Invicta FC 13 Results: Cyborg Retains, Evinger & Hamasaki Win BigInvicta FC Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino retained her title with another quick and violent victory on Thursday night at Invicta Fighting Championships 13 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Justino stopped Faith “The Immortal” Van Duin early in round one of the Invicta FC 13 headliner.

Two new Invicta FC champions were also crowned on Thursday. Veteran standout Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger dominated Irene Aldana en route to capturing the vacant Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship, while Ayaka Hamasaki took the Invicta FC atomweight title from Hérica Tibúrcio.

 

Justino (14-1-0, 1 ND) wasted no time in taking the fight to Van Duin (5-2-0), and she attacked with a one-two and a flurry of punches in the clinch early on. Van Duin retreated to the cage and Justino teed off with more punches and a knee to the body that dropped Van Duin to the mat. Justino gave her no time to recover and swarmed with punches until the fight was stopped at the 45-second mark.

Following her successful title defence, Justino once again called out UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. However, in spite of her clear dominance at 145, Justino has yet to show any indication at all that she will be able to cut down to 135 pounds – or even 140 – for a bout with Rousey, and it remains to be seen whether the fight will ever take place.

 

In the Invicta FC 13 co-feature, Evinger (17-5-0) put forth one of her best performances to date and capped off a remarkable career resurgence by stopping Aldana (5-2-0) with fourth-round punches to become the new Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion.

Evinger took advantage of an early slip from Aldana by attempting a toe hold and a kneebar on the ground. Aldana fought her way free, but Evinger took top position and she moved to mount soon after. Aldana somehow escaped from two deep armbars, including one that had her in a ton of trouble, but Evinger remained active with submission attempts and ground and pound.

It was more of the same from Evinger in rounds two and three, and she continued to control the fight on the mat. Aldana’s right eye began to swell shut from Evinger’s constant pressure with punches and short elbows, but she made it to the championship rounds.

Evinger appeared to slow down somewhat in round four and Aldana landed some nice kicks early on. However, Evinger secured a crucial takedown into back control, and she soon locked on an arm-triangle choke from mount. Aldana pulled her head free, but Evinger blasted her with more punches until the fight was finally stopped at the 4:38 mark of round four.

The championship win was a long time coming for Evinger, who struggled against high-level opposition during the middle of her career. She has now won seven straight fights and has shown tremendous improvements to her game during her time with Invicta FC, where she now holds a prestigious title.

 

Former Jewels champion Hamasaki (12-1-0) at last accomplished on Thursday night what many Japanese fighters before her have failed to do. Hamasaki became Japan’s first female MMA fighter to capture a major international title by outgrappling former champ Tibúrcio (9-3-0) for the Invicta FC Atomweight Championship.

Hamasaki got the better of the boxing exchanges early in round one, but Tibúrcio hurt her with a body kick and jumped into a tight guillotine choke that nearly finished the fight. Hamasaki rallied in round two with a key takedown that led to a prolonged period of top control and ground and pound. Tibúrcio kept the fight close with a number of submission attempts in round three, and she took Hamasaki’s back after a failed guard pass.

As the close fight entered round four, Hamasaki rushed forward and took Tibúrcio down into mount. She spent most of the round working from the top, in spite of a series of inexplicable standups from referee Kim Winslow, who served as little more than a nuisance to the fighters. Hamasaki threatened with a keylock in the final round and landed more ground and pound that sealed the bout in her favour.

Judge Lester Griffin saw the fight 48-47 for Tibúrcio. Judges Glenn Trowbridge and Adalaide Byrd had it 49-46 and 48-47, respectively, for Hamasaki, who took the Split Decision win in front of mentor Megumi Fujii. The victory drew high praise from other female fighters in Japan.

 

Cage Warriors champ Pannie “Banzai” Kianzad (8-0-0) kept her undefeated record intact in her Invicta FC debut with a clear-cut Unanimous Decision win over multi-time Australian titleholder Jessica-Rose “Jessy Jess” Clark (5-2-0) in featured bantamweight action.

Kianzad landed some nice combinations early in round one and she secured a late takedown that allowed her to score with elbows from the top in half-guard. She took Clark back down in round two and landed more elbows before transitioning to an inverted triangle keylock. Clark escaped and countered with an armbar, but Kianzad landed hammerfists late in the round. She outboxed Clark on the feet in round three and hurt Clark with two knees to the body shortly before the final bell. Scores were 30-27 across the board for Kianzad, who remains a fast-rising star at 135.

 

Atomweight contender Amber “The Bully” Brown (5-1-0) made a strong case for an Invicta FC title shot with an extremely dominant mauling of the previously unbeaten Catherine “The Alpha Female” Costigan (5-1-0). Brown was in complete control of the fight from start to finish. She battered Costigan with punches and elbows from mount, and even attempted an Ezekiel choke. Brown then tried for an arm-triangle before taking Costigan’s back and flattening her out. She used punches to set up a fight-ending rear-naked choke and Costigan tapped out at the 3:34 mark.

 

Jamie Moyle (3-0-0) showed once again why she is one of the top prospects on the Invicta FC roster with a hard-fought Split Decision victory over Amy “The Resurrection” Cadwell Montenegro (6-2-0) in a strawweight bout. Moyle threatened with a rear-naked choke and a series of armbars on the mat in round one, and she finished the round on top. She mixed things up in round two with punch-kick combos and a takedown that appeared to put her ahead on the scorecards.

Montenegro rallied with some hard knees to the body and more strikes in the clinch in round three, but it was not quite enough. Judge Tony Weeks scored the competitive fight 29-28 for Montenegro, but judges Patricia Morse Jarman and Junichiro Kamijo both had it 29-28 for the rightful winner, Moyle.

 

In the featherweight opener, Amber Leibrock (1-0-0) made a big statement in her pro debut by knocking out highly-touted judoka Marina “The Supernova From Moldova” Shafir (1-2-0) in 37 seconds. Leibrock countered an early right hand from Shafir by landing two hard right hooks of her own. Shafir collapsed backwards to the mat and tried in vain to lock on a heel hook. Leibrock dropped a series of right hands from the top until Shafir was rendered unconscious and the fight was stopped.

Full play-by-play for all bouts on the Invicta FC 13 card can be found here. The promotion’s next event, Invicta FC 14, takes place on September 12th in Kansas City, Missouri, and is headlined by an Invicta FC Strawweight Championship bout between Livia Renata Souza and Alexa Grasso.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)