Alexis Davis
Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Alexis Davis gained a measure of revenge against long-time rival Sarah Kaufman with an impressive second-round submission victory on Saturday night at “UFC 186: Johnson vs. Horiguchi” in Montreal.
Davis put herself right back into 135-pound title contention by finishing Kaufman with an armbar in a featured preliminary bout.
Prior to Saturday’s trilogy fight, Davis (17-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Kaufman (17-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) faced off on two separate occasions. The Canadian standouts first clashed in Davis’ April 2007 pro debut, which Kaufman won via third-round TKO. She made it two-for-two against Davis by narrowly outpointing her in a March 2012 Strikeforce rematch.
Following her second loss to Kaufman, Davis racked up five straight victories and earned a shot at the UFC women’s bantamweight title, but she was knocked out by champion Ronda Rousey in just 16 seconds at UFC 175. Kaufman, meanwhile, entered Saturday’s bout against Davis with momentum on her side after besting Leslie Smith for a second time.
In Round 1 of the UFC 186 trilogy fight, Kaufman controlled the action by landing crisp punching combinations and knees to the body. She fought off Davis’ takedown attempts and finished the round with another flurry. It was more of the same early in Round 2, with Kaufman once again putting Davis on the defensive with punches. However, Davis closed the distance and she took Kaufman down into mount. Davis locked on a triangle choke and she transitioned to a tight armbar in a scramble. Kaufman could not escape and tapped out at the 1:52 mark of Round 2.
Davis will need to string together at least a few more wins if she hopes to earn another shot at Rousey’s UFC title, but Saturday’s victory over Kaufman reaffirmed that Davis is still one of the top contenders in the competitive women’s bantamweight division.
Earlier on the UFC 186 card, Valerie Letourneau (7-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) made a successful strawweight debut against fellow ex-bantamweight Jessica Rakoczy (1-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC). Letourneau out-struck Rakoczy on the feet and she nearly finished the fight with a triangle armbar in the opening round. Rakoczy’s eye was swollen shut by the end of Round 2, but the “TUF 18” semifinalist fought on. Letourneau scored with a series of kicks in the final round and she secured a late-fight takedown into mount that sealed her victory. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Letourneau, who remains unbeaten inside the UFC octagon.
In a late addition to UFC 186, skilled grappler Randa Markos (5-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) outworked fellow “TUF 20” alum Aisling Daly (15-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) en route to a well-deserved unanimous-decision win. Markos threatened with chokes on the ground and clearly won Round 1, but Daly rallied in the middle stanza and she cut Markos with elbows from top position. Markos regained control of the fight with key takedowns in Round 3 and she tried to finish the fight with an armbar shortly before the bell. One judge scored the fight 30-27 for Markos, while the remaining two both had it 29-28 in her favor.
Livia Souza captures strawweight title at Invicta FC 12
Undefeated Brazilian rising star Livia Souza (8-0) became Invicta FC’s third strawweight champion with a fourth-round submission victory on Friday night at Invicta Fighting Championships 12 in Kansas City, Mo. Souza tapped out former champion Katja Kankaanpaa (10-2-1) with a triangle choke to claim the 115-pound title in the Invicta FC 12 main event.
Souza easily won the first round by attacking with submission attempts and ground and pound. Rounds 2 and 3 were much closer, and the fighters battled back and forth on the mat. The competitive fight entered the championship rounds and Kankaanpaa pressed forward aggressively with punches and knees. She attempted a guillotine choke on the mat, but Souza escaped and she locked on a triangle choke. Kankaanpaa appeared to be okay, but Souza tightened the choke and Kankaanpaa reluctantly tapped out at the 3:58 mark of Round 4.
With the championship victory, Souza kept her unbeaten record intact and established herself as one of the very best female strawweights outside of the UFC. The 24-year-old has submitted her opponents in all but one of her fights to date.
In the Invicta FC 12 co-feature, Vanessa Porto (18-6) avenged a past loss by outpointing Roxanne Modafferi (17-12) in what was intended to be a flyweight rematch. Porto missed weight for the fight, but she mixed up her strikes well and scored key takedowns in all three rounds. During the middle stanza, Porto dropped Modafferi with a counter right cross. Modafferi landed some solid punches of her own in Round 3, but it was not enough to steal back the fight. Scores were 30-27 thrice for Porto, who walked away with a big win.
