Invicta Fighting Championships showcased its latest all-female fight card at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas tonight. Invicta FC 47 was headlined by a strawweight title bout between new champ Emily “Gordinha” Ducote and former 105-pound atomweight titleholder Alesha “Half Pint” Zappitella.
In the co-main event, Courtney “The Lion” King faced off against Chelsea Chandler at featherweight. Also on the card, Lindsey “Damsel” VanZandt took on Jillian “Lionheart” DeCoursey in an atomweight contender’s bout. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for tonight’s Invicta FC 47 event.
Invicta FC Atomweight Championship
Emily “Gordinha” Ducote vs Alesha “Half Pint” Zappitella
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Nick Berens. Zappitella switched stances frequently and circled on the outside. She darted in with a quick one-two and Ducote landed a lead left hook. She caught a kick from Zappitella and tagged her with three right hands before Zappitella pulled her leg free. Ducote landed a straight right and a long jab. Zappitella clinched with Ducote against the cage and threw right hands to her stomach. Ducote circled out with 30 seconds to go and landed a right cross. She followed up with a left-right combo and countered a Zappitella leg kick with a lead left hook before the bell. 10-9 Ducote, just barely.
Round 2:
Ducote backed Zappitella up with a lead left hook and dropped her to her knees with two right hooks. Zappitella tried to drag her down, but Ducote stayed on her feet. Zappitella’s left eye rapidly swelled shut and Ducote opened a cut beside it with a jab. Zappitella dove at Ducote’s lower legs and got got her down to her knees against the cage. Ducote stood and broke free from the clinch. She stuffed a takedown and landed an elbow to Zappitella’s already damaged eye. 10-9 Ducote.
Between rounds, the cageside doctor checked on Zappitella’s cut, which was a bad one on the base of her left upper eyelid. The doctor waved off the fight, giving Ducote a TKO victory to retain her title.
Winner: Emily Ducote by TKO (Doctor Stoppage) at 5:00 of round two. She improves to 11-6-0 and remains the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion.
Chelsea Chandler vs Courtney “The Lion” King
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Marcio Laselva. Chandler scored an early leg-sweep takedown straight into mount. King gave up her back and then shrimped back to half-guard. Chandler eyed a shoulder choke from the top, but King escaped and kicked her off. The fighters stood and Chandler punched her way into a clinch against the cage. King tried to trip her, but Chandler reversed it and wound up on top in side control. She struck from the top until King battled back to her feet. Chandler tied her up in a clinch until the bell. 10-9 Chandler.
Round 2:
Chandler opened a cut above King’s left eye with a punch to begin round two, but King dropped her to a knee with a counter right hook. Chandler regained her footing and held King against the cage. King reversed the clinch momentarily, but Chandler spun her around again and threw knees to her leg and body. The fighters were separated for no reason and Chandler immediately clinched again. King circled away and an exchange of leg kicks followed. King continued to strike from a distance with front kicks to the body until Chandler tied her up in another clinch. King tripped Chandler right before the bell. Closer round, but still 10-9 Chandler.
Round 3:
Chandler took King down into full guard in the final round. King tried to kick her off, but Chandler passed to half-guard and tried to free her knee to move to mount. King maintained half-guard, but she was unable to kick Chandler off and Chandler used short left hands to set up a pass to side control with just over 30 seconds to go. King got all the way back to full guard and kicked Chandler off, and she followed her to the feet. 10-9 Chandler.
Winner: Chelsea Chandler by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 4-1-0.
Jillian “Lionheart” DeCoursey vs Lindsey “Damsel” VanZandt
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Marcio Laselva. VanZandt countered a DeCoursey body kick with a right hand in the opening seconds. DeCoursey circled on the outside and landed a massive right hook that sent an unconscious VanZandt crashing to the mat. DeCoursey landed two follow-up hammerfists before the fight could be stopped, but the right hook did all of the damage. Vicious knockout.
Winner: Jillian DeCoursey by KO (Punch) at 1:01 of round one. She improves to 5-3-0.
Liana “Li” Ferreira Pirosin vs Janaisa “Evil Princess” Morandin
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Nick Berens. Pirosin had success on the feet with jabs and two knees during the opening minutes of the fight as the smaller Morandin tried to find her range. She caught a kick from Pirosin and tripped her to the mat, but Pirosin quickly returned to her feet. Morandin landed a right hook and Pirosin threw a front kick in response. She countered a leg kick from Morandin with a hard right hand and one more knee. Late in the round, Pirosin landed a left-right combo and a leg kick. 10-9 Pirosin.
Round 2:
Pirosin scored with knees to Morandin’s body during a clinch early in round two. Each time Morandin threw a leg kick, Pirosin cracked her with a right hand. Morandin landed a body kick and she was immediately countered with a hard right hook in response. Pirosin landed two left hooks and Morandin blocked a head kick. Pirosin connected with two straight rights and she attacked Morandin’s body with a lead left hook. A head kick partially landed for Pirosin and Morandin answered with a right hand. 10-9 Pirosin.
Round 3:
The fighters clinched in the final round and both landed knees to the body. Pirosin broke free with two right hooks over the top. She backed Morandin up with a one-two and Morandin shot in for a takedown. She got Pirosin down into half-guard and then passed to S-mount. Pirosin got back to half-guard, but not before eating some left hands to her face from Morandin. Morandin postured up with two elbows and she punched the left side of Pirosin’s body. Pirosin tried to tie Morandin up, but Morandin got in some solid strikes from the top before the end of the fight. 10-9 Morandin. The fight is a Draw if the judges award Morandin with a 10-8 in round three.
Winner: Liana Ferreira Pirosin by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. She improves to 8-4-0.
Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus vs Brittney “The Quiet Storm” Cloudy
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Nick Berens. Cloudy established her jab right away and DeJesus countered with an overhand left. She landed a body kick and Cloudy responded with a jab-cross combo. She ducked under a looping hook from DeJesus and landed an uppercut in close, then held DeJesus against the cage. DeJesus landed an elbow and Cloudy broke away after landing a knee to the body. Cloudy landed another jab-cross combo and DeJesus began to attack her lead leg with kicks. Cloudy clinched and she landed an elbow behind DeJesus’s left ear. DeJesus yelled and indicated that the strike had landed to the back of her head, but replays showed that the strike appeared to land legally. 10-9 Cloudy.
Round 2:
DeJesus was more aggressive with her punches in the second round, but Cloudy dropped levels and took her down. DeJesus quickly worked back to her feet and landed left hands on the way up. She backed Cloudy up with a four-punch combo and followed that up with elbows against the cage. Cloudy countered with two knees to the body and she landed another knee soon after in a brief clinch. DeJesus landed punches with her left hand and right elbow strikes in close. Cloudy pushed her away, but DeJesus initiated another clinch and she landed two elbows and a high knee. A left hook scored for DeJesus late in the round. 10-9 DeJesus.
Round 3:
DeJesus charged at Cloudy with looping punches in the final round. Cloudy landed some solid right hands in return, but they did not slow DeJesus down and she clinched after landing an overhand left. Cloudy briefly pushed her away, but DeJesus was relentless with her pressure and she tied Cloudy up in another clinch after tagging her with a flurry of punches. When the fighters separated, DeJesus landed a left hook and a liver kick that hurt Cloudy and backed her up to the cage. Cloudy recovered and the fighters exchanged short elbows to each other’s faces. DeJesus threw short right uppercuts to Cloudy’s jaw and left hooks to her liver. 10-9 DeJesus.
Winner: Serena DeJesus by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 5-2-0.
Fatima “The Archangel” Kline vs Sidney “Sid Vicious” Trillo
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Marcio Laselva. After an early exchange of jabs, Kline landed a right hook and quickly took Trillo down into half-guard. She landed more right hands and took partial back control while working for a rear-naked choke. Kline moved to a three-quarter mount and peppered Trillo with punches to her face, then returned to back control and trapped Trillo in a body triangle. Kline finally secured a rear-naked choke with 50 seconds to go, but Trillo broke her grip. Kline briefly locked on one more rear-naked choke and Trillo escaped once more. Dominance from Kline on the ground. 10-8 Kline.
Round 2:
Kline countered a right uppercut from Trillo with a body-lock takedown into half-guard. She passed to side control and prevented Trillo from kicking off of the cage. Kline landed a knee to the body and elbows to Trillo’s face. When Trillo tried to scramble up, Kline kept her down and passed to mount. She landed three hard punches from the top, then trapped Trillo in an Anaconda Choke grip. Kline did not roll with the choke, and instead gave it up in favour of an armbar. Trillo spun free from the hold and briefly held top position. The fighters returned to their feet and knees were exchanged. Kline tried unsuccessfully for a standing arm-triangle choke in the final seconds. 10-9 Kline. Potentially even another 10-8.
Round 3:
After an odd timeout to check instant replay for a potential illegal knee from Kline late in round two, the fight ultimately continued and Trillo scored a brief takedown. Kline stood and she separated from the clinch. She landed a right hook and a lead left hand. Trillo countered a body kick with a right hook, but Kline jumped forward with a switch kick to the body and a hard right hook. She took Trillo down into half-guard and then passed to side control. She mounted Trillo in the final minute and rained down punches and hammerfists. Trillo rolled to her side and got back to half-guard very briefly, but Kline continued to drop punches from the top. She mounted Trillo once more and landed punches until the fight was stopped.
Winner: Fatima Kline by TKO (Punches) at 4:45 of round three. She improves to 2-0-0.
Alyssa Melody “Lightning” Linduska vs Jennifer “Dugwen” Chieng
Round 1:
Referee for this bout is Marcio Laselva. Linduska threw two leg kicks to open the fight and Chieng landed a strong right hand in return. Linduska landed another leg kick and one to Chieng’s body. She switched stances frequently and continued to score with kicks until Chieng landed an overhand right. Linduska flurried with punches that backed Chieng up momentarily. Chieng returned to the centre of the cage and landed a one-two, which prompted Linduska to charge forward with left and right hooks. She clinched and held Chieng against the cage, then used a body-lock takedown to get her down into side control. 10-9 Linduska.
Round 2:
Chieng opened the second round with a right hook and Linduska immediately scored a takedown into side control. She mounted Chieng, but Chieng simply powered out from the bottom and reversed into top position. Linduska tried to set up an armbar and Chieng stood up to escape. She dropped back down into Linduska’s half-guard and eyed a keylock on Linduska’s left arm while trying to pass to mount. Linduska gave up her back and Chieng sunk in one hook while working to set up a rear-naked choke. Linduska defended until the bell. 10-9 Chieng.
Round 3:
Linduska reversed a leg-sweep takedown from Chieng and wound up on top in Chieng’s guard. Chieng tried to set up a triangle choke and then kicked Linduska off. Linduska re-entered her guard and threw short right hands to Chieng’s body. Chieng threw up her legs again for a triangle choke, but Linduska got her left hand in to prevent Chieng from tightening the choke. Linduska kneed Chieng in the thigh until Chieng gave up on the triangle attempt. Linduska landed two short elbows and attempted a pass to half-guard. The fight ended with Linduska landing a final series of punches to Chieng’s upper body. Close final round, as Linduska was not active from the top. 10-9 Linduska.
Winner: Alyssa Melody Linduska by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 1-0-0.