Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink picked up her second straight victory tonight at Xtreme Fighting Championships 23: “Louisville Slugfest” in Louisville, Kentucky. Eggink outpointed late replacement opponent Brianna “Tha Bull” VanBuren in a back-and-forth strawweight bout on the televised main card.
Eggink was originally scheduled to compete for the inaugural XFC women’s strawweight title tonight, but her championship fight was changed when opponent Angela Magana withdrew due to injury. VanBuren started strong in all three rounds, but Eggink rallied late in the fight to take the decision win.
Eggink (3-1-0) worked for submissions from her back after VanBuren (1-1-0) took the fight to the ground in the opening round. She postured for an armbar and VanBuren used a slam to escape. VanBuren stood and kicked at Eggink’s legs until Eggink got back to her feet. Eggink tried to take VanBuren’s back in the clinch against the cage, but VanBuren prevented her from doing so and landed punches to the body. VanBuren scored with a knee and defended against a guillotine choke late in the round.
VanBuren opened the action in round two with a leg kick and a left cross and she quickly closed the distance to clinch again. Eggink countered with a knee and the fighters battled for position until referee Gary Copeland separated them. Eggink landed a combination and countered a takedown with a triangle choke. She switched to a triangle armbar and back to a triangle choke, but VanBuren held on and escaped just before the bell.
With the fight seemingly even after ten minutes, VanBuren landed kick-punch combos in the final round and Eggink responded with a quick flurry. VanBuren scored a takedown and moved from half-guard to mount, but Eggink hooked her legs around VanBuren’s arms and escaped out the back. VanBuren attempted an armbar and upkicked from her back. The fight returned to the feet and Eggink secured a takedown into back control. She spent the remainder of the round working for rear-naked chokes and landing punches as time ticked down.
After three competitive rounds, Eggink was awarded the decision victory and she will likely move on to compete for the XFC 115-pound title that was initially set to be up for grabs tonight. Eggink reportedly fought through the flu in order to achieve her win over the 19-year-old VanBuren, who put on an excellent showing in defeat.
Winner: Stephanie Eggink by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 3-1-0.
(Photo Credit: For Your Eyes Only Photography)