Veteran Russian contender Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya made the most of a big opportunity and shocked the MMA world at Invicta Fighting Championships 20 tonight in Kansas City, Missouri. Kunitskaya submitted Tonya “Triple Threat” Evinger to become the new Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion.
Evinger entered tonight’s championship main event as a heavy favourite, but Kunitskaya secured a first-round armbar for the upset victory. In the Invicta FC 20 co-main event, strawweight champion Angela “Overkill” Hill retained her title with a decision win over Kaline “The Dark Angel” Medeiros.
Kunitskaya (10-2-0) was taken down by Evinger (19-6-0) mere seconds into the opening round tonight, and the defending champion scored with a series of short elbow strikes from the top. Kunitskaya countered with a slick armbar from the bottom and Evinger began to stand on her opponent’s face as a means of defending against the submission hold. She was admonished by referee Mike England, even though she had not committed a foul, and was forced to adjust her stance. Kunitskaya wrenched back on the armbar and a dejected Evinger tapped out at the 1:59 mark of round one.
The title-winning victory was a huge one for Kunitskaya, who was making her Invicta FC debut after a modest 1-1 start to the year that included an upset loss to Zaira “Golden Girl” Dyshekova in March. The 27-year-old has won eight of her past nine fights, while Evinger tasted defeat tonight for the first time since July 2011. She plans to appeal the referee’s decision.
Hill (6-2-0), whose opponent for tonight was changed twice leading up to the event, had a tough fight on her hands against Medeiros (8-5-0) but ultimately prevailed via a well-deserved Unanimous Decision.
After an early exchange of right hands and leg kicks, Medeiros took Hill down in round one and found herself trapped in a triangle choke. Hill chained together submission attempts throughout the round and stifled Medeiros’s offence from the top. Medeiros’s best success came in the second stanza, and she scored an early takedown that allowed her to take Hill’s back. On the feet, Medeiros landed a spinning back kick and a hard right hook that led to another takedown before the bell.
Hill reversed a takedown in round three and struck from the top, and she traded kicks and right hooks with Medeiros after the fight returned to the feet. Medeiros took her down and Hill locked on another triangle choke from her back. Save for a takedown reversal from Hill in round four, the remaining ten minutes of the fight were contested on the feet and Hill got the better of many of the exchanges with her superior speed and footwork. She avoided most of Medeiros’s punches and landed some nice kicks before the end of the bout.
Scores were 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47 for Hill, who retained her title with the hard-fought win. She has shown tremendous improvement in each bout since signing with Invicta FC.
Former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Hérica Tibúrcio (10-4-0) halted a two-fight losing skid with an impressive Unanimous Decision win over Simona “Lil’ Evil” Soukupova (5-5-1) tonight.
Tibúrcio, who was once known primarily as a grappler, showed off her much-improved striking skills throughout tonight’s featured three-round matchup. In round one, she landed hard kicks to the body and took Soukupova down after stunning her with a right hook. Tibúrcio postured up with punches and hammerfists that left Soukupova’s eye swollen. Tibúrcio mixed up her strikes with kick-punch combos in the second round, but Soukupova did manage to land a powerful right hook shortly before the bell.
Round three was Soukupova’s best, and she connected with a huge right hand that led to a clinch against the fence. Soukupova stayed busy with knees to the leg and body, and blasted Tibúrcio with more big punches and knees in the second half of the round. Tibúrcio took Soukupova down with mere seconds to go and Soukupova countered with a last-second triangle choke.
Scores were 29-28 across the board for Tibúrcio, who bounced back from decision losses to current Invicta FC Atomweight Champion Ayaka Hamasaki and recent title challenger Jinh Yu Frey.
Earlier on the card, TUF 23 alum Ashley “The Spider Monkey” Yoder (5-1-0) spoiled former Invicta FC atomweight title challenger Amber “The Bully” Brown’s (6-3-0) return to 115 pounds. Brown mounted Yoder in round one and looked for an arm-triangle choke, but Yoder scrambled from the bottom and transitioned from a triangle choke to an omoplata, and then from a kimura to a toe hold before the bell. She scored two more takedowns in the second round and used hammerfists to set up a belly-down armbar that forced Brown to submit at the 2:31 mark of round two. Yoder did miss weight by one pound.
Despite coming in well above the bantamweight limit, Pam “Bam” Sorenson (5-1-0) made a successful Invicta FC debut by outpointing Jessica-Rose “Jessy Jess” Clark (6-3-0, 1 NC). Sorenson took Clark down very briefly in the closely-contested first round, which saw both fighters land some decent strikes on the feet. Sorenson attacked with armbars and triangle chokes, as well as nasty elbow strikes from her back, in rounds two and three. Her ground control earned her 30-27 scorecards from judges Henry Gueary and Fernando Marques, while Ross Swanberg bizarrely had it 29-28 for Clark.
Strawweight prospect J.J. Aldrich (4-1-0) racked up her third straight win by outworking Lynn “Weapon X” Alvarez (6-5-0) on the feet tonight. Aldrich hurt Alvarez with punches in rounds one and two, and she secured a takedown in the middle stanza that allowed her to land a series of left hands and a knee as Alvarez rose back up to her feet. Both women landed right hands in the final round and Aldrich bloodied Alvarez’s swollen eye and nose with jabs and combinations. All three judges saw the fight 30-27 in favour of Aldrich, who continues to impress in each outing.
After suffering a highly controversial Split Decision loss at Invicta FC 17 in March, Alexa Conners (1-1-0) notched her first pro win tonight. Conners easily defeated judoka Stephanie Egger (2-1-0) in a bout that was nowhere near as close as the judges’ scorecards might suggest. Conners picked Egger apart with kicks and punches in round one, and her lone moment of danger came when Egger briefly took her back after a failed body kick. Round two was closer, and Egger began to find her range, but Conners battered her with punches in the final round that was dominant enough to warrant a 10-8 score. In spite of this, judge Henry Gueary unfathomably scored the fight 29-28 for Egger. Judges Kevin Champion and Fernando Marques both had it 29-28 for Conners.
Opening up tonight’s card, teen prospect Miranda Maverick (1-0-0) secured her first professional victory by submitting Samantha Diaz (0-1-0) in what was intended to be a strawweight bout. Maverick, who missed weight by close to three pounds, threw Diaz to the mat in the opening round and fought off an armbar and a heel hook attempt. When Diaz gave up her back, Maverick immediately seized the opportunity and locked on a rear-naked choke. Diaz held on initially, but she had nowhere to go and tapped out at the 4:26 mark of round one.
Full play-by-play for all bouts on the Invicta FC 20 card can be found here.
(Photo Credit: Invicta Fighting Championships)