Invicta Fighting Championships 1 Putting Itself on the Map

By Lacey Neher

Young and Smith after their war.
Photo courtesy of Esther Lin

Invicta Fighting Championships put on it's inaugural show in Kansas City and in my opinion, it was an epic hit!  Shannon Knapp and Janet Martin should be proud of their promotion that boasts only women's mixed martial arts fights. Even though the stream had it's hiccups in general it was a nice one and I was glued to my computer every minute.

Cassie Rodish got the night started off in a big way by defeating Meghan Wright in 36 seconds of the first round with a ninja choke. Not bad on Rodish's part considering she was a last minute replacement.

Ashley Cummins got the unanimous decision win over Sofia Bagherdai to keep a perfect professional record. Bagherdai had a bit of a hard time making weight and she seemed somewhat sluggish in the last two rounds which helped secure Cummins victory.

The third fight of the evening gave us Randi Miller and Mollie Estes. he two fought a war for the first two rounds, but Miller got the better of Estes in the third round defeating her by TKO. This was a great fight to watch and I got to hand it to Mollie Estes, she has a great attitude even in defeat.

Sarah Maloy and Michele Gutierrez took to the cage in a fight that was mainly fought standing. Maloy was victorious in the win snatching the unanimous decision. One of the more exciting moments of the fight is when the two punched each other in the face at the same time subsequently finding the two fighters stunned and falling to the canvas at the same time.

Muay Thai fighter, Amy Davis defeated Nicdali Rivera-Colanoc with a Kimura in the second round. Davis is a very intense fighter, and she had her eye on the prize the moment she walked in the cage.

Sarah D'Alelio out "Bunny" boxed her opponent, Vanessa Mariscal to capture a TKO victory in the first round. D'Alelio was coming off the controversial armbar defeat by Ronda Rousey and she proved she is still a force to be reckoned with.

The fight of the night and in my opinion in the running with Kaufman/Davis for fight of the year was the all out war between Leslie Smith and Kaitlin Young. The two gave it their all every second of the three rounds. The judges had a huge decision ahead of them because it was such a closely contested fight. The only conclusion the judges could come up with was calling it a draw. The judges got it right and the two women both received win bonuses.

Liz Carmouche made easy work of her fight by defeating Ashleigh Curry in the first round with what she does best, ground and pound. Curry didn't have one second of dominance in the fight and showed her inexperience in the lopsided fight.

Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis put on one of the bloodiest battles of the evening. Ellis sustained a bloody nose when Penne plowed her with a vicious knee. Penne went on to get the win by TKO in the third round.

The main event of the evening was kicked off with an intense staredown as Romy Ruyssen wanted revenge for Marloes Coenen defeating her in their first go around in the years past. Coenen showed Ruyssen that she will not be out stared or out classed as the former Strikeforce champ, Coenen defeated Ruyssen by unanimous decision after dominating most of the fight.

It was nice to see a card that lived up to the hype, proving more exciting than most, if not all UFC cards. The UFC is the premier promotion, and I credit it for bringing MMA to the popularity it is at now, but these days it is overexposed and to be honest, not all but, a lot of the fights are two guys fighting not to lose. Every fight at Invicta was fought by fighters who came to win and they weren't afraid to risk it all win or lose.

If there is "naysayers" out there still I would love to hear there excuse as to why women still don't belong on the worldwide MMA stage. They train just as hard as their male counterparts and their hard work was evident in the display of athleticism shown last night at Invicta FC 1.

The next Invicta Card will take place on July 28th in Kansas City once again with Shayna Baszler and Sara McMann headlining the card.

Full results and scores from InvictaFC 1

Cassie Rodish Defeated Meghan Wright via Submission (Guilltoine Choke) at :36 in the 1stRound

Ashley Cummins Defeated Sofia Bagherdai via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)

Randi Miller Defeated Mollie Estes via TKO (Punches) at 3:27 in the 3rdRound

Sarah Maloy Defeated Michele Gutierrez via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Amy Davis Defeated Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc via Submission (Kimura) at 3:47 in the 2ndRound

Sarah D’Alelio Defeated Vanessa Mariscal via Submission (Punches) at 3:19 in the 1stRound

Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith Draw (29-28, 28-29, 29-29)*

Liz Carmouche Defeated via Ashleigh Curry via TKO (Punches) at 1:58 in the 1stRound

Jessica Penne Defeated Lisa Ellis via via TKO (Punches) at 2:48 in the 3rdRound

Marloes Coenen Defeated Romy Ruyssen via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)



As always, join us on our FB page Real Women and Men watch MMA.