Storm MMA featherweight champion Faith Van Duin (7-1) earned an impressive victory in her long-awaited North American debut at Invicta FC 12. Van Duin submitted hard-hitting prospect Amanda Bell (3-3) with a second-round armbar. The opening round was a good one for Bell, who worked for a series of submission attempts from her back after she was taken down. Van Duin caught a kick early in Round 2 and she took Bell down. Shortly thereafter, Van Duin locked on a no-hooks rear-naked choke that forced Bell to submit at the 38-second mark of Round 2.
Earlier on the Invicta FC 12 card, Raquel Pa’aluhi (5-4) scored her biggest victory to date by defeating veteran contender Ediane Gomes (10-4) in a bantamweight bout. Pa’aluhi punished Gomes with ground and pound in Round 1 and dropped her with a knee to the body in the second round. Gomes rebounded with a strong final round, but Pa’aluhi took home a unanimous-decision victory with scores of 29-28 thrice.
Sugar Creek Showdown champion Latoya Walker (5-0) missed weight for her Invicta FC featherweight debut, but still walked away with a unanimous-decision victory over “TUF 18” alum Peggy Morgan (3-3). Walker rocked Morgan with punches in Round 2 of the otherwise uneventful fight and all three judges scored the bout 30-27 in her favor.
Former atomweight contender Lacey Schuckman (11-8) returned to the Invicta FC cage as a strawweight and destroyed an overweight Jenny Liou Shriver (3-2). Schuckman staggered Shriver with punches in the opening minute and she unloaded with more strikes as Shriver wilted against the cage. After a final barrage of punches from Schuckman, the one-sided fight was finally stopped at the 1:53 mark of Round 1.
In preliminary card action at Invicta FC 12, Sharon Jacobson’s (3-1) ground and pound and submission attempts propelled her to a unanimous-decision win over Sugar Creek Showdown strawweight champ Delaney Owen (3-2). Scores were 30-27 across the board.
At 125 pounds, Shannon Sinn (2-2) out-struck former training partner Maureen Riordon (0-2) en route to a unanimous-decision victory with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.
Opening up the card, Sijara Eubanks (1-0) made a successful pro debut by stopping short-notice replacement opponent Gina Begley (0-1) with ground and pound at the 4:59 mark of Round 1 in a bantamweight battle.
Michelle Waterson returns to 115, faces Angela Magana at TUF 21 Finale
Former Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson (12-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC), who signed with the UFC earlier this week, moves back up to 115 pounds for her octagon debut against “TUF 20” alum Angela Magana (11-7 MMA, 0-1 UFC). The featured strawweight bout takes place on July 12 at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale in Florida.
Long before she captured Invicta FC title gold, Waterson began her MMA career in February 2007. She went 6-3 as a strawweight, including a quick submission win for Strikeforce in October 2008, but opted to move down in weight following an extremely one-sided TKO loss to former world champion boxer Elena Reid in April 2009. Waterson showcased a ton of heart in the fight with Reid, but she was repeatedly dropped in Round 1 and was ultimately finished by Reid’s non-stop punches in the second round.
In the wake of the brutal loss, Waterson dropped down in weight and she won back-to-back bouts before taking close to two years off from fighting following the birth of her daughter. She returned to the sport in early 2012 with a submission win over Diana Rael and signed on with the upstart Invicta Fighting Championships soon after.
After winning her Invicta FC debut, Waterson surprised many onlookers by submitting Jessica Penne to become the second Invicta FC atomweight champion. She made one successful title defense before succumbing to a third-round guillotine choke from Herica Tiburcio at Invicta FC 10. In spite of the December loss, Waterson remains one of the most popular female fighters in MMA today and her UFC signing comes as no surprise.
Magana, in stark contrast, is one of MMA’s most polarizing female fighters. The outspoken veteran made friends and bitter enemies during her time on “TUF 20,” but her run in the competition ended in the elimination round when she was stopped by ground and pound from Aisling Daly. Since then, “Your Majesty” has further developed her persona on social media, but her official UFC debut ended in a lopsided unanimous-decision defeat against top prospect Tecia Torres at the TUF 20 Finale. Having lost three straight fights – four including “TUF 20” – Magana faces a must-win situation when she welcomes Waterson to the UFC in July.
