Just a quick update on the TUF 17 Finale, which continued with the recent trend of steadily rising UFC events to air on the FX network this past weekend. Whether it was the lure of seeing Uriah Hall cement his status as “The nastiest guy in TUF History” (Spoiler Alert: He didn’t.), the promise of the next challenger to Ronda Rousey’s throne, or the chance to catch a good old fashioned throwdown between two of the WEC’s finest, the TUF 17 Finale was a clear success all the way from the quality of the fights themselves to the ratings numbers the event was able to draw in. MMAJunkie’s John Morgan passed along the numbers via Twitter:
Just a quick update on the TUF 17 Finale, which continued with the recent trend of steadily rising UFC events to air on the FX network this past weekend. Whether it was the lure of seeing Uriah Hall cement his status as “The nastiest guy in TUF History” (Spoiler Alert: He didn’t.), the promise of the next challenger to Ronda Rousey’s throne, or the chance to catch a good old fashioned throwdown between two of the WEC’s finest, the TUF 17 Finale was a clear success all the way from the quality of the fights themselves to the ratings numbers the event was able to draw in. MMAJunkie’s John Morgan passed along the numbers via Twitter:
Aside from testing highest in the key demographic of 18-49 year-old males, the TUF 17 Finale surpassed both the TUF 15 (1.0 million) and TUF 16 finale (1.3 million) — which were also broadcast during the 9 p.m. slot on Saturday nights — in terms of viewership.
The numbers for the TUF 17 Finale –like UFC 157 before it – continue to prove that WMMA can in fact become more than an occasional niche market in the UFC. Sure, the Zingano/Tate war was not solely responsible for the finale’s excellent ratings, but you can almost guarantee that those numbers peaked during their Fight of the Night-earning war.
Every UFC main event has to be about something, and when there aren’t any titles on the line, things tend to get pretty creative. Leading up to the main event of the TUF 17 Finale, the talk surrounding the bout focused on the friendship between competitors Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen and how it may affect the bout. Whether the two were actually the close friends that the media made them out to be was completely irrelevant; which is good, because Jorgensen revealed during fight week that they weren’t.
What we were left with was a bout between the number two and number seven ranked bantamweights that played out as expected. This isn’t to say that the fight wasn’t entertaining (it was), but Jorgensen was outgunned early and often by Faber before “The California Kid” sank in the fight ending rear-naked choke in the fourth round. It was closer than the gambling odds indicated it would be, but not exactly a close fight, and though Jorgensen managed to mount some offense of his own, he never appeared to be any real threat to Faber.
The bantamweight division is very top-heavy, which perhaps more than anything explains why Urijah Faber is seemingly always one fight away from a title shot. The gap between the top five guys and the rest of the division is wider than most fans would care to acknowledge, and it showed last night. Still, I’d rather watch Urijah Faber fight Michael McDonald than watch him get crammed into yet another title fight. I doubt I’m in the minority here – at least among hardcore fans.
Photo Courtesy of Getty Images.
Every UFC main event has to be about something, and when there aren’t any titles on the line, things tend to get pretty creative. Leading up to the main event of the TUF 17 Finale, the talk surrounding the bout focused on the friendship between competitors Urijah Faber and Scott Jorgensen and how it may affect the bout. Whether the two were actually the close friends that the media made them out to be was completely irrelevant; which is good, because Jorgensen revealed during fight week that they weren’t.
What we were left with was a bout between the number two and number seven ranked bantamweights that played out as expected. This isn’t to say that the fight wasn’t entertaining (it was), but Jorgensen was outgunned early and often by Faber before “The California Kid” sank in the fight ending rear-naked choke in the fourth round. It was closer than the gambling odds indicated it would be, but not exactly a close fight, and though Jorgensen managed to mount some offense of his own, he never appeared to be any real threat to Faber.
The bantamweight division is very top-heavy, which perhaps more than anything explains why Urijah Faber is seemingly always one fight away from a title shot. The gap between the top five guys and the rest of the division is wider than most fans would care to acknowledge, and it showed last night. Still, I’d rather watch Urijah Faber fight Michael McDonald than watch him get crammed into yet another title fight. I doubt I’m in the minority here – at least among hardcore fans.
