Photos courtesy Dave Mandel/InvictaFC
The 9th InvictaFC strawweight champion was crowned in Denver Wednesday night.
InvictaFC held its 50th numbered event with a history making strawweight tournament that found the two finalists fighting for 30 minutes in one night. It was Valesca Machado whose hand was raised in the main event as she got the nod from the judges 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 over Poland’s Karolina Wojcik. Machedo becomes the third Brazilian to hold the strawweight title and 31st champion in the promotion. The main event was the 100th official strawweight bout in the company’s history.
Machado had an active semi-final bout with fellow Brazilian Ediana Silva that took both the distance. Machado won a close unanimous decision 30-27, 28-29, 29-28.
The other semi-final saw Wojcik in a tough battle as well. Brazilian Gloria de Paula had her moments in the third round, but was unable to finish Wojcik being down two rounds. Wojcik would get the unanimous decision 29-28 on all card.
The reserve bout saw Ireland’s Danni McCormack put on a stellar performance, opening the fight with fast hands. Her opponent, Maira Mazar, would not be out done with some massive takedowns throughout the fight and McCormack fending off rear naked choke attempts while Mazar was on her back. In the end, McCormack’s stand up game gained the unanimous decision win 29-28, 29-28, 29-27.
The night’s co-main event saw the night’s only finish, as Talita Bernarrdo becomes the first person in InvictaFC history to win via kimura. Her opponent, former title challenger Katharina Lehner, couldn’t find an answer to Bernardo’s grappling and got submitted at 4:26 of round 2. They announced that Bernardo will face InvictaFC bantamweight champion Taneisha Tennant at InvictaFC 51 in the promotion’s return to Denver on January 18th.
Local Denver fighter Clare Guthrie brought her hometown crowd a show along side Brigid Chase in a spirited feature bout. It was Chase’s kicks versus Guthrie’s punching power and wrestling. Guthrie would win by unanimous decision 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
The opening fight of the night saw Elise Pone doing something we probably never seen in a fight. Between rounds, she refused to sit down or take water. Her corner stayed out of the cage during the breaks and Pone just stared down her opponent. It was clinch work with knees and her kickboxing that got Pone the nod over IBO bantamweight boxing champ Melissa Oddessa Parker 30-27 on all cards.
“I just didn’t have another option today, I needed to prove to myself that I belong here,” Pone stated in her post fight interview. Pone would call for a rematch against Helen Peralta, Pone’s first professional loss. She would say that Peralta motivated her to improve her game.
Here are the complete results:
- Valesca Machado def. Karolina Wójcik by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – strawweight title tournament final
- Talita Bernardo def. Katharina Lehner by submission (kimura). Round 2, 4:26
- Claire Guthrie def. Brigid Chase by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Danni McCormack def. Maira Mazar by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27) – strawweight title tournament reserve bout
- Valesca Machado def. Ediana Silva by split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28) – strawweight title tournament semifinal
- Karolina Wójcik def. Gloria de Paula by unanimous decision (29-28 x3) – strawweight title tournament semifinal
- Elise Pone def. Melissa Oddessa by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Wombat Sports 