Get the full results and a recap of the top highlights from Friday’s Invicta FC 16 card in Las Vegas, where Ayaka Hamasaki defended her 105 lbs title with an armbar win over Amber Brown in the main event.
Invicta FC 16 delivered a great night of fights on Friday, featuring stunning comebacks, big upsets, big wins on short notice, a superb interim flyweight title fight, and a successful atomweight title defense made by Ayaka Hamasaki in the main event.
Hamasaki didn’t have it easy against Brown, who gave her all she could handle in an entertaining grappling battle. Brown had the first serious submission attempt with a dangerous looking triangle choke early in the 1st round. The challenger elbowed Hamasaki during this process but Ayaka was able to wriggle free and advance to side control and threaten with an armlock before the round ended. Brown again threatened with a triangle choke off of her back, although she ran out of time as she pulled Yamasaki’s head down. The fight concluded in the 3rd with Hamasaki angling for a kimura, and when that didn’t work she re-positioned herself for a deep armbar, which Brown courageously tried to roll her way out of, but she eventually had no choice but to tap out. Hamasaki joins Michelle Waterson as the only atomweight champions to have a successful title defense.
In the co-main, Jennifer Maia avenged a previous loss to Vanessa Porto by winning a unanimous decision to capture the interim flyweight strap, which was created after champion Barb Honchak announced she was taking time off. Maia was floored by a right hand in the 1st round but recovered well enough to at least remain competitive and not put herself in any worse danger. Jennifer did have to fend off armbar attempts in the 2nd round as well as full mount in the closing seconds, but she was able to absorb Porto’s best shots and not panic. Maia rallied strongly in rounds 3-5, winning the striking exchanges, stuffing takedowns and scrambling back to her feet even when he was taken down, and she proved to be the fresher fighter in the later stages. Porto finished the fight having to defend arm-in guillotine choke from Maia, albeit not one close to ending in a tapout. The judges agreed that Maia got the better of Porto in the 2nd half of a bloody, back-and-forth battle.
Also of note, Angela Hill put away Stephanie Eggink on short notice with a thudding right hand midway through round 2. Hill is now 2-0 in Invicta FC since her UFC release, with both wins coming by way of knockout. Recent Invicta bantamweight title challenger Irene Aldana made easy work of Jessamyn Duke with a 1st round TKO. A well-timed right hand sent Duke staggering back towards the fence, and from there the Mexican prospect blasted Duke with beautiful head-and-body combinations before Duke collapsed to her knees and the fight was stopped. Fan favorite Roxanne Modafferi continued her career resurgence with an upset win over DeAnna Bennett by split decision. After suffering 6 losses in a row from 2010-2013, she’s now won 4 of her last 5 and is definitely a contender at flyweight.
The first big moment of the card came in the flyweight division, as prospect Andrea “KGB” Lee was seemingly in control of the 3rd round against Sarah D’Alelio, which otherwise would’ve been enough to win her a unanimous decision. Instead, D’Alelio swept her and got on top in the late stages of the fight, went for a kimura, but Lee was back-mounted seconds later, and D’Alelio flattened her out for the rear-naked choke victory.
Here are the full results:
Ayaka Hamasaki def. Amber Brown via submission (armbar) at 2:52 of R3
Jennifer Maia def. Vanessa Porto via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Angela Hill def. Stephanie Eggink via TKO (strikes) at 2:36 of R2
Irene Aldana def. Jessamyn Duke via TKO (punches) at 3:08 of R1
Roxanne Modafferi def. DeAnna Bennett via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jinh Yu Frey def. Herica Tiburcio via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Sarah D’Alelio def. Andrea Lee via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:21 of R3
Aspen Ladd def. Kelly McGill via TKO (ground and pound) at 1:47 of R3
Ashley Greenway def. Sarah Click via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-28, 29-28)