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Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt — Complete Main Card Video, Prelim Insanity, Photos + More

(Complete Invicta FC 4 main card broadcast, courtesy of Invicta FC)

Saturday’s Invicta FC 4 event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS, was supposed to be a significant step forward for the all-female promotion, as the main card was presented as an Internet pay-per-view for the first time. (Previously, Invicta’s events had been streamed online for free.) Unfortunately, the broadcast turned out to be a technical fiasco. Due to issues with payment processing and an uncooperative streaming partner, paying customers were unable to log on to watch the event. Even after the paywall was removed — and full refunds were offered to those who had already shelled out cash — the stream was still unreliable.

It was a worst-case-scenario for Invicta FC, whose budding fanbase might be wary of paying for similar broadcasts in the future. In a post-event interview with Ben Fowlkes at MMAJunkie, Invicta president Shannon Knapp seemed to acknowledge that securing a TV deal for her promotion has become more critical than ever, in the wake of their failed iPPV experiment.

As for the fights themselves? They certainly had their moments, although the main card was further cursed by a near-total lack of stoppages. In the headliner, former collegiate wrestler Carla Esparza and late-replacement Bec Hyatt waged war in Invicta’s first strawweight (115 pounds) title fight. Esparza’s relentless takedowns and top control helped her win all five rounds on the judges’ scorecards, but the colorful Aussie didn’t make it easy for her, stinging Esparza with her striking every time the women were on their feet.

The event’s official “Fight of the Night” award went to Alexis Davis and Shayna Baszler, who turned in a fantastic grappling battle that ended in the third round when Davis put Baszler to sleep with a rear-naked choke. It was the only bout on the main card that didn’t go to the scorecards. We suggest that you skip to the 2:02:59 mark of the video above to watch the fight — or just check out these two photos that tell the story pretty well by themselves…

(Complete Invicta FC 4 main card broadcast, courtesy of Invicta FC)

(Props: Esther Lin/Invicta Fighting Championships. Click images for full-size versions.)

Let’s have a moment of silence for Hiroko Yamanaka, who has somehow become the go-to opponent for freakish Brazilian sluggers. This time, the lanky ex-dominatrix came face to face with Ediane Gomes, who, as ZombieProphet reminds us, once competed in a vale tudo match against a dude. Gomes mauled Yamanaka in the first round — nearly securing a stoppage via ground-and-pound — but Yamanaka held on until the bell, and began to shift the momentum in the third frame when Gomes ran out of gas. Unfortunately it was too little too late, as Gomes hung on for the unanimous decision victory.

The preliminary card saw significantly more finishes with four of the seven bouts ending within the distance. Notably, Pat Barry’s girlfriend Rose Namajunas won her professional MMA debut, submitting Emily Kagan by third-round rear-naked choke in their strawweight bout. Even as a cornerman, Pat Barry is entertaining and explosive:

(Props: Chris Gregory)

Also on the prelims, featherweight* knockout machine Veronica “The Heartbreaker” Rothenhausler — who won her last two amateur fights in a combined ten seconds — was victorious in her pro debut, KO’ing Katalina Malungahu in the first round. Seriously, this woman has freakish power. (Check out the GIF here, via BloodyElbow.) Rothenhausler. Rothenhausler. Rothenhausler. Remember that name, folks.

Sadly, our latest “Hot Fighter Alert” recipient Paige VanZant was routed in a unanimous decision by fellow strawweight Tecia Torres. Though VanZant looked to be in over her head at times, she showed tremendous heart in staying in the fight for all fifteen minutes. Keep in mind that VanZant is still just 18 years old; we definitely haven’t seen the last of “12 Gauge” Paige.

On that note, judging from the weigh-in video, victorious prelim fighter Laura Marcusse-Sanko has “Future Hot Fighter Alert” written all over her.

Here are the complete results, via InvictaFC…

Main Card
– Carla Esparza def. Bec Hyatt via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
– Alexis Davis def. Shayna Baszler via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, :58 [fight of the night]
– Leslie Smith def. Raquel Pennington via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
– Sarah D’Alelio def. Amanda Nunes via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
– Ediane Gomes def. Hiroko Yamanaka via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
– Joanne Calderwood def. Livia Von Plettenberg via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)

Preliminary Card
– Cassie Rodish def. Stephanie Frausto via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 1:04
– Tamikka Brents def. Amanda Bell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
– Jodie Esquibel def. Liz McCarthy via majority decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
– Rose Namajunas def. Emily Kagan via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:44 [submission of the night]
– Tecia Torres def. Paige Van Zant via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
– Veronica Rothenhausler def. Katalina Malungahu via KO (punch) – Round 1, 1:12 [knockout of the night]
– Laura Marcusse-Sanko def. Cassie Robb via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:07

* Rothenhausler missed weight for her featherweight contest against Malungahu, getting down to 146.6 after her second attempt.

Bonus photos, via Esther Lin/Invicta Fighting Championships (except for the last one). Click all to enlarge.

(Bec Hyatt pops Carla Esparza in the grill.)

(Ediane Gomes does likewise to Hiroko Yamanaka.)

(The tartan-skirted Joanne Calderwood cracks Livia Von Plettenberg with a knee.)

(Felice Herrig does her best to cheer up Bec Hyatt after the fights. Josh Koscheck approves.)

