Brazilian standout Jennifer Maia scored the biggest victory of her MMA career in the co-main event of Invicta Fighting Championships 16 tonight in Las Vegas, Nevada. Maia avenged a past loss by defeating countrywoman Vanessa Porto for the Invicta FC Interim Flyweight Championship.
The Maia-Porto rematch was one of two flyweight bouts to split Fight of the Night honours on tonight’s card. Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio and Andrea “KGB” Lee also earned $1500 Fight of the Night bonuses, while strawweight Angela “Overkill” Hill took home a $1000 Performance of the Night bonus.
Maia (13-4-1) was dropped and almost finished by a right hand from Porto (18-7-0) early in the opening round, but she weathered a storm of strikes from Porto and ultimately took control of the fight in the final 15 minutes. Maia countered Porto’s takedowns by working for submissions in round three, and she secured a tight armbar midway through round four. In the final round, Maia took Porto down and she closed out the fight with a kimura attempt before the bell. The back-and-forth fight went to the judges, who awarded a Unanimous Decision win to Maia with scores of 49-46 and 48-47 twice.
In preliminary action, D’Alelio (9-6-0) made a successful flyweight debut by submitting Lee (4-2-0) late in the third round of a potential title eliminator. Lee outstruck D’Alelio with punches, kicks and knees in round one, but D’Alelio fared much better in the middle stanza with submission attempts on the ground. Lee rocked her with a combination in round three, but D’Alelio secured a key takedown that allowed her to transition to Lee’s back. She trapped Lee in a rear-naked choke and Lee reluctantly tapped out at the 4:21 mark of the final round.
Fresh off of a victory at Invicta FC 15 in January, Hill (4-2-0) stepped in on short notice tonight and knocked out former strawweight title challenger Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink (4-3-0). Hill countered Eggink’s kicks in round one by landing right hands and crisp combinations. The fighters traded strikes in round two until Hill landed a massive right hand that sent Eggink crashing to the mat. Referee Kim Winslow was slow to stop the fight, but eventually intervened at the 2:36 mark of round two.