One of Brazil’s top female fighters, Juliana “Julie” Werner, picked up a dominant second-round submission win in the co-main event of Saturday’s XFC International 7 card in São Paulo, Brazil. The striker showcased her underrated ground game in victory over Iryna “Delsa” Shaparenko.
The XFCi 7 card also featured four quarterfinal bouts in the promotion’s latest women’s strawweight tournament. Liana “Li” Ferreira Pirosin, Marina “The Iron Woman” Moroz, Dora Perjes and Viviane “Sucuri” Pereira all kept their undefeated records intact with key wins and move on to the semi-finals.
The featured flyweight bout between Werner (8-4-0) and Shaparenko (6-2-0) was delayed for several minutes when pre-fight checks at cageside led to the discovery that Shaparenko’s mouthpiece was missing and neither of her hands had been taped backstage. Both fighters were brought into the cage for introductions and Shaparenko’s team hastily taped the teen fighter’s hands before her most high-profile fight to date began.
Early in round one, the fighters clinched and Werner held Shaparenko against the cage. Shaparenko jumped into the koala position and tried to pull Werner to the mat, but the veteran stayed on her feet and she eventually secured a takedown before the end of the round. Werner dominated round two on the feet and landed some big knees that forced Shaparenko to backpedal. She took Shaparenko down and transitioned to back control, then locked on a rear-naked choke that forced the Ukrainian to tap out at the 2:09 mark of round two, just as she was about to lose consciousness.
Werner’s impressive victory got her back on track following a one-sided loss to recent UFC signee Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm in a Legacy FC women’s bantamweight title bout in April. The loss to Holm snapped Werner’s five-fight winning streak.
In strawweight tournament action, Liana “Li” Ferreira Pirosin (3-0-0) advanced on to the semi-final round with a Unanimous Decision victory over Colombia’s Marcela Yineris Nieto (3-2-0) in a back-and-forth Fight of the Night candidate. Pirosin showed off her formidable striking skills en route to victory.
Marina “The Iron Woman” Moroz (5-0-0), fighting for the fourth time in five months, survived an early offensive onslaught from knockout artist Karine “Killer” Silva (5-1-0) and handed the Brazilian her first defeat via first-round submission. Ukraine’s Moroz secured a slick armbar that forced Silva to submit at the 3:27 mark of round one.
Hungarian atomweight Dora Perjes (7-0-0) moved up in weight to compete in the XFCi tournament and advanced to the semi-finals by submitting Luana Santos Medeiros (0-1-0). Perjes dominated the fight on the ground and Medeiros tapped out to a heel hook at the 3:22 mark of the opening round.
Viviane “Sucuri” Pereira (7-0-0) picked up her fourth knockout victory by stopping Fernanda Priscila Barros Pinheiro (0-1-0) in the first round. Pereira got Pinheiro down and flurried with punches from the top until the fight was waved off, giving Pereira a TKO victory at the 3:22 mark.
(Photo Credit: Oséias Neto)