Invicta FC Flyweight Champion Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak successfully retained her title with a Unanimous Decision win tonight at Invicta Fighting Championships 9 in Davenport, Iowa. Honchak defeated Deep Jewels Middleweight Champion Takayo Hashi in the clinch-heavy main event.

In tonight’s 115-pound co-feature, KSW Women’s Strawweight Champion Karolina Kowalkiewicz kept her unbeaten record intact with a Split Decision victory over Deep Jewels Lightweight Champion Mizuki Inoue. Short-notice replacement Raquel “Rocky” Pa’aluhi rallied to defeat Kaitlin Young.

Honchak (10-2-0) and Hashi (15-5-1) spent much of tonight’s 125-pound headliner battling for position in lengthy clinches against the cage. Honchak kept Hashi pinned against the fence for nearly all of round one and she peppered the Japanese standout with short knees to the body and standing elbows. It was more of the same in round two, but Hashi had her best success in the third round when she scored a much-needed takedown into side control and landed some nice right hands before the bell.

In the championship rounds, Honchak used her strength advantage to muscle Hashi against the cage and she kept the challenger on the defensive with jabs and right hands. Hashi landed some solid punches of her own in the final round, but Honchak answered back with standing elbows and knees to the body. She fought off a late takedown from Hashi and finished the round with more elbow strikes.

After 25 minutes of action, all three judges scored the fight for the defending champion. Scores were 49-46 and 50-45 twice for Honchak, who has won nine straight fights and remains the sport’s premier female flyweight.

Kowalkiewicz (6-0-0) made excellent use of her reach advantage against Inoue (8-3-0) and surprisingly outstruck the highly-touted Japanese champion en route to a well-deserved decision win. Both women landed quick combinations in the opening round and Kowalkiewicz mixed in some nice kicks to the body. She flurried in close and followed with more right hands and body kicks late in the round.

Inoue was forced to play defence again in round two as Kowalkiewicz pressed the action with body kicks and a suplex attempt, but Inoue remained on her feet and she eventually scored a takedown of her own by tripping Kowalkiewicz to the mat. Kowalkiewicz got back to her feet, but Inoue hopped on her back and dragged her down again to even the fight at 19-19 after ten minutes.

The final round began with both women landing leg kicks and Kowalkiewicz stuffed a takedown. She landed a combination and Inoue punched her way into a clinch. Kowalkiewicz broke free with a knee and she remained aggressive with her punches, but Inoue’s head movement allowed her to avoid many of the Polish fighter’s strikes. Kowalkiewicz kept moving forward, however, and she mixed things up with punches and body kicks before the end of the back-and-forth fight.

Judge John Hawksby scored the bout 29-28 for Inoue, while judges Calvin Caldwell and Ben Wilson both had it 29-28 for Kowalkiewicz, who took the Split Decision victory.

Stepping in on just eight days’ notice, Pa’aluhi (4-4-0) survived a tough first round and came back to defeat Young (7-9-1), who remains winless under the Invicta FC banner. The opening round was all Young, who landed punches and body kicks at will and opened cuts on Pa’aluhi’s cheek and forehead. Pa’aluhi secured a late takedown, but she was unable to do anything with it before the bell.

The remainder of the featherweight fight was a completely different story. Pa’aluhi took Young down in round two and spent the majority of the round working for rear-naked chokes. She nearly got one late in the round, but Young broke her grip and escaped. Pa’aluhi landed some nice combinations and she took Young back down in round three. Pa’aluhi rained down punches and elbows from mount, then transitioned to back control and worked for another rear-naked choke before the final bell.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 for Pa’aluhi, who took the Unanimous Decision victory and earned her biggest career win in the process.

In an atomweight contender’s bout, Jodie Esquibel (5-1-0) picked up a one-sided Unanimous Decision win over an unusually passive Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc (8-8-0), who announced her retirement following the fight. Esquibel mixed things up with punch-kick combos and dominated the striking exchanges in all three rounds. Rivera-Calanoc nearly stole the fight back with a last-minute flying guillotine choke in round three, but Esquibel made it to the bell. Scores were 30-27 thrice for Esquibel, who has won back-to-back bouts.

Also at 105 pounds, Amber “The Bully” Brown (4-1-0) made a successful Invicta FC debut by outpointing “Lightning” Liz McCarthy (2-2-0). The bout was one of many on the card that featured significant bloodshed as Brown cut McCarthy badly above the right eye with a knee in round two after McCarthy took an early lead on the scorecards thanks to her ground and pound in the opening round.

McCarthy took Brown down in the final round, but Brown targeted her cut with strikes from the bottom and she blasted McCarthy with a big knee and a head kick after the fight returned to the feet. The action-packed fight went to the scorecards and judge Christy Gainen saw it 29-28 for McCarthy. Judges Ben Wilson and Calvin Caldwell had it 30-27 and 29-28, respectively, for Brown, who walked away with an impressive Split Decision victory.

Featherweight rising star Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell (3-2-0) notched her third straight win by stopping Maria Hougaard Djursaa (5-6-0), who missed weight for the planned 145-pound fight. From the outset, Bell mauled Djursaa with punches until the Danish fighter fell to her back and attempted a desperation heel hook. Bell easily escaped and she continued to punish Djursaa with punches from top position until the fight was mercifully waved off at the 4:56 mark of round one. All three of Bell’s pro wins have come inside the distance.

Andrea “KGB” Lee (2-0-0) used her superior striking to defeat Shannon Sinn (1-2-0) in a flyweight bout. The highly-touted Lee dropped Sinn with a right cross early in round one and fought off an inverted body triangle with punches and elbows to the body. She remained in control of the striking exchanges in rounds two and three by landing kick-punch combos and knees that eventually left Siin bloodied and beaten. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Lee, who appears to be a future star in the Invicta FC flyweight division.

One of the best performances of the night came from former Tuff-N-Uff champion Jamie Moyle (1-0-0), who kicked off her pro career with an extremely one-sided Unanimous Decision victory over the previously undefeated Jenny Liou Shriver (2-1-0) in a strawweight bout.

Moyle’s game plan consisted of non-stop offence from the opening bell and she prevented Shriver from ever getting anything going. Huge knees, punches and leg kicks scored for Moyle throughout the one-sided fight and Shriver was bloodied up by the late stages of round two. She nearly trapped Moyle in an armbar, but Moyle escaped and she countered a takedown with an armbar attempt in round three. Shriver broke free, but Moyle mounted her and dropped punches from the top to seal the win. No 10-8 rounds were awarded, but scores were 30-27 across the board for Moyle, who cruised to victory.

Opening up the card, “Killer” Kelly McGill (2-0-0) outstruck an overweight Maegan “Mayhem” Goodwin (0-1-0) en route to a Unanimous Decision verdict in what was intended to be a bantamweight fight. Goodwin kept McGill at bay with jabs and right hands in round two, but McGill got inside in the final ten minutes and put together some nice combinations. She took Goodwin down in round three and cut her along the hairline with elbows that left the canvas stained with Goodwin’s blood. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for McGill, who remains unbeaten in her young pro career.

Full play-by-play for all bouts on tonight’s Invicta FC 9 card can be found here.

(Photo Credit: Scott Hirano, InvictaFC.com)