Invicta FC 47 results and video: Emily Ducote defends title after splitting challenger’s eyelid

Emily Ducote defended her Invicta FC strawweight crown last night in the main event of Invicta FC 47. She went home with her belt after fending off the challenge of former Invicta FC atomweight champion Alesha Zappitella.

The fight ended between the second and third rounds after the ringside physician called an end to the festivities due to a nasty cut. Though the ending was anti-climatic, it’s hard to claim that Ducote didn’t deserve the victory.

She didn’t look like she was in any trouble during the two rounds she fought and the cut came about due to her patience and precision. The cut happened in the second round after Ducote caught Zappitella with a flurry of punches that wobbled her.

After that Ducote tried stalking Zappitella down and was able to land some potshots, with one of those likely causing the actual cut. Ducote was then able to stuff a couple of takedowns, which seemed slowed down—likely as a result of the damage Zappitella had taken earlier in the round.

After the second round we got a good look at Zappitella’s cut, which was right on the eye-lid. The ringside physician took an extended look at the injury and decided it wasn’t safe for Zappitella to continue. Zappitella seemed incredibly disappointed by that decision. However, prior to being checked out it appeared as though she had problems seeing, so the right decision was likely made here.

Ducote’s record goes to 11-6 with this win. Zappitella’s record drops to 9-4 and follows her atomweight title loss to Jessica Delboni in January.

The featherweights came out swinging in the co-main event. Courtney King and Chelsea Chandler both landed big shots in the fight, leading to King suffering a nasty cut over her eye early on. The energy waned as the fight continued, leading to a war of attrition on the ground and against the fence. Ultimately it was Chandler who was awarded the decision, thanks to her long periods of ground control. That’s 4-1 on the career for the Cesar Gracie student.

Lindsay VanZandt vs. Jillian DeCoursey didn’t last long. After a minute of feeling each other DeCoursey starched VanZandt with a right hook to the jaw. DeCoursey followed up with two hammer-fists, which likely broke VanZandt’s nose, before the ref could swoop in and stop the fight. The thunderous KO win takes DeCoursey to 5-3. She called for an atomweight title shot in her post-fight interview.

The card’s all Brazilian affair between Liana Pirosin and Janaisa Morandin ended in a split decision win for Pirosin. The fun contest between former training partners had plenty of back and forth action, but Pirosin was just slightly more polished in her offence. The win is her first in the Invicta cage, having previously come up short to Kay Hansen and Kanako Murata. Her record now stands at 8-4.

Brittney Cloudy and Serena DeJesus put on a fun contest, too. Much of that fun came from the contrasting styles of the combatants. Cloudy was cool and calm, whereas DeJesus was wild and emotional, screaming at her opponent throughout the fight.

Cloudy got off to a good start, showing an ability to evade DeJesus and land crisp strikes. But as the fight wore on DeJesus caught up to her and started landing power punches both in the clinch and in open space. In the final round DeJesus continued to land hard strikes and forced Cloudy to fade, earning her the judges’ decision.

DeJesus climbed to 5-2 with the win and extended her win streak to four fights. With those results, and a highly watchable fighting style, we can expect to see her vaulted into the 135 lb title picture. In her post fight interview DeJesus “demanded” a title shot against current champion Taneisha Tennant, a woman she lost to back in 2019.

Further down the card BJJ ace Fatima Kline moved her pro MMA record to 2-0 with a dominant performance over Sidney Trillo. She scored a TKO due to ground and pound late in the third.

In the show opener, pro debutante Alyssa Linduska took a unanimous decision win over Jennifer Chieng. After feeling Chieng’s power, Linduska took Chieng down and out wrestled her for most of the contest.

Full results:

Strawweight championship: Emily Ducote def. Alesha Zappitella by TKO (cut), round 2.

Featherweight: Chelsea Chandler def. Courtney King by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Atomweight: Jillian DeCoursey def. Lindsey VanZandt via KO (punch), round 1 (1:01).

Flyweight: Liana Pirosin def Janaisa Morandin by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

Bantamweight: Serena DeJesus def. Brittney Cloudy by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).

Strawweight: Fatima Kline def. Sidney Trillo by TKO (strikes), round 3 (4:45).

Strawweight: Alyssa Linduska def Jennifer Chieng by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).