Gina “Conviction” Iniong made it two-for-two inside the PXC cage with her biggest win to date tonight at Pacific Xtreme Combat 43 in Pasig City, Philippines. The Filipina standout earned a close and highly competitive Split Decision win over former Valkyrie champion “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi.
Iniong and Yamaguchi were initially slated to face off in an atomweight bout on the card, but Iniong came in slightly overweight for the fight, which was then changed to a 107-pound catchweight. Iniong’s striking and impressive takedowns propelled her to a narrow decision victory on the scorecards.
Iniong (3-1-0) pressed the action with punches early on and she scored with a hard combination that backed Yamaguchi (11-7-1) up against the cage. Yamaguchi clinched and landed knees to the thigh while working for a takedown. Iniong stayed on her feet and the fighters continued to battle for position. Iniong reversed a takedown and punched from top position in mount, but Yamaguchi scrambled and got back to guard, then transitioned to a tight armbar. Iniong somehow escaped, but Yamaguchi locked on another armbar and survived two slams. Iniong pulled her arm free and the round ended on the feet.
Yamaguchi secured a takedown into back control in round two, but Iniong escaped and landed hard right hands as the fighters returned to their feet. Yamaguchi got Iniong back down and she scored with short right hands of her own. Iniong stood and Yamaguchi punched to the body against the fence. She threw a series of knees and Iniong bled from the nose as a result of Yamaguchi’s punches. Iniong used an impressive throw to get Yamaguchi down and punched with her free hand while pinning Yamaguchi against the cage. Yamaguchi stood and she rushed forward with looping punches that forced Iniong to backpedal. The fighters battled in the clinch until the bell.
Iniong shrugged off a takedown attempt and landed a series of left hands in the final round. Yamaguchi recovered and took Iniong’s back, but Iniong turned into the clinch and Yamaguchi pinned her against the cage. Iniong reversed another takedown and scored with quick punches before Yamaguchi returned to her feet. Yamaguchi tried in vain to get Iniong down to the ground and the fighters exchanged more punches until Yamaguchi finally secured a takedown. She landed short strikes from the top and Iniong punched from her back. Yamaguchi landed one big diving left hand just as time expired.
After 15 minutes of hard-fought action, the closely-contested bout went to the scorecards. One judge saw the fight 29-28 for Yamaguchi. The remaining two returned scores of 30-27 and 29-28, respectively, for Iniong, who took a Split Decision win in front of a large group of supporters. A dejected Yamaguchi took issue with the judges’ decision and plans to file an appeal.
Winner: Gina Iniong by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 3-1-0.
(Photo Credit: PXC)