Of course, the “friendship” angle between Faber and Jorgensen wasn’t the only storyline from last night to abruptly fall apart. After Anik’s interview with Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, it’s safe to say that any possibility of the UFC marketing these two guys as bitter rivals/sworn enemies/anything other than apathetic about fighting each other is off the table. Judging by the comments on last night’s liveblog, I may be the only person who actually enjoyed the segment, but I digress. Oh, one more obvious storyline fell apart last night, too.
Elsewhere on the card…
– Throughout this season of The Ultimate Fighter, it seemed obvious that Uriah Hall was destined for stardom. He steamrolled his way through his competition on the show, impressed us with flashy, Tekken-inspired kicks and appeared ready to make an immediate impact on the UFC middleweight division. On paper, Hall’s co-main event clash with Kelvin Gastelum for this season’s championship was strictly a formality, as Gastelum was no threat to actually win this fight, right?
Not quite. Gastelum surprised many – including Hall – by being more than willing to press the action against the feared striker, and earned takedowns throughout the course of the bout. Even though Hall managed to reverse some of Gastelum’s attempts, in the end Gastelum took the fight – and this season’s championship – by way of split decision.
Perhaps it’s fitting that the most interesting season of The Ultimate Fighter in recent memory ended with an underdog winning it all, but don’t be quick to dismiss Kelvin Gastelum. Gastelum may not have the resume that Hall has, but a good wrestler who doesn’t get gun-shy has unlimited upward mobility in the UFC. As the youngest TUF champion in the history of the show, Gastelum has the potential to make quite the impact on the middleweight division. Likewise, don’t give up on Uriah Hall just yet. The close loss may be a product of Hall having the Octagon jitters, something that happens to many fighters the first time they fight in the UFC. Time will tell how Hall bounces back from this defeat.
– The $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus rightfully went to Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate for their three round brawl. Although Zingano kept the bout close, Tate’s wrestling earned her the edge on the judge’s scorecards heading into the third round. However, Zingano was in complete control in the third round, earning a takedown and landing strikes at will against Tate. After catching Tate with a knee during a scramble, Zingano kept swinging until Kim Winslow stopped the bout. Cat Zingano earned a coaching slot on The Ultimate Fighter 18 alongside Ronda Rousey – as well as a title shot at the end of the season – with the victory.
Fights are virtually guaranteed to end in controversy whenever Kim Winslow is in the cage, and this fight proved to be no exception. After the event, Miesha Tate expressed her anger over the stoppage, claiming that Winslow waived things off too soon. “She told me, ‘Show me something,’” said Tate. “I don’t know what you want. I sat up, I shot a double, I got back to my feet. I took some damage because of that, because I was trying to listen to the referee, and she fucking stopped the fight.” Despite Tate’s argument that the stoppage was early (for what it’s worth, I didn’t think it was), it was a great fight that further demonstrated why women belong in the UFC.
– Travis Browne is certainly one of the most creative strikers in the UFC, but I know I can’t be the only person who thought “not this again” when he started his bout against Gabriel Gonzaga with a wild high kick that completely missed its target. Throughout the next minute of the fight, it was obvious that Gonzaga wanted nothing to do with Browne’s striking. During the last six seconds of the fight, it was obvious why. Despite Gonzaga’s best efforts to neutralize Browne’s dynamic stand-up, Browne only needed a few standing hellbows to shut out Napao’s lights, earning himself the $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.
– If you didn’t like watching Bubba McDaniel thoroughly outclass Gilbert Smith on his way to a third round triangle choke victory, you’ll possibly take comfort in knowing that he didn’t win the $50,000 Submission of the Night bonus for his efforts. Instead, the honor went to Daniel Pineda, who kicked off the card with a first round victory by kimura over Justin Lawrence.
