The Independent Voice of Mixed Martial Arts
It has been a long road back to the UFC for Thales Leites. After nearly four years away from the octagon, the new and improved Leites used his hands to set up his takedowns and dominating ground game to control and batter Tom Watson over three rounds of action, earning him a lopsided unanimous decision victory.
Cris “Cyborg” is once again a champion. “Cyborg” systematically dismantled Marloes Coenen, punishing Coenen with an unrelenting attack that resulted in a TKO stoppage at 4:02 of the fourth round. The dominating victory earned “Cyborg” the inaugural Invicta FC featherweight championship.
Claudia Gadelha used a stifling top game to control and dominate Ayaka Hamasaki on the ground before finishing her with strikes at 3:58 of the final round. Not only does the TKO victory keep Gadelha undefeated, but more importantly sets her up to face Invicta FC strawweight champion Carla Esparza.
Lauren Taylor came in undefeated but was pushed to the limit by Sarah D’Alelio. Both fighters engaged in a three round war of attrition that saw Taylor keep her record unblemished with a unanimous decision victory with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28.
If anyone had any concerns that Leslie Smith’s drop to flyweight would affect her cardio and punching output, those concerns can be put to rest. Smith battered Jennifer Maia over three rounds with her high volume attack of strikes en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Jessica Penne made it clear that she wanted her belt back. Before that could happen she had to take care of Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc, and she did just that, submitting her opponent with a tight rear naked choke at 4:57 of the opening round.
Joanne Calderwood is known for her devastating finishes, but it took her a full three rounds to stay perfect as she battled to a unanimous decision victory over the very tough Norma Center.
Mizuki Inoue has won most of her fights by way of submission, but her boxing was just as impressive as her ground game as she outworked fan favorite Bec Hyatt en route to a unanimous decision victory in her Invicta FC debut.
Miriam Nakamoto once again showed how devastating her game inside the clinch can be as she decimated Duda Yankovich with knees and strikes to win impressively by TKO at 2:08 of the opening round.
In a battle of top prospects, Tecia Torres and Rose Namajunas set the pace to start Invicta FC 6, with three rounds of nonstop action that saw Torres use her kickboxing prowess to outstrike Namajunas on her way to a unanimous decision victory.