Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig picked up her second straight win inside the XFC cage today at Xtreme Fighting Championships 19: “Charlotte Showdown” in Charlotte, North Carolina. Herrig defeated fellow striker Simona Soukupova by Unanimous Decision after three rounds in the XFC 19 co-feature.
Herrig employed an effective strategy consisting of short strikes in the clinch and crisp jabs and leg kicks in the many exchanges throughout the fight. Soukupova rallied with a series of knees late in the final round, but it was not enough to steal the fight on the scorecards and Herrig emerged with the win.
Herrig (7-4-0) and Soukupova (2-2-0) traded punches early on and clinched against the cage. Herrig landed short punches and Soukupova countered with knees. The fighters continued to battle in close as Herrig looked for a takedown and Soukupova landed more knees. Herrig briefly backed away and quick kicks and punches were exchanged. Herrig clinched again and Soukupova landed more knees. Herrig answered with a nice combination and Soukupova closed out the close round with a standing elbow.
Herrig mixed up her strikes in the second round and put together quick combinations of punches as Soukupova struggled to land anything in return. Soukupova pushed forward, but Herrig stayed out of her range and landed counterpunches and kicks to the body. When Soukupova did land kicks of her own, they seemed to have little effect. After an exchange of left hooks, Herrig followed with a leg kick and a one-two. Soukupova landed her best punches late in the round, but Herrig answered back with a combination of her own and jabbed before the bell.
Soukupova had her greatest success in the final round. She backed Herrig up to the cage early on and landed an elbow. Herrig tagged her with jabs and quick right hands, but Soukupova put together a three-punch combination and forced Herrig to backpedal with more punches. Soukupova landed a right hook and Herrig immediately answered with a leg kick. Soukupova kept Herrig on the defensive with jabs and a grazing knee. One-twos connected for both fighters and Herrig landed a pair of leg kicks. Soukupova countered with a barrage of knees in the clinch and an elbow in the dying seconds.
Despite Soukupova’s aggressive offence in round three, two judges favoured Herrig’s counterpunches. Herrig took the victory on all three scorecards and continues her gradual rise up the ranks in the strawweight division.
Winner: Felice Herrig by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 7-4-0.
I was surprised with how much trouble Felice had, and I think it was a lot closer than the announcers were saying. Nevertheless, Felice continues to pile on wins and improve as a fighter. I hope she fights someone like Michelle Ould to really challenge herself.