– As for the $25,000 End of the Season awards, Fight of the Season went to Dylan Andrews and Luke Barnatt for their back-and-forth quarterfinal fight that Andrews eventually won by TKO, Submission of the Season went to Kelvin Gastelum for his rear-naked choke victory over Josh Samman during the semifinals, and I think it’s pretty obvious who took home Knockout of the Season.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Urijah Faber def. Scott Jorgensen via submission (rear-naked choke), 3:16 of Round Four
Kelvin Gastelum def. Uriah Hall via Split-Decision
Cat Zingano def. Miesha Tate via TKO (knees & elbow), 2:55 of Round Three
Travis Browne def. Gabriel Gonzaga via KO (elbows), 1:11 of Round One
Bubba McDaniel def. Gilbert Smith via submission (triangle choke), 2:49 of Round Three
Preliminary card:
Josh Samman def. Kevin Casey via TKO (knees), 2:17 of Round Two
Luke Barnatt def. Collin Hart via Unanimous Decision
Dylan Andrews def. Jimmy Quinlan via TKO (punches), 3:22 of Round One
Clint Hester def. Bristol Marunde via KO (elbow), 3:53 of Round Three
Cole Miller def. Bart Palaszewski via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:23 of Round One
Maximo Blanco def. Sam Sicilia via Unanimous Decision
Daniel Pineda def. Justin Lawrence via submission (kimura), 1:35 of Round One
It couldn’t have worked out better, really. Last night’s semifinals episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Sonnen left us with two fantastic middleweight prospects: A ferociously powerful striker who’s been the show’s front-runner since his first knockout in the house, and a 21-year-old rookie who kicks ass like a seasoned pro and harbors a not-so-secret crush on Ronda Rousey. In the interest of spoiler-sensitivity, we won’t post their names right here, but come on, you all know who we’re talking about.
Follow us after the jump as we recap the two fights from TUF 17 episode 12, which both ended in stoppages. Plus: The complete fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 17 Finale in Las Vegas, which includes one surprising (i.e., indefensibly terrible) matchup on the main card.
It couldn’t have worked out better, really. Last night’s semifinals episode of The Ultimate Fighter: Team Jones vs. Sonnen left us with two fantastic middleweight prospects: A ferociously powerful striker who’s been the show’s front-runner since his first knockout in the house, and a 21-year-old rookie who kicks ass like a seasoned pro and harbors a not-so-secret crush on Ronda Rousey. In the interest of spoiler-sensitivity, we won’t post their names right here, but come on, you all know who we’re talking about.
Follow us after the jump as we recap the two fights from TUF 17 episode 12, which both ended in stoppages. Plus: The complete fight lineup for this Saturday’s TUF 17 Finale in Las Vegas, which includes one surprising (i.e., indefensibly terrible) matchup on the main card.
Though he’s always up for a good brawl, Kelvin Gastelum brought out his wrestling chops early to clinch with Josh Samman and take the fight to the mat. Samman was active off his back, attempting an armbar then a kimura before getting back to his feet. But Gastelum was on him like a bad smell, clinching with Samman against the fence and depositing him back on the canvas. The ground-and-pound came swiftly and with brutal force. Gastelum battered Samman with elbows and punches until Samman exposed his back while attempting to escape. Gastelum immediately sunk a rear-naked choke, picking up his third win by stoppage in the TUF house, and punching his ticket to the finals. Gastelum def. Samman via submission (RNC), round 1. [GIF HERE VIA ZOMBIE PROPHET]
Two weeks ago, we compared Dylan Andrews to Florida Gulf Coast University, which would make Uriah Hall the Florida Gators — the odds-on favorite putting an abrupt end to Dylan’s Cinderella story. Hall’s performance in the first round wasn’t a violent blitzkrieg, but a calm, controlled showcase of his precision. As Andrews took the center of the cage and tried to push the action, Hall hung back and landed a variety of strikes, landing at will as the round drew to a close. After five minutes, it was clear that Andrews was outmatched.
