Kristi “Violencia” Lopez took a step towards Tuff-N-Uff women’s flyweight title contention with a victory tonight at Tuff-N-Uff: “Mayhem In Mesquite 2” in Mesquite, Nevada. Lopez defeated veteran opponent Kari Lichtenwalner by Split Decision in a featured main card matchup on the all-amateur card.

Lopez pressed the action throughout with punches and maintained an edge in the clinches against the cage. She caught a kick from Lichtenwalner and threatened with a rear-naked choke in the third and final final round, and her offence proved to be enough to take the victory on the judges’ scorecards.

Lopez (3-1-0) punched her way into a clinch early on and kept Lichtenwalner (3-6-0) pinned against the cage with right hooks over the top. She took Lichtenwalner’s back and briefly dragged her to the mat. Lichtenwalner stood and Lopez landed more right hands to the body until the bell. The fighters clinched again in round two and Lichtenwalner countered punches from Lopez with a knee. Lopez caught a body kick and took Lichtenwalner down. She avoided submission attempts and landed punches from the top. Lichtenwalner stood up and landed another knee, but Lopez answered with two right hands.

Lopez caught another kick from Lichtenwalner and took her back down in the final round. She jumped on Lichtenwalner’s back and worked to set up a rear-naked choke. Lopez maintained back control until Lichtenwalner spun into her guard. The fighters returned to their feet and Lichtenwalner landed a variety of kicks. Lopez fired back with punches and remained aggressive until the end of the fight.

While Lopez appeared to win all three rounds, one cageside judge saw things differently and scored the bout for Lichtenwalner. The remaining two sided with Lopez, who took the well-deserved victory.

Winner: Kristi Lopez by Split Decision after three 2:00 rounds. She improves to 3-1-0.

(Photo Credit: Yorie.net)