Watch UFC Heavyweight Pat Barry Going Crazy as Cornerman at Invicta FC 4

With girlfriend Rose Namajunas competing on the fight card, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry served as a cornerman at Invicta FC 4. A fan favorite and one of the most colorful personalities in MMA, Barry was characteristically enthusiastic as soon as Namajunas stepped into the cage. Watch the above video (via MMAMadhouse.com) to see how Barry […]

Invicta FC 4: Carla Esparza Becomes Inaugural Strawweight Champion

Carla Esparza captured the vacant Invicta FC strawweight title with a lopsided decision win over Bec Hyatt at Invicta FC 4 on Saturday night. Throughout the five-round bout, Esparza utilized her wrestling to control Hyatt on the ground. While Hyatt kep…

UFC 157?s Liz Carmouche Breaks Down Invicta FC 4 with King Mo, Julie Kedzie

Just ahead of the Invicta FC 4 card on Saturday, the company hosted a special guest for its last preview show, with UFC 157 headliner Liz Carmouche joining the crew. Carmouche herself is a former Invicta FC fighter, earning a call to the UFC on the back of a stellar 2-0 stretch in the all-women’s […]

Hot Fighter Alert: 16 Photos of Model/MMA Prospect Paige VanZant

(Photo courtesy of 12gaugepaigevanzant.com. Click image for full-size version.)

Props to BabesofMMA and MMAJunkie for turning us on to Paige VanZant, a 2-0 professional MMA fighter who will be facing Tecia Torres on the prelims of this Saturday’s Invicta 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt event in Kansas City.

A model and student-athlete since childhood, the 18-year-old fighter began training in MMA when she was 15, and currently trains at the House of RYU in Las Vegas. Paige began competing this year, first picking up an amateur win in April, then winning decisions in professional matches against Jordan Gaza and Amber Stautzenberger. (She’s also done ring girl gigs for Shark Fights and Ultimate Reno Combat.) According to this Examiner article, Paige likes wrestling and throws, doesn’t enjoy getting hit in the face, and her future goals include opening a restaurant and fighting Cris Cyborg.

Check out lots more of our favorite Paige VanZant photos in the gallery after the jump — as well as four bonus videos of Paige chatting, fighting, and steam-mopping — and follow her life on Facebook and Twitter.

Check out lots more of our favorite Paige VanZant photos in the gallery above — as well as the four bonus videos below of Paige chatting, fighting, and steam-mopping — and follow her life on Facebook and Twitter.

Bonus videos:

(“Real Girls Kick Ass” video profile from 2011. Props: rmsellars)

(Highlights of Paige VanZant’s first amateur fight against Morgan Hunter. Props: Gofightlive)

(Paige VanZant vs. Jordan Gaza, 6/30/12. Props: Mike Jackson)

(Paige VanZant sells the hell out of the Bissell Steam Mop Deluxe, circa 2010. Hey, we all gotta pay the bills.)

Invicta FC Sends Undefeated 135?er Sara McMann To Strikeforce

(“Great to have you aboard, Sara! Now what size latex bodysuit do you wear?”)

In a press release distributed yesterday, upstart women’s MMA promotion Invicta FC announced that they were sending bantamweight contender Sara McMann to Strikeforce. McMann is a perfect 6-0 in MMA — including wins over Shayna Baszler, Hitomi Akano, and Tonya Evinger — and won a silver medal in women’s freestyle wrestling at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. McMann was originally slated to fight for Invicta’s bantamweight title in her next appearance, but now that she is in Strikeforce, a title shot against Ronda Rousey seems quite plausible if she can make it through her first fight. Neither the date nor debut opponent for McMann’s Strikeforce debut have been announced yet.

It’s not every day that a fight promotion willingly sends one of its top contenders and budding stars to a competing promotion. However, according to President Shannon Knapp, Invicta’s goals aren’t based on hanging on to specific fighters:

(“Great to have you aboard, Sara! Now what size latex bodysuit do you wear?”)

“Since we established Invicta FC at the beginning of this year, our goal has been to produce the best possible matchups between women mixed martial artists and, to achieve this, we sometimes need to import talent like Sarah Kaufman from elsewhere as well as to send talent like Sara McMann to a place like Strikeforce where there is a healthy amount of championship level professional women’s MMA competition just like there is on our roster.”

Invicta’s mission to positively impact women’s MMA, and the lengths they are willing to go to accomplish that mission, is extraordinarily admirable. But they aren’t fools either; Invicta draws viewers not due to name recognition — yet — but because they put on consistently exciting cards. Losing a big name like McMann doesn’t hurt them because, well, McMann isn’t actually a big name. There are only two big draws in women’s MMA right now, and they’re not in Invicta.

Speaking of one of those big draws, it seems likely that McMann will eventually face off against Strikeforce bantamweight champ “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey. Suffice it to say, like any other woman who lacks the testosterone of five men, I don’t like Sara’s chances. McMann does one thing, and does it well; she puts people on their back. That might not be the best strategy against the best grappler in women’s MMA. (Right, Sarah Kaufman?) It’s great that McMann is being recognized for her achievements and is getting this opportunity. But when it comes down to it, it’s unlikely she’ll be able to stop Rousey from adding to her collection of mangled arms.

Still, it would be easy to promote a match between two undefeated fighters who also happen to be Olympic medalists — and if Cyborg can’t deflate down to 135, Rousey vs. McMann could turn out to be the Next Big Fight in women’s MMA.