Smith defeated Janie Konyek by unanimous decision
• At Conflict MMA in Hardeeville, SC, Annie DeCresente defeated Jenna Fox by unanimous decision
• In a pair of bouts at British Challenge MMA in Colchester, Essex, England, Sinead Kavanagh defeated Jaye Haynes by TKO (retirement) 3:00 round 1  and Ameesha Bhudia defeated Wendy McKenna by unanimous decision 
• Dominique Gallegher-Gonzales defeated Stephanie Builderback by unanimous decision at Cowboy Extreme Fighting in San Antonio, Texas. Also on the card, Brandi Narvaez  defeated Laurie Ashby by TKO 0:22 round 1 
• In a pair of bouts at Rumble at the Roseland in Portland, OR, Hailea Brooks defeated Chun Yang by TKO round 2, and Kalyn Schwartz defeated Lisa Spangler by unanimous decision 
• Yumi Matsumoto defeated Danielle Alfapada by TKO 2:15 round 2 at King of the Cage in Las Vegas, Nevada
• At St. Louis MMA, Kelly Keenon defeated Aimee Masters by TKO round 2
• In a pair of bouts MFL in South Bend, Indiana, Kara Vislosky defeated Alyssa Lawrence by unanimous decision and Veronica Weaver defeated Brooke Stamm by TKO (retirement) round 1 

Werner Courtesy WIBF

Boxing

Nicole Wesner earned he first world titles in spectacular fashion this past weekend in Vienna, Austria with a knockout over Gina Chamie in round 3. With the win, Wesner wins the vacant WIBF and vacant WBF lightweight titles.

Wesner remains undefeated at 9-0.

Arely Mucino earns her second world title defeating Shindo Go by unanimous decision to win the WBC World flyweight title in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. Mucino was the former interim WBA flyweight champion.

Mucino (21-2-2; 1 NC) increases her undefeated streak to seven.

Jackie Nava successfully defended her WBC and WBA super bantamweight title, getting an unanimous decision over Sayda Mosquera in Sonora, Mexico.

Nava (31-4-3) had defended her WBA title for the fifth time and her WBC title for the second. Her win streak continues at seven.

In a heavyweight rematch Sonya Lamonakis defeated Carlette Ewell by split decision to win the vacant IBO World heavyweight title in Philipsburg, Sint Maarten.

The two went to a draw in 2012 and this match was so close, we won’t be surprised if we see a trilogy match.

EBU female super bantamweight champion Karine Rinaldo improves her win streak to eight, defeating Nevenka Mikulic by unanimous decision in Corse-du-Sud, France.

Rinaldo (11-1-1) defend her title for the first time since winning it back in June.

On other boxing bouts:

• In a pair of fights in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Vanesa del Valle Calderon knockouts out Valeria Almiron in round 1 and Valeria Vanesa Gramajo defeated Natalia Vanesa Lopez by unanimous decision 
• Simona Galassi defeated Evgeniya Zablotskaya by unanimous decision in Emilia Romagna, Italy
• In a pair of bouts in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Jelena Mrdjenovich defeated Pasa Malagic by TKO round 3, and Kandi Wyatt defeated Lita Mae Button by TKO round 4  
• Farida El Hadrati defeated Sabrina Giuliani by unanimous decision in Puy-de-Dôme, France
• In Differdange, Luxembourg, Caroline Thea Andre defeated Gabriella Vetro by unanimous decision
• Noelia Gutierrez defeated Lorena Noemi Gomez by unanimous decision in Santa Fe, Argentina