Unbeaten prospect Ashley “Smashley” Cummins continued her rise up the ranks with another victory tonight, but the win did not come easily. Cummins took a close but Unanimous Decision victory over Stephanie “Macaquinha” Frausto at NAAFS: “Caged Fury 16” in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Cummins was able to score multiple takedowns during the abridged fight, which was contested under three-minute rounds due to a misunderstanding with the West Virginia athletic commission. Frausto gamely fought back with submissions, but Cummins earned the nod from all three judges.

Cummins (2-0-0 pro; 10-0-0 overall) set up an early takedown with punches in the first round, but had to fight off armbar attempts and elbows from Frausto (2-4-0), who showed marked improvement. Cummins continued to strike from the top, but Frausto spun into an armbar and used it to sweep. Frausto landed with punches from top position, but Cummins closed out the round with another takedown.

Despite confusion over the abridged round length, the bout continued and Cummins promptly took her opponent down to the mat in round two. She moved to half-guard and scored with punches and elbows, but some strayed to the back of Frausto’s head. Time was called and Cummins was deducted a point. Undeterred, Cummins slammed Frausto down to finish the 9-9 round.

With the fight seemingly up for grabs heading into round three, Cummins looked to follow up on her success from the second stanza with another takedown. She again moved to half-guard and landed hard punches as Frausto rolled to her sides to defend. The fighters returned to their feet late in the round and Frausto trapped Cummins in a guillotine choke, but Cummins made it to the bell.

Despite the lost point in round two and razor-thin opening round, Cummins was awarded the decision victory on all three judges’ scorecards to earn the second pro victory of her career. The 24-year-old St. Louis police officer has now won all ten of her mixed martial arts bouts.

Frausto, who returned to the cage for the first time since a September 2010 Split Decision setback, arguably put on the best performance of her career in defeat and was particularly impressive with her submission attempts from the bottom.

Winner: Ashley Cummins by Unanimous Decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27) after three 3:00 rounds. She improves to 2-0-0.