Note: This was written back in January and was going to be pitched to the SCU brass in an effort to bring Mixed Martial Arts coverage to SCU.
Invicta FC 15: Cyborg vs. Ibragimova took place at The Hanger at the OC Fair in Costa Mesa, CA on January 16th, 2016 live on UFC Fight Pass. The main event featured Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (MMA Record: 14-1, 1 NC) defending the Invicta Featherweight Championship against Daria Ibragimova (MMA Record: 9-1). In the co-main event, Livia Renata Souza (MMA Record: 8-0) defends the Invicta Strawweight Championship against DeAnna Bennett (MMA Record: 6-0).
All fights are sanctioned by the California State Athletic Commission
Featherweight Fight: Megan Anderson (MMA Record: 4-2) vs. Amber Leibrock (MMA Record: 1-0) – Referee: John McCarthy
Round 1: Leibrock stands on the outside and was able to land some overhand rights on Anderson early in the fight. Leibrock would begin to use movement and would press forward, and would eventually rock Anderson. Anderson gets pushed to the fence and fights back, pushing Leibrock to the cage after a wild striking exchange. Anderson works the clinch as Leibrock was starting to bleed a little after the exchange. John McCarthy would break the clinch 4:18 into the first round. Anderson would get Leibrock in a clinch again pinning her against the fence, working her over with knees and punches. Leibrock and Anderson would start looking to setup takedowns as the round comes to an end.
Andrew’s score: 10-9 Anderson. Leibrock was able to land some nice punches early on, but bounced back, was aggressive in the round, and controlled the round.
Round 2: Both ladies come out of their corners looking to land strikes until Anderson ties up Leibrock and press her up against the fence. They spend time on the fence looking to get position. Leibrock came close to reversing position, but Anderson overpowered her and put her back on the fence. John McCarthy breaks the clinch stalemate at 2:23 in the round. Anderson would start to land some strikes on Leibrock, who landed a front kick on Anderosn before getting tied up in the clinch again up against the fence. Anderson lands some combos on Leibrock when she was up against the fence before pinning Leibrock up on the fence again. Anderson lands a nice knee to the face of Leibrock with less than a minute to go in the round. Anderson rocked Leibrock in the final moments of the round before Leibrock tied up Anderson to stop her offensive flurry to end the round.
Andrew’s score: 10-9 Anderson again. She landed more strikes, did more damage, and again controlled the pace and held position for most of the round.
Round 3: The ringside doctor looked over Leibrock before ethe round began. Anderson comes out aggressive and clinches her against the fence again. Leibrock goes for a bodylock trip takedown but ends up on bottom. Leibrock works a high guard on Anderson, setting up a triangle attempt on Anderson. Anderson escapes and both fighters get back to their fight. Anderson lands some strikes and clinches up against Leibrock again. Anderson would several knees to drop Leibrock after she broke the clinch, putting her down for the TKO victory in the 3rd round.
Official Decision: Megan Anderson defeats Amber Leibrock via TKO (Knees and Punches) at 2:33 in Round 3.
Strawweight Fight: Alida Gray (MMA Record: 4-2) vs. Angela Hill (MMA Record: 2-2) – Referee: John McCarthy
Round 1: Angela Hill lands a hard right hand 30 seconds into the fight, rocking Gray early on after a short feeling out process. Hill would get the better of the striking exchanges on Gray. Hill lands a hard counter right hand on Gray after Gray had landed a body kick. Gray gets rocked and Hill unleashes a flurry of strikes as Gray was against the fence. After a couple of strikes, Gray gets dropped with a knee to the body, forcing referee John McCarthy to stop the fight.
Official Decision: Angel Hill defeats Alida Gray via TKO (Knee to the Body) at 1:39 in Round 1.
Strawweight Fight: Lacey Schuckman (MMA Record: 11-8) vs. Mizuki Inoue (MMA Record: 9-3, 1 NC) – Referee: Jason Herzog
Round 1: Schuckman initiates early and clinches up on Mizuki. She takes Mizuki down and ends up on top. Schuckman takes Mizuki’s back with both hooks in until Mizuki gets back to her feet and scores a takedown of her own on Schuckman. Mizuki does a kneeslice transition to mount Schuckman, but falls off and ends up in guard. Mizuki locks in an armbar attempt on Schuckman, who counters the submission attempt with an inverted triangle choke from bottom. Mizuki breaks out of at 3:48 after it looked like she came close to a tap. Mizuki ends up on top and works an armbar attempt against the fence. Mizuki locks it in but Schuckman escapes again. Mizuki ends up on top after a scramble and ends the round with Schuckman against the cage. Schuckman throws a punch after the bell rings and is warned by Jason Herzog.
