Led by promoter and former fighter Wallid Ismail, Brazil’s first all-female promotion, Pink Fight MMA, held its first event on Sunday night in Porto Seguro, Bahia, Brazil. The eight-fight bill included a pair of late additions to the card and featured some of the country’s top female prospects.
In the night’s headliner, Kalindra Carvalho Faria survived a tough third round to take a Unanimous Decision victory over Maria Elisabete Tavares, who had won four straight fights. Jennifer Maia rebounded from the first defeat of her pro career by submitting Tatiane Aguiar in round two of the co-feature.
Faria (3-3-1) took Tavares (4-3-1) down early in their main event bout, but Tavares tied her up in guard and the referee soon brought the fighters back to their feet. Faria landed a pair of hooks and took Tavares down from a clinch. This time, she was very active with punches from the top. Faria stood and avoided upkicks while looking for opportunities to pass to side control. Tavares countered with a leglock attempt, but Faria avoided danger and closed out the round on top in mount.
Tavares clinched to avoid Faria’s wild punches in round two, but it was Faria who once again got the takedown. She passed to side control and slammed Tavares down after Tavares very briefly managed to battle back to her feet. Faria moved to mount and unloaded with punches as Tavares bucked to defend. After half a dozen solid shots, Tavares was forced to give up her back. Faria worked for a rear-naked choke and later an armbar, but Tavares scrambled up and landed knees to the body in the final minute.
Perhaps knowing that she was down on the scorecards, Tavares was aggressive with punches in the opening seconds of round three. Faria clinched, but Tavares landed some nice standing elbows against the cage before the referee called for a break. Faria took Tavares down, but this time Tavares managed to sweep and wound up in Faria’s half-guard. She escaped a headlock and landed punches. Faria tried to kick Tavares off, but Tavares used the opportunity to pass to mount and scored with punches before the fight came to a close.
Despite Tavares’s late rally, all three judges awarded the fight to Faria, who earned her second straight victory. Tavares’s four-fight winning streak was snapped with the defeat; her first since July 2010.
In one of two last-minute additions to the card, Maia (5-1-1) outgrappled Aguiar (0-1-0) to earn her fourth win by submission. Maia was able to take Aguiar down early in the second round and secured a fight-ending armbar at the 1:17 mark. Maia reigned unbeaten through her first five fights, but fell victim to an armbar from veteran Vanessa Porto in late October. Despite taking the Pink Fight bout on very short notice, Maia looked impressive in getting back on the winning track.
The night’s shortest bout saw Aline Sério (2-2-0) knock out Mylla “Souza” Torres (1-2-0) with punches in just 27 seconds. Sério returned to her winning ways with the quick victory after setbacks against Strikeforce veteran Carina Damm and the unbeaten Juliana “Thai” Carneiro Lima.
In the only other finish on the card, Cristiane Schmitz (1-0-0) won her pro debut by TKO when she stopped Rosana “Chun-Li” Albuquerque (1-1-0) with punches at the 2:56 mark of round three.
Remaining Pink Fight MMA 1 Results:
– Juliana Werner Aguiar (5-3-0) defeated Weyde Ventura (1-2-0) by Unanimous Decision.
– Hérica Tiburcio (2-0-0) defeated Alessandra “Cyborguinha” Silva (2-7-0) by Unanimous Decision.
– Vanessa Barbosa (2-0-0) defeated Jenifer Klinger (0-2-0) by Unanimous Decision.
– Kaká “Naja” (1-0-0) defeated Antonia “Maguila Gorilla” Deize (0-2-0) by Unanimous Decision.