On Friday night, submission ace Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler picked up her 14th career victory and second championship of 2010 when she stopped Elaina “Beef” Maxwell. The featured 140-pound title bout was part of The Cage Inc.’s “Battle At The Border 7” in North Dakota.
Also on the card, Bellator veteran Jessica Pene dropped down in weight and put on an impressive performance in her strawweight debut. The California native dominated Muay Thai practitioner Amy “Lil’ Dynamite” Davis on the ground before finishing the fight with a first-round rear-naked choke.
Baszler (14-6-0) and Maxwell (4-4-0) engaged in a striking battle early in their co-main event bout and Baszler held her own against the more experienced kickboxer. Maxwell scored with a solid combination near the cage that bloodied Baszler’s nose and prompted her to clinch. The South Dakota native tried to take Maxwell down and eventually got the fight to the mat very briefly.
Maxwell fought back with elbows as she worked to her feet and Baszler took partial back control as the fighters stood. She wrapped herself around Maxwell’s right leg and rolled into a kneebar. Maxwell held on, but Baszler pulled back on the leg and applied added pressure on Maxwell’s ankle, which forced Maxwell to submit.
The victory was Baszler’s 13th by way of submission and earned her a second championship title for the year. Baszler previously won the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix Championship in June.
Winner: Shayna Baszler by Submission (Kneebar) at 4:03 of round one. She improves to 14-6-0 and becomes the first TCI Women’s 140-Pound Champion.
Earlier in the night, Pene (8-1-0) and Davis (1-1-0, 1 NC) engaged in an entertaining battle that saw a much more aggressive Pene overwhelm Davis late in the first round. Pene pushed forward right away and backed Davis up to the cage where the fighters traded knees in close. Pene took Davis down and held mount briefly, but lost the position during an armbar attempt. Davis could not capitalise and Pene quickly tripped her to the mat again. Pene stacked Davis near the cage, then scored with hard punches from a standing position.
More punches landed for Pene as the round wore on, but she left a leg in and Davis held on in search of a heel hook. Pene had none of it and spun free, then worked from Davis’s guard. Again, she pressed Davis up against the cage and punished her with punches from the top before moving to half-guard. As Pene threw punches and looked to pass to mount, Davis rolled and gave up her back. Pene quickly took advantage and sunk in both hooks before securing a rear-naked choke for the submission victory.
After ring rust appeared to hinder her performance against Zoila Frausto in the Bellator 115-pound women’s tournament earlier this year, Pene looked to be a completely different fighter at 106 pounds and scored an impressive victory in her first fight in the division. With other fighters considering a move down to strawweight, Pene may have a solid list of potential opponents in 2011.
Winner: Jessica Pene by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:12 of round one. She improves to 8-1-0 with the win.
In the night’s main event, TCI Welterweight Champion Matt Delanoit moved his record to 19-10-0, 1 NC with a successful title defence against DREAM veteran David “Hello Japan” Gardner. Delanoit softened Gardner up with knees in a clinch before taking the fight to the ground. He transitioned to Gardner’s back and landed punches in an effort to set up a rear-naked choke. Gardner defended, but Delanoit moved to full mount position and unloaded with punches until the referee stopped the fight. The win was Delanoit’s fifth in a row.
Winner: Matt Delanoit by TKO (Punches) at 2:09 of round one. He improves to 19-10-0, 1 NC and remains the TCI Welterweight Champion.
Full TCI: “Battle At The Border 7” Results:
– Matt Delanoit defeated David Gardner by TKO (Punches) at 2:09 of round one.
– Shayna Baszler defeated Elaina Maxwell by Submission (Kneebar) at 4:03 of round one.
– Jonathan Knutson defeated Ted Worthington by Unanimous Decision after three 5:00 rounds.
– Charlie DuBray defeated Zack Schroeder by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:28 of round two.
– Jessica Pene defeated Amy Davis by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:12 of round one.
– TJ Medrud defeated Ben Crowder by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 4:09 of round one.
– Sheldon Martin defeated James Harrington by KO (Punches) at 4:38 of round one.
– Tchad-Tu Henderson defeated Starr Roberts Jr. by TKO (Punches) at 2:45 of round one.
– Yancy Cuellar defeated Jeremy Small by TKO (Punches) at 4:03 of round one.