Hall stepped on the gas in round two, landing on Andrews from all angles and knocking down the New Zealand native with a front push kick. Andrews scored a takedown in an attempt to change the tenor of the fight, and it turned out to be his undoing. Hall spent some time chasing a kimura attempt, but when it didn’t pan out he decided to just tee off on Andrews with punches from the bottom. When was the last time you saw an MMA fighter turtle up on top of his opponent? Because that’s what happened last night, and it was kind of incredible. Hall flipped over the wounded Andrews and smashed him with more punches to end the fight. Hall def. Andrews via TKO, round 2. [GIF HERE VIA ZOMBIE PROPHET]
Dana calls Uriah Hall the nastiest guy in the history of the show. And suddenly, Mac Danzig and Tony Ferguson are but distant memories…
With both of his fighters in the finals, Chael Sonnen wins that Harley Davidson motorcycle that he was hawking on episode 1. And with the TUF 17 middleweight final in place, the full lineup for the TUF 17 Finale was announced…
Main card (FX at 9 p.m. ET)
Urijah Faber vs. Scott Jorgensen
Uriah Hall vs. Kelvin Gastelum
Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano
Travis Browne vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
Robert “Bubba” McDaniel vs. Gilbert Smith
Undercard (FUEL at 7 p.m. ET)
Josh Samman vs. Kevin Casey
Luke Barnatt vs. Collin Hart
Dylan Andrews vs. Jimmy Quinlan
Clint Hester vs. Bristol Marunde
Undercard (Facebook)
Cole Miller vs. Bart Palaszewski
Sam Sicilia vs. Maximo Blanco
Justin Lawrence vs. Daniel Pineda
There is nothing wrong with your computer screen. Bubba McDaniel — who went 1-2 in the house and suffered a minor nervous breakdown — is actually on the main card, by virtue of being the most annoying person on the show. (I guess his relationship with Jon Jonesdoesn’t hurt either.) Ugh. At least Junie Browning was an entertaining mess. And since he needs an opponent, Gilbert Smith — the constantly-naked fireplug who was eliminated on episode 2 — will also be on the main card. Meanwhile, semifinalists Josh Samman and Dylan Andrews are buried on FUEL. Get the fuck out of here. And yes, two guys named Urijah/Uriah are on the main card. How long before Hall is the more popular one?
For your records, here’s the TUF 17 middleweight bracket, courtesy of Wikipedia (click image for larger version):
Note:To get into the house, Uriah Hall defeated Andy Enz by decision and Kelvin Gastelum defeated Kito Andrews by decision.
Sometime after he had finished spoiling Ryan Couture’s UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, it was revealed that TUF 9 winner and TUF: Smashes coach Ross Pearson had allegedly broken his foot warming up. Obviously fearing that those namby pamby Swedes would pull him from the fight, Pearson opted to keep his injury quiet until the fight was over, a strategy commonly known in the fight game as “Ortizing.” The main difference between Pearson and Ortiz being that Pearson saves his complaints for fights he actually wins.
And although it was later revealed that Pearson did not in fact break his foot, he recently tweeted the above image to prove that he wasn’t exactly telling porky pies either. It’s not often that a foot swells up so bad that it forms a cankle, so we must applaud Pearson for his grit and determination in not only fighting with such a disadvantage, but finishing a tough dude like Couture in the process.
I mean, just look at that thing. It looks like what I imagine Rosie O’Donnell’s inner thighs look like. It looks like someone stuffed a stocking with ground beef and threw it at a red birch tree. It looks like Kirby took a particularly vicious beating on the Planet Zebes level of Super Smash Brothers.
Sometime after he had finished spoiling Ryan Couture’s UFC debut at UFC on FUEL 9, it was revealed that TUF 9 winner and TUF: Smashes coach Ross Pearson had allegedly broken his foot warming up. Obviously fearing that those namby pamby Swedes would pull him from the fight, Pearson opted to keep his injury quiet until the fight was over, a strategy commonly known in the fight game as “Ortizing.” The main difference between Pearson and Ortiz being that Pearson saves his complaints for fights he actually wins.
And although it was later revealed that Pearson did not in fact break his foot, he recently tweeted the above image to prove that he wasn’t exactly telling porky pies either. It’s not often that a foot swells up so bad that it forms a cankle, so we must applaud Pearson for his grit and determination in not only fighting with such a disadvantage, but finishing a tough dude like Couture in the process.
I mean, just look at that thing. It looks like what I imagine Rosie O’Donnell’s inner thighs look like. It looks like someone stuffed a stocking with ground beef and threw it at a red birch tree. It looks like Kirby took a particularly vicious beating on the Planet Zebes level of Super Smash Brothers.
