Invicta FC 36 Results: Sorenson solves Young to win 145 lb title

Dave Mandel / invicta FC

Pam Sorenson is your new Invicta FC featherweight champion. Check out what else went down at Invicta FC 36.

Invicta FC 36 delivered a number of fun scraps last night. The event also saw the coronation of Pam Sorenson, who is no longer just a tough and savvy veteran, but is instead a bona fide world champion.

Sorenson, whose pro career began in 2015, met Kaitlin Young in the main event of Invicta FC 36 to determine the owner of the vacant featherweight title. When the two Minnesotan’s clashed in the Invicta octagon (which was making its promotional debut last night), it was clear that Sorenson came to play with a much better game-plan.

For almost the entirety of the championship fight Sorenson out-smarted Young, stinging her on the feet and thoroughly controlling her on the ground. Sorenson was also able to avoid much of Young’s Muay Thai based offense en route to claiming an easy to determine unanimous decision victory.

The first round of the fight set the blueprint for what would follow. It featured Sorenson doggedly going for takedowns and then taking Young’s back. On Young’s back Sorenson would wear down and frustrate the former Invicta matchmaker, while threatening her with submission attempts. In the first, after Young was able to get away from Sorenson on the mat, she hit her still grounded opponent with an illegal knee to the head. That resulted in a point deduction for Young.

The next four rounds were much of the same, with Young failing to adapt and counter Sorenson’s tactics. Sorenson had continued success taking Young down, swimming to her back, scoring with annoying ground and pound, and hunting for a rear naked choke.

When the fight was standing, Young was able to land some combos on Sorenson. However, they weren’t that frequent. And the impressiveness of this was canceled out by the fact Sorenson was able to catch Young a few times on the feet as well, with hard punches and stiff leg kicks.

Though Sorenson’s submission attempts were rarely close to finishing the fight — except maybe a deep armbar attempt in the third — they did succeed in stifling Young. Ultimately, Sorenson’s intelligent fighting and ability to keep Young on the defensive for much of the contest earned her scores of 50-44, 49-45, and 48-45, as well as the Invicta featherweight title.

The last three Invicta 145 lb champs have vacated the belt and jumped ship to the UFC (Felicia Spencer, Megan Anderson, and Cris Cyborg). It remains to be seen if Sorenson will continue this trend or if she will stick around long enough for Invicta to send challengers her way.

The co-main event was a much shorter affair. That saw an all Brazilian catchweight contest won by Emily Ducote, who stopped Janaisa Morandin with punches inside the first round. The end came after Ducote caught a kick from Morandin and knocked her down with a right hook. She then pounced onto the felled Morandin and forced the referee to wave off the fight. Morandin protested the stoppage, but the replay failed to justify any complaints.

This was supposed to be a strawweight fight, but Morandin weighed in at over 119 lbs. This is the third time Morandin has missed weight in her Invicta career.

The hands down fight of the night was Stephanie Geltmacher vs. Victoria Leonardo. They went back and forth on the feet and engaged in a few compelling scrambles on the ground. Both women got busted up, with Geltmacher ending the fight a bloody mess. Geltmacher had her hand raised, after the scores were read out (29-28, 28-29, and 29-28 in her favor). However, this was an error.

After her post-fight interview, Kansas’ commissioner interrupted Geltmacher’s team photo to inform her that there had been a counting error and that Leonardo had won the fight, by unanimous decision (29-28 across the board).

It was an awkward outcome, but it would be hard to call it controversial. It was a razor thin fight that either woman could have won. Both will likely progress towards Invicta title contention thanks to the thrilling spectacle they provided.

Also on the card was a highly controlled and tactical affair that saw Xtreme Couture’s Alyse Anderson win a split decision over SBG Ireland’s Katie Saull. There was also an exciting finish from Caitlin ‘Ginger’ Sammons. She weathered the punching power of Chantel Coates before scoring a takedown and fight ending rear-naked choke.

Check out the full results below, along with the finishes for Ducote and Sammons:

Featherweight: Pam Sorenson def. Kaitlin Young via unanimous decision (50-44, 49-45, 48-45).

Catchweight: Emily Ducote def. Janaisa Morandin via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28).

Atomweight: Jessica Delboni def. Lindsay VanZandt via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Flyweight: Victoria Leonardo def. Stephanie Geltmacher via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Atomweight: Alyse Anderson def. Katie Saull via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28).

Flyweight: Caitlin Sammons def. Chantel Coates via submission (rear naked choke), round 2 (4:10).

Bantamweight: Erin Harpe def. Auttumn Norton via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Bantamweight: Julia Ottolino defeated Megan Cawley via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).