Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger’s title was not on the line, but she picked up a decisive second-round stoppage win tonight at Invicta Fighting Championships 14 in Kansas City, Missouri. Evinger destroyed Pannie “Banzai” Kianzad in the non-title main event.
In tonight’s catchweight co-feature, DeAnna “The Argentine Assassin” Bennett eked out a controversial Unanimous Decision victory over former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää, and Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi easily defeated Mariana Morais.
Evinger (18-5-0) clinched early on and landed knees to Kianzad’s (8-1-0) face before taking her down. She battered and bloodied Kianzad with punches and hammerfists, but Kianzad defended on the ground and escaped from a rear-naked choke. Evinger kept the pressure on and threatened with an armbar before the bell sounded to end the round.
The second stanza began with Evinger dropping Kianzad and nearly mounting her soon after. Kianzad’s nose bled more heavily and Evinger punished her with punches. She attempted an arm-triangle choke, then resumed punching Kianzad’s face until the fight was stopped at the 3:34 mark of round two.
Evinger’s dominant victory once again established her as the sport’s premier female bantamweight outside of the UFC. She has won eight straight fights and has extremely few contenders left for her title. Kianzad suffered her first loss in the one-sided fight.
Bennett (8-0-0) overcame a difficult training camp and a failed weight cut en route to a contentious decision win over Kankaanpää (10-3-1) in what was intended to be a strawweight fight. Bennett, who weighed in at 117 pounds, favoured kicks early on while Kankaanpää put together punching flurries. She landed a hard combination, but Bennett pulled guard with a guillotine choke and fought off a rolling kimura attempt from Kankaanpää late in the round.
Kankaanpää stuffed a takedown in round two and secured one of her own, but Bennett immediately worked for another guillotine choke. Kankaanpää escaped to her feet, but Bennett slammed her down again and attacked with an omoplata. She tried for a third guillotine choke before the bell and the fight appeared to be even after ten minutes.
Round three was all Kankaanpää. The former Invicta FC champ took Bennett down and threatened with a rear-naked choke and two tight arm-triangles. Bennett survived each time, but she was forced to play defence throughout the round and Kankaanpää appeared to be well on her way to a clear-cut decision victory. All three judges disagreed, however, and awarded Bennett with a Unanimous Decision win with scores of 29-28 across the board.
In one of her most impressive performances to date, flyweight veteran Modafferi (18-12-0) halted Morais’s (9-3-0) five-fight winning streak with a third-round TKO stoppage. Modafferi mauled Morais on the ground with punches and elbows from half-guard and mount throughout the first two rounds. Morais had her best success in the opening seconds of round three when she trapped Modafferi in a guillotine choke, but Modafferi battled free and she overwhelmed Morais with a final flurry of punches that finished the fight at the 4:40 mark of round three. Modafferi has won three of her past four bouts.
Rounding out the main card, Andrea “KGB” Lee (3-1-0) rebounded from a close decision loss in December by stopping fellow flyweight prospect Rachael Ostovich (2-2-0). Lee hurt Ostovich multiple times with body shots in the first two rounds and she nearly finished the Hawaiian with ground and pound shortly before the end of the second round. After cutting Ostovich with a head kick in round three and dominating the action with submission attempts on the mat, Lee finally forced Ostovich to verbally submit to an armbar at the 4:58 mark of round three.
Featherweight judoka Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois (6-2-0) showed that her formidable ground game was enough to overcome her extremely limited striking skills in a one-sided win over Megan Anderson (4-2-0). Dandois wanted nothing to do with Anderson on the feet, but she took the Australian fighter down and used ground and pound to set up a triangle choke. Anderson ultimately escaped, but Dandois pulled guard midway through round two and locked on another triangle choke. This time, Anderson could not break free, and she tapped out at the 2:41 mark of the second round.
Sharon “The Dream Catcher” Jacobson (4-1-0) edged out Jamie Moyle (3-1-0) in a closely-contested battle between two of Invicta FC’s top strawweight prospects. Jacobson kept Moyle pinned against the fence throughout much of the first round, but Moyle scored with knees to the body that led to an exchange of standing elbows. Both fighters were rocked by punches in round two, but Jacobson came on stronger as the round progressed and she scored a brief takedown before the bell. The final round was Jacobson’s best, and she scored with ground and pound after escaping from a Moyle armbar. The close fight ended with an exchange of knees in the clinch. The judges favoured Jacobson’s clinch control in round one and awarded her a Unanimous Decision win with scores of 29-28 and 30-27 twice.
Atomweight rising star Jinh Yu Frey (4-1-0) took one step closer to title contention with a well-deserved victory over “Lightning” Liz McCarthy (2-3-0). Frey’s superior boxing and key takedowns in rounds one and two allowed her to take an early lead on the scorecards. McCarthy came back with an excellent final round that saw her stuff Frey’s takedowns and repeatedly snap Frey’s head back with punches. The late rally was not enough, however, and Frey took a Unanimous Decision victory with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
J.J. Aldrich (2-1-0) wasted no time in dispatching of late replacement “Rollie” Rosa Acevedo (3-2-0) in a strawweight fight that was changed to a catchweight when Acevedo came in heavy at 118 pounds. Aldrich stunned Acevedo with an early one-two and followed with knees in the clinch. A knee to the body hurt Acevedo and Aldrich left her unconscious on the mat after landing two big knees to the face. The knockout came at the 2:24 mark of round one.
Aspen Ladd (2-0-0) made it two-for-two inside the Invicta FC cage with a second-round submission win over Amanda Bobby “ABC” Cooper (1-1-0) in a flyweight matchup. Ladd countered Cooper’s elbow strikes in round one with knees and she reversed a takedown into top position. Cooper twice tried to use ankle picks to sweep, and attempted an armbar, but Ladd stayed on top until the bell. Ladd had Cooper in trouble with keylock attempts in the second round after taking her down. Cooper escaped, but Ladd cut her with elbows from mount and spun into a fight-ending armbar that forced Cooper to submit at the 4:42 mark of round two.
Opening up the card, Felicia “Phenom” Spencer (1-0-0) annihilated fellow pro debutant Rachel Wiley (0-1-0) in a lopsided lightweight bout. Spencer took Wiley down early on and landed numerous punches and elbows that caused hematomas to form all over Wiley’s forehead. Wiley wilted under the pressure and Spencer continued to tee off with elbows and left hands until the fight was mercifully waved off at the 3:32 mark of the opening round.
Full play-by-play for all bouts on the Invicta FC 14 card can be found here.
(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)