Andrew’s Score: 10-9 Inoue. She controlled the round and had some nice submission attempts. It did look like she tapped in Schuckman’s inverted triangle, but it was hard to tell if she was just more her arm for position.
Round 2: Mizuki landed a nice kick to the body before Schuckman tried to go for a takedown. Mizuki puts Schuckman against the fence early and pushes forward with strikes after it was broken up. Schuckman goes for a leg trip takedown, but Mizuki counters it beautifully with a takedown of her own and ends up on top in side control. Mizuki passes to mount and lands some ground and pound after posturing up. Schuckman gives up her back as Mizuki continues to land strikes while controlling the back with both hooks in. Schuckman is starting to bleed from Mizuki’s strikes. Mizuki goes for an armbar 3:00 into the round. Schuckman escapers and goes for top position, but Mizuki ends up on top and lands some ground and pound on Schuckman. Schuckman begins to look for a heel hook, but Mizuki ends up lands more strikes to maintain top position on Schuckman. Schuckman hits a sweep on Mizuki, but Mizuki recovered and regained top position as Schuckman kept fishing for leg locks. The round ends with Mizuki on top of Schuckman in half guard.
Andrew’s Score: 10-9 Inoue again, 20-18 overall Inoue. Again, she’s controlling the fight and is scoring points on the ground with her striking, transitions, and submission attempts.
Round 3: Both fighters start the round throwing strikes early. Mizuki is looking fresh while Schuckman has slowed down a bit. Mizuki presses Schuckman against the fence again with double unders. Went for a trip takedown, but switched ti a single leg. Schuckman has Mizuki’s neck, but Mizuki’s body is in a safe position that prevents the choke from being a threat. Mizuki’s composure helps her as she escapes the choke and ends up in mount, landing some ground and pound on Schuckman. Mizuki peppers Schuckman with more shots and begins to set up an armbar from mount. Mizuki works for an armbar attempt and eventually gets it as Lacey Schuckman verbally taps to end the fight.
Official Decision: Mizuki Inoue defeats Lacey Schuckman via Submission (Armbar) at 3:41 in Round 3.
Mizuki Inoue is asked about the phantom tap in the first, but said she was unaware of what happened.
Atomwieght Fight: Amber Brown (MMA Record: 5-1) vs. Shino VanHoose (MMA Record: 4-3) – Referee: Jason Herzog
Round 1: Brown lands a hard left cross to open up the fight. VanHoose lands a pair of body kicks on Brown, who backs VanHoose up to the fence and clinches her up. VanHoose attempted to jump guard but Brown keeps it on her feet and pushes her on the fence again. Brown tries to go for a standing Arm Triangle and maintains control of position. VanHoose goes for a trip, but Brown counters it and gets VanHoose in a guillotine. Brown lands some knees before VanHoose gets a takedown. Brown holds onto the guillotine as VanHoose looks to escape the choke, but instead ends up in Brown’s guard, allowing her to fully lock in the submission forcing VanHoose to tap.
Official Decision: Amber Brown defeats Shino VanHoose via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:36 in Round 1.
Bantamweight Fight: Raquel Pa’aluhi (MMA Record: 5-4) vs. Colleen Schneider (MMA Record: 9-6) – Referee: John McCarthy
Before the fight begins, we have an extended delay as we wait for the ambulance for the event to return to the venue. In California, fights can’t take place without an ambulance, EMTs, and a doctor at events.
Round 1: Both fighters start out with a feeling out process. Pa’aluhi goes for a takedown and gets stuffed by Schneider. They clinch up on the cage and break. Schneider is back up against the fence and Pa’aluhi goes for single leg that was countered by Schneider, but Pa’aluhi was able to score a double leg takedown. Pa’aluhi’s face is starting to bleed early in the round. Schneider landed a hard elbow around 2:06 into the first round. Schneider’s movement is giving Pa’aluhi some problems, as Schneider is switching stances and using lots of footwork. Pa’aluhi goes for a takedown 4:48 into the first round, but only pushes Schneider against the fence. Schneider goes for a kick towards the end of the first round, but Pa’aluhi catches it and takes the back of Schneider. Pa’aluhi ends the round on Schneider’s back landing strikes.
Andrew’s score: 10-9 Schneider, as she was able to do more damage and landed better strikes. This was a close round, but I gave it to Schneider.