Eh, still more exciting than the Rocky musical. Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/Getty Images.
Let’s start off by stating the obvious: The last-minute main event of yesterday’s UFC on Fuel TV 9 was an anti-climactic ending to an otherwise gratifying afternoon of sanctioned violence. As hard as we tried to convince ourselves that Swedish prospect Ilir Latifi could be an interesting opponent for highly-regarded Strikeforce import Gegard Mousasi, the actual fight was completely unspectacular. This isn’t to say that either fighter deserves criticism for his performance, but rather, that this sort of thing will happen when a guy who earned a UFC contract by virtue of being willing to replace his injured training partner headlines an event on four days’ notice.
Despite walking out to the Rocky theme, it immediately became clear that a Balboa-esque upset – or even a Wepnerian display of resilience – was not in store for Latifi (though the cuts on his face were vintage Chuck Wepner). Latifi was completely incapable of avoiding Mousasi’s jab, which prevented him from getting close enough to The Dreamcatcher to actually put his wrestling prowess to use. As carefree as Mousasi looked – did he even blink during those rare occasions when Latifi landed punches? – he was in complete control throughout the bout, jabbing his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Eh, still more exciting than the Rocky musical. Photo courtesy of Josh Hedges/Getty Images.
Let’s start off by stating the obvious: The last-minute main event of yesterday’s UFC on Fuel TV 9 was an anti-climactic ending to an otherwise gratifying afternoon of sanctioned violence. As hard as we tried to convince ourselves that Swedish prospect Ilir Latifi could be an interesting opponent for highly-regarded Strikeforce import Gegard Mousasi, the actual fight was completely unspectacular. This isn’t to say that either fighter deserves criticism for his performance, but rather, that this sort of thing will happen when a guy who earned a UFC contract by virtue of being willing to replace his injured training partner headlines an event on four days’ notice.
Despite walking out to the Rocky theme, it immediately became clear that a Balboa-esque upset – or even a Wepnerian display of resilience – was not in store for Latifi (though the cuts on his face were vintage Chuck Wepner). Latifi was completely incapable of avoiding Mousasi’s jab, which prevented him from getting close enough to The Dreamcatcher to actually put his wrestling prowess to use. As carefree as Mousasi looked – did he even blink during those rare occasions when Latifi landed punches? – he was in complete control throughout the bout, jabbing his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Mousasi’s “standing lay-and-pray” (his words, not mine) may not have made for the most exciting fight, but his strategy was undeniably effective. A boring fight probably won’t advance Mousasi in the UFC’s official rankings as far as a devastating finish would have, but a loss to an unknown nobody would have certainly done irreparable damage to his credibility. It’s better to take an ugly victory than get reckless looking for a quick finish – especially against a wrestler you’ve only had a few days to prepare for.
One last thing before we move on to the rest of the card. For his performance against Mousasi, Ilir Latifi will be given another shot in the UFC. Considering he saved the main event from cancellation, this comes as a surprise to absolutely no one.
Elsewhere on the card…
– Despite winning the first round by utilizing an effective clinch, Ryan Couture was simply no match for the far more experienced Ross Pearson. Couture was ineffective outside of the clinch, and he was unable to take Pearson down. Once Pearson found his rhythm against the inexperienced Couture, he patiently waited for the right opportunity, and capitalized on it while Ryan Couture was getting back to his feet after a trip. With the victory, Pearson improves to 15-6 in his career. Not bad at all for a guy who fought on a broken foot. [Update: Turns out it wasn’t actually broken, just jacked up…]
The comparisons of Ryan to Randy – especially after what has only been Ryan’s eighth professional bout – aren’t exactly fair, but even Peyton Manning started off as “Archie’s boy.” Besides, when Natural Light (who is not actually called this, fortunately) landed a spot in the co-main event for his UFC debut, it was probably inevitable that fans would attribute this to his last name and his father’s career rather than the strength of his Strikeforce resume. This isn’t to say that Ryan Couture won’t develop into an outstanding fighter, but rather, that he isn’t quite there yet. It’ll be interesting to see how he rebounds from this loss.
