The year 2012 has seen champions retain their belt, new champions crowned and new promotions begin their campaigns. As of March 30, 2012, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has held seven events with another fourteen so far reported to be held throughout the rest of the year. Bellator Fighting Championship began its sixth season containing tournaments in five different weight classes. A new Indian promotion, Super Fight League, arrived on the scene in 2012 with seven events scheduled throughout the year.
Bellator Fighting Championships
British Association of Mixed Martial Arts
The British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (BAMMA) held its first 2012 event, BAMMA 9, on March 24, 2012. It was held at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England. In the main event BAMMA World Middleweight Champion Tom Watson faced Jack Marshman. Watson won his title from Matt Horwich at BAMMA 3 in May, 2010, and has since defended it three twice against Alex Reid and Murilo Rua. Marshman is the reigning, and first, BAMMA British Middleweight Champion winning it at BAMMA 7 in September, 2011, after defeating Carl Noon. In this bout, Watson defended his title by defeating Jack Marshman at 4:50 of the second round by technical knockout.
Jewels
Jewels, the female mixed martial arts promotion, held its first event of the year, Jewels: 18th Ring, on March 3, 2012, at the Shin-Kiba 1st Ring in Tokyo, Japan. The main event saw Mika Nagano face Emi Fujino in a lightweight () fight consisting of two five-minute rounds using Jewels official rules. The fight went the full two rounds with Fujino earning a unanimous decision victory. Takayo Hashi and Roxanne Modafferi fought each other in the co-main event. Both ladies in the past had fought for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship and were also past training partners. The fight was contested under Jewels special rules as a fight of two five-minute rounds. Hashi defeated Modafferi by unanimous decision after the two rounds were completed.
Jewels next event, Jewels: 19th Ring, is expected to be held on May 26, 2012, at the Azalea Taisho Hall in Osaka, Japan. The full fight card for the event has yet to be announced, but it has been revealed that the undefeated Jewels Lightweight Queens Champion Ayaka Hamasaki will face MMA veteran and former Smackgirl champion Yuka Tsuji.
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki
On February 25, 2012, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) held its first event, KSW 18: Unfinished Sympathy, at the Orlen Arena in Płock, Poland. Initially, Marcin Różalski was to face Jerome Le Banner in a non-main event fight. A knee injury forced Le Banner off the card and with only two days notice Valentijn Overeem stepped in as a replacement. With the Strikeforce veteran Overeem on the card, the fight was promoted to the main event. Overeem defeated Różalski by submission with a heel hook at 2:25 of the first round. The original main event of Jan Blachowicz fighting Dave Branch changed when Branch had passport issues in the days leading up to the event. He was replaced by Mario Miranda. Blachowicz defeated Miranda by unanimous decision after three rounds of combat.
KSW 19 was held on May 12, 2012, at the Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland. The main event featured former World's Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski facing Bob Sapp who was coming off a quick loss at SFL 1. Also on the card was the first ever woman's match in KSW when Marta Chojnoska faced Paulina Suska in a catchweight bout. The vacant KSW Middleweight Championship was given to the winner of a match between Michał Materla and Jay Silva.
KSW 20 was held on September 15, with Mariusz Pudzianowski defeating Christos Piliafas and Jan Błachowicz successfully defending the Light Heavyweight Championship against Houston Alexander.
M-1 Global
The first event of 2012 for M-1 Global was M-1 Challenge 31 held on March 16, 2012 at the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The event included a welterweight championship bout with Yasubey Enomoto unsuccessfully defending his title against Rashid Magomedov. Magomedov won the fight by unanimous decision. On May 17, 2012, M-1 Challenge 32 is expected to be held at the Crocus Expo arena in Moscow, Russia. The event will include a Lightweight Championship bout in which Daniel Weichel will attempt to defend his title against Yuri Ivlev.