Round 2: Schneider gets takedown briefly after throwing a leg kick on Pa’aluhi. They get back to their feet and Pa’aluhi presses Schneider back up on the fence and scores a takedown. Pa’aluhi controls things for a bit, trying to work for trip takedowns but is countered and stuffed by Schneider. Pa’aluhi and Schneider land some strikes before getting tied up again on the fence. Pa’aluhi tries to take down Schneider, but Schneider was able to counter it to get the fight back to standing. The round ends with Pa’aluhi looking to land strikes as Schneider avoided her. Pa’aluhi’s eye is starting to swell pretty badly.
Andrew’s score: 10-9 Pa’aluhi. Another close round, but she seemed to control the pace of the round a little more. 19-19 overall.
Round 3: Schneider continues to target the eye of Pa’aluhi. Schneider landed a hard left jab on Pa’aluhi who took Schneider down after Schneider was starting to open up a bit. Schneider gets back to her feet and is able to break the clinch to get the fight back to standing. Schneider went for a spinning back kick but is caught by Pa’aluhi, who presses her up against the fence again. Pa’aluhi scores a double leg trip takedown on Schneider, but Schneider was able to get back to her feet. Schneider lands several strikes and avoid damage from Pa’aluhi, and stuffs her takedown attempts. The fight ends with both fighters starting to open up and throwing strikes in a small flurry before the bell rings.
Andrew’s score: 10-9 Schneider, 29-28 overall for Schneider.
Official Decision: Colleen Schneider defeats Raquel Pa’aluhi via Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).
Invicta Strawweight Championship: Livia Renata Souza (MMA Record: 8-0) (c) vs. DeAnna Bennett (MMA Record: 8-0) – Referee: Jason Herzog
Round 1: Fight starts with a feeling out process between both fighters, as Bennett starts off quick and aggressive with a flurry of strikes and a high kick that lands on Souza. Souza connects a hard overhand right hand. Bennett continues to be aggressive, but is caught with another right hand from Souza. Souza would land a vicious lead left liver kick on DeAnna Bennett, putting her down and referee Jason Herzog stopping the fight as Souza was pounding a turtled up DeAnna Bennett.
Official Decision: Livia Renata Souza defeats DeAnna Bennett via TKO (Body Kick and Punches) at 1:30 in Round 1 to retain the Invicta Strawweight Championship.
Invicta Featherweight Championship: Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (MMA Record 14-1, 1 NC) (c) vs. Daria Ibragimova (MMA Record: 9-1) – Referee: John McCarthy
Round 1: Fight starts off with Ibragimova trying to land a wild overhand right. Ibragimova would try to work for a single leg takedown on Cyborg, but Cyborg maintains her balance and peppers Ibragimova with punches and elbows despite Ibragimova’s best efforts to get a trip takedown on Cyborg. Despite having Cyborg’s leg, Ibragimova is unable to takedown Cyborg and is taking some punishment from Cyborg. Ibragimova switches from going after the left leg of Cyborg to going for a takedown with the left leg before Cyborg escapes. Cyborg lands some strikes, and clinches up Ibragimova after a takedown attempt and lands some knees to the body that hurt Ibragimova. Ibragimova continues to look for entries, but gets caught with a body shot from Cyborg. At 3:51 into the round Ibragimova goes for another single leg takedown and stuffs her against the fence. Cyborg has no problem defending the takedown on one leg and is landing a lot of punches and elbows. Cyborg gets taken down for a brief moment by Ibragimova, but gets back to her feet and rips her big toe after kicking Ibragimova’s leg with 13 seconds left in the round. Cyborg lands a vicious right cross on Ibragimova after setting it up with a jab and knocks her out with 2 seconds left in the round.
Official Decision: Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino defeats Daria Ibragimova via KO (Punch) at 4:58 in Round 1.
Cyborg’s left big toe was ripped off and is a bloody mess. That was the only damage she took in the fight. Ibragimova’s right eye looks to be swollen shut.
As mentioned above, this was written back in January the night this event took place and was supposed to be a pitch for MMA coverage on SCU. Lacey Schuckman vs. Mizuki Inoue and Megan Anderson vs. Amber Leibrock were the two best fights of the night in my mind, and Cyborg had the Knockout Of The Night.
Invicta FC events are available on UFC Fight Pass. As a subscriber to the service, I can’t recommend it enough to fight fans. The video library is extensive and something people who are new to the sport should check out. Fight Pass features fights from every UFC event, along with WEC, Strikefroce, PRIDE, Invicta and many other MMA promotions along with GLORY Kickboxing and the Eddie Bravo Invitational for kickboxing and jiu-jitsu fans out there.
This weekend, UFC Fight Pass will be broadcasting the Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping event. If you haven’t checked out Fight Pass, I highly recommend getting the 7-day free trial. Visit www.ufcfightpass.com for more information.