– For all intents and purposes, Matt Mitrione vs. Philip De Fries appeared to be a classic loser leaves town match. The fact that it ended in less time than Bucky Boyd vs. The Tree seems to confirm this notion. And regardless of how much job security guys who stand and bang and make less than $50,000 to show typically have, knocking yourself out by running into your opponent’s hipbone just has to earn you a pink slip…right?
Look on the bright side, Philip: There’s a strong possibility that you’ll take home an award during this year’s Potato Awards. Granted, MMA Fail of the Year isn’t our most coveted award, but at least it’s something.
– Fight of the Night honors went to Brad Pickett and Mike Easton, who took part in a highly entertaining three round scrap. Pickett managed to take the fight by being the busier fighter, out-striking Mike Easton throughout the contest. Still, Easton managed to keep things close by taking Pickett down in the second round, and even managed to win the bout on one judge’s scorecard. I don’t see how one judge could give Easton the fight, but in the end, the right call was made.
– Diego Brandao looked more impressive last night than he has at any other point during his UFC career. Granted, that isn’t saying too much, but he looked like he has figured out how to pace himself while choking out Pablo Garza. Also from the main card, Swedish featherweight Akira Corassani kicked things off with a unanimous decision upset over Robbie Peralta.
– Knockout of the Night went to Irish phenom Conor McGregor, who absolutely crushed Marcus Brimage in his UFC debut, demonstrating he’s more than capable of living up to his hype. McGregor has already been given a spot on the UFC’s Fox Sports 1 debut in Boston this August. The bonus money couldn’t have possibly come at a better time for McGregor, who revealed during the post-event press conference that he had been receiving welfare leading up to the fight.
– Submission of the night went to Swedish lightweight Reza Madadi, who finished Michael Johnson via third round d’arce choke. Madadi improves his UFC record to 2-1, and his overall record to 13-3 with the victory.
– All end of the night bonuses were worth $60,000.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Gegard Mousasi def. Ilir Latifi via Unanimous Decision
Ross Pearson def. Ryan Couture via TKO (punches), 3:45 of Round Two
Matt Mitrione def. Phil De Fries via KO (punches), 0:19 of Round One
Brad Pickett def. Mike Easton via Split Decision
Diego Brandao def. Pablo Garza via Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke), 3:27 of Round One
Akira Corassani def. Robbie Peralta via Unanimous Decision
Preliminary card:
Reza Madadi def. Michael Johnson via Submission (D’arce Choke), 1:33 of Round Three
Tor Troéng def. Adam Cella via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), 3:11 of Round One
Adlan Amagov def. Chris Spång via Unanimous Decision
Conor McGregor def. Marcus Brimage via TKO (Punches), 1:07 of Round One
Ryan LaFlare def. Ben Alloway via Unanimous Decision
Tom Lawlor def. Michael Kuiper via Submission (Guillotine Choke), 1:05 of Round Two
Papy Abedi def. Besam Yousef via Split Decision
Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion. A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts. The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups. And it fucking rocked.
The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory. According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division. Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety. She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.
Obligatory. PicProps: Patrick Walters, CP OG
Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion. A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts. The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups. And it fucking rocked.
The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory. According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division. Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety. She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.
Also on the preliminary card was a bout between Miriam “The Queen of Mean” Nakamoto and Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke, a matchup between relative newcomers to MMA with extensive striking backgrounds. Nakamoto scored a KO victory in the first round with a pair of blistering knees, but there was some controversy when the second knee strike landed on a downed Duke. Shannon Knapp explained at the presser that the first (legal) knee that landed was considered the knockout blow, but said she would review the fight later. Nakamoto earned Knockout of the Night honors, adding insult to Duke’s injury and keeping her up on Twitter into Saturday morning.
Kicking off the main card was a matchup between popular Australian fighter Bec Hyatt and Austrian striker Jasminka Cive. The two had brought some personal heat to the matchup, including a pre-fight facedown with Invicta commentator Julie Kedzie. Hyatt squashed the beef with an armbar victory in the first round, and will look to rebuild momentum for another shot at Invicta’s 115 pound title.
