Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger retained her 135-pound title with a dominant decision win tonight at Invicta Fighting Championships 17 in Costa Mesa, California. Evinger defeated a game but overmatched Colleen “The Thoroughbred” Schneider in the main event.
Tonight’s card also featured a second title fight. In the 115-pound co-feature, Angela “Overkill” Hill earned her third straight win and captured the Invicta FC Strawweight Championship by edging out the previously unbeaten Livia Renata “Livinha” Souza in an entertaining, back-and-forth five-round battle.
Evinger (19-5-0) overcame an early eye poke and took control of the striking exchanges in round one. She targeted her opponent’s lead leg with kicks and dropped Schneider (10-7-0) with a left hook. Schneider recovered, but Evinger jumped on her back and landed punches while working to set up a rear-naked choke. She spent the remainder of the one-sided round battering Schneider with punches and hammerfists from top position.
Rounds two and three were much closer, and Schneider had greater success on the feet, but Evinger once again scored key takedowns. Schneider secured a sweep in the second stanza, but Evinger countered with upkicks from the bottom and she finished the third round by slamming Schneider back down to the mat once more.
Evinger was relentless in her pursuit of a takedown in round four, and she finally got one against the cage. This allowed her to land numerous punches with her left hand while working for a rear-naked choke. In the final round, Schneider got off to a strong start with quick punches and kicks, but Evinger cracked her with a hard right hand and took her down. She closed out the fight by pinning Schneider against the fence and punching her thighs.
The judges, who returned a number of highly questionable scorecards earlier in the evening, were left with an easy decision in the main event. Scores were 49-45 and 50-44 twice for Evinger, who made her first official Invicta FC title defence with the Unanimous Decision victory. She has won nine straight fights including six inside the Invicta FC cage.
In the co-feature, Hill (5-2-0) rallied back after a shaky first round and she showcased much-improved takedown and submission defence en route to a close Split Decision victory over Souza (9-1-0). After an early exchange of strikes, Souza secured a takedown into side control in round one, but Hill defended well and fought her way back to full guard. Souza latched onto a guillotine choke in a scramble and Hill countered with elbows after escaping. Souza continued to hunt for submissions and she threatened with a kneebar before the bell.
From that point forward, momentum began to shift in favour of Hill, who used her crisp boxing skills and hard leg kicks to keep Souza at bay. Souza tried for takedowns and a flying guillotine choke in round two, but Hill stuffed most of the defending champion’s takedown attempts and she landed right hooks and quick flurries on the feet.
Rounds four and five were predominantly contested on the feet, where Hill took advantage of a fading Souza by picking her apart with combinations. Souza did score one takedown in round five, and she landed a right hand and a knee in an exchange. She took Hill down one more time shortly before the final bell and transitioned from a rear-naked choke to an armbar.
In spite of Souza’s late-fight rally, she had given away too many rounds during the middle portion of the bout. Judge Ron McCarthy still scored the fight 48-47 in her favour, but he was overruled by judges Jackie Denkin and Michael Bell, who both had it 48-47 for Hill. The standout striker now stands tall as Invicta FC’s new 115-pound champion.
In featured featherweight action, Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet (9-5-0) weathered a barrage of strikes from hard-hitting Latoya “Black Mamba” Walker (5-1-0) before scoring a come-from-behind knockout victory in sensational fashion.
Walker completely dominated the first three minutes of the fight on the feet and she rocked Tweet with overhand lefts and rights on multiple occasions. She mounted Tweet at one point, but Tweet kicked her off and the fighters clinched after another striking exchange. Tweet threw a spinning back elbow that allowed her to break free from Walker’s grasp and she countered a combination from Walker by landing a devastating spinning backfist. Walker collapsed to the mat and Tweet unloaded with punches until the fight was waved off at the 3:41 mark of round one.
At strawweight, Kaline “The Dark Angel” Medeiros (7-4-0) made the most of a short-notice opportunity by stopping veteran Alline “Hannibal” Sério (9-6-0) in the second round.
Medeiros kept Sério pinned down on the mat in the opening round and Sério’s lone offence came in the form of unsuccessful guillotine choke attempts. In round two, Medeiros slammed Sério down and she landed a series of left hands from the top. Sério scrambled up, but Medeiros rocked her with a right hook and promptly took her back down. She rained down punches and elbows to Sério’s face and liver. A final barrage of punches from Medeiros earned her a TKO victory at the 4:04 mark of round two.
Featherweight contender Megan Anderson (6-2-0) put forth the best performance of her career in a first-round stoppage win over prospect Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell (3-4-0).
Anderson rocked her opponent with a left hook in the opening seconds of the fight and she pressured Bell with a flurry of punches that backed her up against the cage. Bell eventually reversed a takedown into back control and she tried for a rear-naked choke, but Anderson showed off her much-improved submission defence and returned to her feet after landing some solid ground and pound from Bell’s guard. Anderson teed off with punches and a knee in a clinch. In the dying seconds, she hurt Bell with a head kick and dropped her with punches as time expired. Bell could not continue, and Anderson was awarded a TKO victory at the 5:00 mark of round one.
Tonight’s preliminary card featured a long-awaited flyweight bout between Christine “Knuckles” Stanley (5-1-0) and Shannon Sinn (2-3-0) that ended with Stanley’s hand raised after three rounds.
Stanley stunned Sinn with a big left hand early on, and she carefully picked her shots with punches and body kicks as the round progressed. Sinn landed a side kick to the body, but Stanley put together kick-punch combinations and she targeted Sinn’s lead leg, which swelled up as the fight entered the later rounds. Stanley’s ability to land step-in punches and kicks while avoiding Sinn’s counters put her well ahead on the scorecards by the time the final bell sounded. Scores were 29-28 and 30-27 twice for Stanley, whose Unanimous Decision victory ran her winning streak to four.
Also at flyweight, Rachael Ostovich (3-2-0) eked out a razor-thin Split Decision victory over Ariel Beck (4-3-0) in a bout that saw Ostovich in trouble on more than one occasion.
Beck targeted Ostovich’s body with punches and kicks throughout round one. She hurt the Hawaiian with a left hook to the liver and fought off a takedown, then scored with knees and elbows in a clinch. Beck reversed a takedown in round two and landed some nice ground and pound, but Ostovich stole the round with rear-naked choke and armbar attempts after scoring a crucial takedown into back control. Beck floored Ostovich with a left hook in round three and she appeared to be on her way to a decision victory until Ostovich secured another crucial takedown. She threatened with a keylock and a guillotine choke late in the round. Judge Michael Bell saw the fight 29-28 for Beck, but judges Jackie Denkin and Ron McCarthy both had it 29-28 for Ostovich.
Opening up the card, Laura “Hot Head” Howarth (3-1-0) took a highly controversial Split Decision victory over pro debutant Alexa Conners (0-1-0) in bantamweight action.
Conners outstruck Howarth on the feet and appeared to win all three rounds with her crisp punches and chopping leg kicks. Howarth had her moments, and she landed some powerful leg kicks of her own, but Conners kept her backing up throughout. She landed one-twos and overhand rights that snapped Howarth’s head back and forced her to retreat to the cage. In spite of Conners’s strong performance, only judge Michael Bell saw the fight 29-28 in her favour. Judges Jackie Denkin and Ron McCarthy both absurdly scored it 29-28 for Howarth, whose pro wins have all come via controversial decisions.
Full play-by-play for all bouts on the Invicta FC 17 card can be found here.
(Photo Credit: Invicta Fighting Championships)