LAS VEGAS — Another title fight, another absolute destruction. In what is becoming a familiar refrain, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino defended her Invicta FC featherweight title with a sub-one-minute knockout over Faith Van Duin in the main event of Invicta FC 13, then called out her ever elusive rival: UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
“I want to fight Ronda Rousey. Stop running,” Justino proclaimed to the packed crowd at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
This time around, Justino’s mastery was as clinical and ferocious as the last time around. After defending her title with a 46-second crushing of Charmaine Tweet in February, “Cyborg” bested her own time by a single second on Thursday, trapping the unheralded Duin against the cage, dropping her with a monstrous volley of punches, then landing a few more concussive blows to call it a night. The final time of the finish clocked in at 45 seconds.
A fight between “Cyborg” and Rousey remains the most lucrative available option for either woman, although it’s proven difficult to put together with “Cyborg” unwilling to drop down to 135 pounds and Rousey unwilling to meet her rival at a 140-pound catchweight. UFC President Dana White stated several times in the lead-up to Invicta FC 13 that Justino’s next fight is expected to be her first venture into bantamweight, however when asked in her post-fight interview, “Cyborg” was noncommittal about the idea of dropping down in weight.
Elsewhere on the card, Tonya Evinger (16-5) put a savage and sustained beating on Mexican prospect Irene Aldana (5-2) in the night’s co-main event, capturing the vacant Invicta FC bantamweight title with a fourth-round TKO stoppage from mount.
A veteran of the sport for nearly a decade, Evinger stormed out from the opening bell and made her gameplan clear, muscling the 27-year-old Aldana onto the mat, quickly climbing into mount, then unloading punches and elbows on her overmatched foe. Evinger transitioned into an armbar and appeared to nearly snap Aldana’s arm in two, but Aldana persevered through it only to eat another relentless series of punches from mount.
From there it was wash, rinse, repeat, as Evinger battered Aldana with strikes from top position for the ensuing three rounds before finally securing the merciful finish with a salvo of blows at 4:38 of the fourth frame, giving Evinger her seventh straight victory and the major title that has eluded her throughout her career.
“F you to all you guys who said I was going to get my ass kicked,” a smiling Evinger said afterward. “It’s about time. Thank you guys.”
In the night’s third and final championship fight, Japan’s Ayaka Hamasaki (12-1) employed a steady diet of trips and takedowns to upset Herica Tiburcio (9-3) and steal away the Invicta FC atomweight title.
While the fight was largely uneventful, Hamasaki survived a nasty first-round guillotine choke and spent the closing minutes of the third round defending a slew of rear-naked choke attempts. Other than those two moments, though, Tiburcio had no answer for the 33-year-old’s takedown attack, as Hamasaki continually waded into the clinch, wrestled Tiburcio to the mat, and went to work with a slow procession of strikes and advances.
The judges ultimately scored the contest 48-47, 49-46, and 47-48, awarding Hamasaki the Invicta 105-pound title via split decision.
Featherweight rookie Amber Leibrock (1-0) scored the card’s biggest stunner in the first fight of the night, flooring the youngest member of Ronda Rousey’s Four Horsewomen crew, Marina Shafir (1-2), with a thunderous right hand to pick up a 37-second knockout in her professional debut.
Shafir took the center of the cage early, but was quickly downed by the 27-year-old and ate a barrage of punches before referee Steve Mazzagatti saw fit to stop the contest. Leibrock grabbed the fence to avoid a Shafir leglock during the finishing sequence, however Mazzagatti failed to see it.
The loss marked Shafir’s second straight 37-second loss, as Shafir suffered a similar knockout at the hands of Amanda Bell last August.
“I told everybody I was here to make a statement. 145ers have a new problem on their hands and it’s me,” an elated Leibrock said.
“My hands are fire, and I proved it tonight.”
In early action, Swedish bantamweight Pannie Kianzad (8-0) put on a striking clinic to sweep the scorecards over Jessica-Rose Clark (5-2), while New Mexico native Amber Brown (5-1) set an ominous tone for the Irish weekend, dominating the previously unbeaten Catherine Costigan (5-1) with punches and elbows from mount before sealing the deal with a rear-naked choke at 3:34 of the first round.
Strawweight prospect Jamie Moyle (3-0) rounded out the night, taking a split decision over Amy Montenergo (6-2) in a spirited back-and-forth contest to preserve her undefeated record by judges’ scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29.