Hard-hitting Minnesotan Kaitlin Young earned her fifth knockout victory and first of 2011 on Saturday night in the main event of Freestyle Cage Fighting 49 in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Young stopped late replacement opponent Liz Carreiro with strikes at the 4:47 mark of the opening round.

The co-main event of the FCF card did not go as planned, as both Sarah Ward-Maloy and Amanda “Red Fox” LaVoy backed out of their fight and have been indefinitely suspended. Other weekend winners included Darla Harris in Pueblo, Colorado and Shino VanHoose in Tokyo, Japan.

Competing for the first time since a close decision loss to Julie “Fireball” Kedzie in April, Young (5-5-0)* got back on the winning track with a strong performance on Saturday. Young had originally been set to face Jan “Cuddles” Finney on the card, but instead battled local favourite Carreiro (5-8-0) and picked up a TKO stoppage late in the first round. Young opened her career with four straight knockout wins before suffering an equal number of losses. Despite fight cancellations, she is now 1-1 this year and will bring momentum into her next fight.

A planned bout between Ward-Maloy (2-2-0) and LaVoy (2-4-0) was scrapped after both fighters refused to compete. Ward-Maloy requested that the bout be held under three, three-minute rounds, rather than five-minute rounds. LaVoy declined and a compromise could not be reached backstage. As a result, neither fighter walked out to the cage to compete. The Citizen Potawatomi Nation Athletic Commission has since levied indefinite suspensions upon both women, pending an official hearing.

Results for the remainder of the all-female Freestyle Cage Fighting charity card are available below.

Freestyle Cage Fighting 49: “Fight Strong For The Cure” Results:

– Kaitlin Young defeated Liz Carreiro by TKO (Punches) at 4:47 of round one. She improves to 5-5-0 with the win.

– Heather “Hurricane” Clark defeated Sarah “Too Sweet” Alpar by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:28 of round three. She improves to 4-1-0 with the win.

– “Miss” Mollie Ahlers-Estes defeated Lacie Jackson by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. She improves to 1-0-0.

– Latoya Walker defeated Jackie Enos by KO (Punches) at 0:43 of round one. She improves to 1-0-0 with the win.

– Angela Baltimore defeated LaNita Jackson by Submission at 1:01 of round three in an amateur bout.

– Jade De Haas defeated Candace Eich by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds in an amateur bout.

– Ashley Delk defeated Nikki Lowe by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds in an amateur bout.

– Jinh Yu defeated Cristina Crist by Split Decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds in an amateur bout.

– Kathina Caton defeated Cheryl Boling by TKO (Punches) at 0:47 of round three in an amateur bout.

*Note: The credited record of Young does not include a September 24, 2010 Ultimate Women Challenge bout; the result of which remain under wraps due to ongoing litigation.

Also on Saturday night at Bring The Thunder MMA 2: “Genesis” in Pueblo, Colorado, 20-year-old Darla Harris (1-0-0) made a successful pro debut by upsetting former training partner Jennifer “Lil’ Ice” Berg (2-4-0). Displaying much-improved technique, Harris held her own in the striking exchanges and fared well in the clinch with Muay Thai knees. She took Berg down in round one and landed strikes from the top, but Berg reversed in the later stages and scored with punches of her own.

Rounds two and three were spent almost entirely on the feet, as neither fighter was able to take the bout to the mat and a series of clinches followed. Harris managed to retain a slight edge in the striking and prevented Berg from bullying her in the clinch. Both fighters landed solid knee strikes, but it was Harris who did enough to earn a Unanimous Decision victory after three 5:00 rounds.

Winner: Darla Harris by Unanimous Decision after three rounds. She improves to 1-0-0.

Sunday night at Pancrase Impressive Tour 10 in Tokyo, Japan, 16-year-old grappler Shino VanHoose (1-0-0) picked up her first mixed martial arts victory with a quick and dominant submission win over Nana “Chanchin” Ichikawa (0-12-0). VanHoose took her opponent down and moved straight to mount within the first 15 seconds and worked to set up a no-gi Ezekiel Choke from the top. She secured the hold and referee Yoshinori Umeki moved in to stop the bout before Ichikawa lost consciousness.

Winner: Shino VanHoose by Technical Submission (Ezekiel Choke) at 0:51 of round one. She improves to 1-0-0.