Quick results
Bantamweight – Anita Rodriguez (7-5) def. Erin McDougall (2-1) via TKO (punches) at the 28-second mark of Round 2 at “Xtreme Fighting League: Tulsa Celebrity Fight Night” on April 23 in Tulsa, Okla. Rodriguez, who captured the Sugar Creek Showdown women’s bantamweight title in November, has now won back-to-back fights.
Bantamweight – Juliana Velasquez (2-0) def. Talita de Oliveira (1-1) via unanimous decision at “Face to Face 11: Borrachinha vs. Wagnao” on April 24 in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Velasquez earned her second straight decision victory in the fight. She won her pro debut by upsetting recently-crowned Shooto Brazil champ Priscila de Souza in December.
Catchweight (128) – Kate Jackson (6-2-1) def. Eeva Siiskonen (3-3) via submission (guillotine choke) at the 4:59 mark of Round 3 at Lappeenranta Fight Night 12 on April 25 in Lappeenranta, South Karelia, Finland. Jackson picked up her second straight victory by upsetting the hometown favorite with the last-second submission win.
Flyweight – Sylwia Juskiewicz (3-4) def. Katarzyna Urban (0-2) via KO (punches) at the 1:13 mark of Round 2 at Crank MMA 1 on April 25 in Sieradz, Lodz, Poland. Juskiewicz rocked Urban with an uppercut and swarmed on her with more punches for the knockout win. The victory snapped Juskiewicz’s three-fight losing streak.
Bantamweight – Fernanda Silva (2-0) def. Jessica Negrao (1-1) via TKO (punches) at the 4:14 mark of Round 1 at “Big Fight Nights 1: Soldado vs. Boi Bandido” on April 25 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Silva kept her perfect professional record intact with the first-round finish.
Atomweight – Arielle Souza (4-3) def. Bianca Reis (3-4) via TKO (punches) at the 45-second mark of Round 1 at Pro Fight MMA Brasil 31 on April 25 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Souza earned her second straight win over Reis with a quick TKO victory in the rematch.
Strawweight – Kenya Miranda da Silva (1-1) def. Natalia Miranda (0-1) via TKO (punches) in Round 2 at “Fire Cage MMA: National League” on April 25 in Montes Claros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Da Silva rebounded from a second-round submission loss in her November pro debut by stopping Miranda with a barrage of strikes.
Strawweight – Glorida Bravo (2-2) def. Barbara Bojanich (0-2) via submission (armbar) at the 3:12 mark of Round 1 at Master Fighters Championship 11 on April 25 in Santiago, Chile. Bravo made a successful return to action following a one-year hiatus and made short work of her Argentinian opponent.
Strawweight – Also on the MFC 11 card, Pamela Cabrera (2-0) def. Evelyn Sass (0-1) via submission (armbar) at the 2:46 mark of Round 2. Cabrera earned her second consecutive stoppage victory in the entertaining fight.
Catchweight (131) – Pearl Gonzalez (3-1) def. Nikki Duncan (0-2) via unanimous decision at Xtreme Fighting Organization 55 on April 25 in Chicago. Former XFC champion Gonzalez has won three straight fights since dropping a close decision in her pro debut.
Bantamweight – Summer Bradshaw (2-2) def. Brenda Rodriguez (0-2) via TKO (punches) at the 2:43 mark of Round 3 at “Sparta Combat League 44: Fight for the Troops 2” on April 25 in Loveland, Colo. Bradshaw has now earned TKO victories in back-to-back fights.
Flyweight – Ariel Beck (3-1) def. D.J. Morrison (0-1) via TKO (punches) at the 2:30 mark of Round 1 at “FightForce: Butte Brawl 18” on April 25 in Butte, Mont. Beck put on an impressive performance against short-notice replacement Morrison, and she has now won three in a row.
Flyweight – Susy Watson (2-2) def. Ciara Irvine (0-1) via submission (rear-naked choke) at the 3:29 mark of Round 1 at “Super Fight League 40: America 4” on April 25 in Tacoma, Wash. Watson took the fight to the mat and landed punches from the top until she was able to set up the fight-ending choke. She has won back-to-back fights this year.
MMAjunkie.com publishes the Women’s MMA Report every few weeks. Its author, Robert Sargent, is a veteran MMA journalist who also runs MMARising.com. Feel free to email us at news [AT] mmajunkie.com with any questions, news tips or suggestions.
