Invicta Fighting Championships held their third event and once again stunned the MMA world.
The all-women’s promotion, which held its inaugural event in May 2012, crowned its first atomweight champion after Jessica Penne submitted Naho Sugiyama in the second round with an Anderson Silva-equse triangle choke. Prior to the fight, Sugiyama was undefeated at 8-0.
In addition to Penne and Sugiyama’s atomweight title match, there were several memorable matches on the card.
In the co-feature bout, “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler found redemption by submitting Sarah D’Alelio in the second round with a rear naked choke.
One fight I had looked forward to watching was the rematch between Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith. The two had previously met at Invicta FC 1, which had not only ended in a draw, but also earned Fight of the Night honors. The second fight would not disappoint as both Young and Smith came out of the gate firing on all cylinders.
In the second round, Smith would capture Young in a crucifix and delivered a slew of punches to Young’s face until the referee stopped the fight.
There were several other notable performances throughout the night, including the scrap between Michelle Waterson and Lacey Schuckman, Jessamyn Duke’s submission, and the debuts of Tecia Torres and Kaiyana Rain.
Overall I enjoyed the event. Although Invicta will continue to grow, their first three events have been some of the best fight cards in 2012. No doubt that 2013 will be the year they make their claim as one of the top promotions in MMA.
Below are the complete results of the Invicta FC 3 results
Main Card
Jessica Penne defeated Naho Sugiyama via submission to win the Invicta FC Atomweight championship
Shayna Baszler defeated Sarah D’Alelio via submission
Leslie Smith defeated Kaitlin Young via TKO
Barb Honchak defeated Aisling Daly via unanimous decision
Vanessa Porto defeated Tara LaRosa via unanimous decision
Cat Zingano defeated Raquel Pennington via submission
Michelle Waterson defeated Lacey Schuckman via split decision
Julia Budd defeated Danielle West via TKO
Preliminary Card
Carla Esparza defeated Lynn Alvarez via TKO
Joanne Calderwood defeated Ashley Cummins via KO
Stephanie Frausto defeated Amy Davis via submission
Jessamyn Duke defeated Marciea Allen via submission
Tecia Torres defeated Kaiyana Rain via unanimous decision
Ediane Gomes defeated Katalina Malungahu via submission
Al’s Fight Night Awards
Al’s Fight of the Night: tie between Michelle Waterson vs. Lacey Schuckman and Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith.
Al’s Submission of the Night: Jessamyn Duke’s armbar
Al’s Knockout of the Night: Joanne Calderwood’s knee to the body
What did you think of Invicta FC’s latest event? Answer with a comment in the box below or send a tweet to @alstover with the hashtag #RantMMA