And then came the upsets. First out was Kaitlin Young, a seasoned pro whose 7-7-1 record belies a career fighting top-ranked women, including Miesha Tate, Gina Carano, Julie Kedzie, and Liz Carmouche. Young dropped a decision to surging Lauren Taylor, and now carries a losing record for the first time in her career.
Zoila Frausto-Gurgel fell victim next, losing a decision in her Invicta debut against Brazilian Jennifer Maia. Frausto-Gurgel was visibly frustrated with the decision and the question marks surrounding her. Zoila competed successfully at 115 pounds under the Bellator banner, but the weight cut was notably difficult. 125 was supposed to be her playground, with a clear shot toward title contention, and that path is no longer so straight and easy.
The upset parade almost continued into the next fight, between former 135 pound queenpin Sarah Kaufman and Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith, a three round war that went to the judges and resulted in a razor-thin split decision for Kaufman. Smith, who was a virtual unknown training under Ceasar Gracie a year ago, is now perhaps the most dangerous opponent a bantamweight woman can accept. On the other hand, taking a fight with Smith guarantees a crowd-pleasing war and a potential Fight of the Night bonus. The controversial decision (which the crowd loudly disagreed with) brought a bit of awkwardness to the press conference after the fights. Smith, while not willing to directly criticize the decision, pointed out that the UFC could rightly lose confidence in one of “their” fighters (Kaufman), if she had such a narrow decision win over a mere “Invicta fighter” like herself. (For the record, Smith would have won under Stockton Rules.) Meanwhile, Kaufman held a frozen smile, too polite to argue in a civilized setting like a press conference. A rematch between the two was discussed (and literally applauded by the gathered media), under either the UFC’s banner or Invicta’s.
There would be no upset for Cris Cyborg’s Invicta debut. Matched up with Aussie tough Fiona Muxlow, Cyborg put on a blazing display of aggression that lasted a shade over three and a half minutes, at which point Big John McCarthy decided that, no, this Australian lady is not going to crack Cyborg’s fists with her skull, and called the fight. It was announced at the post-fight that Cyborg will move on to compete in Invicta’s inaugural 145 pound title fight against Marloes Coenen in July, while Muxlow works on regaining hand-eye coordination and vowel sounds. She did not attend the press conference after the fights.
Speaking of inaugural titles, Invicta held its first 125 pound title fight between Vanessa Porto and Barb Honchak. After the public execution of Cyborg’s fight, the crowd got a bit restless with the more technical striking exchange. Honchak looked to counter Porto’s vicious leg kicks with combinations, and built up a commanding lead on the cards for a unanimous decision win and the Strawweight Championship.
Closing out the night was Jessica Penne’s first title defense of her Atomweight belt, against Jackson’s MMA fighter Michele Waterson. In interviews leading up to the fight, Penne downplayed the importance of the title and any sense of ego about being the champ, but her enjoyment of her status as queen of the 105ers was as blatant as the #firstever hashtag she used to describe her reign. Not that Penne was resting on her laurels: she was a hard-training, well-rounded, athletically-gifted champ, and she’d earned the belt. Waterson, while an exciting fighter that has a bigger kicking repertoire than Hwoarang and Baek Doo Son combined, looked to be smaller and incapable of fending off Penne’s solid grappling attack.
Oh, how wrong we were. Waterson was quite capable, thank you, and proved it by gutting out an armbar attack from the champ that appeared to snap Waterson’s arm. Waterson would go on to pull out a sneaky-fast armbar transition of her own in the fourth round, earning a quick tap and a shiny new belt as the #secondever Atomweight Champion.
All in all, it was another soaring success for Invicta. While there were complaints about unstable streaming, they were a tiny percentage of the problems Invicta faced in its first iPPV venture. More and more people are realizing that, yes, there is depth of talent in the ladies’ division. All you have to do is showcase it. Invicta’s first year has proven that the athletes are ready for a bigger stage, and the promotion is ready to provide it. While there may be growing pains, like adjusting to a television deal that’s looking increasingly likely to happen. Like it or not, Invicta FC is here to stay.
