Alesha
Zappitella channeled her inner Ovince St.
Preux and gave a figurative nod to Jason Von
Flue when
Invicta Fighting Championships gold was on the line.
The 4-foot-11 Scorpion Fighting System standout dispatched Ashley
Cummins with a shoulder choke in the fourth round of their
Invicta 42 headliner, as she captured the promotion’s vacant
atomweight title on Thursday at the Police Athletic League in
Kansas City, Kansas. Submitted for the first time in her 13-fight
career, Cummins (7-6, 4-6 Invicta) conceded defeat 1:20 into Round
4.
Zappitella (8-2, 5-1 Invicta) trudged through considerable
difficulty across the first 10 minutes. Cummins flexed her
superiority in the standup exchanges, staggered her counterpart
more than once with thudding right hands and largely nullified her
wrestling advances. However, the tide began to shift in Round 3,
where Zappitella executed a takedown inside the first minute,
passed guard and dropped short elbows to the head. Early in the
fourth, she countered an ill-advised guillotine from Cummins,
settled in top position, pinned the arm in place and moved toward
the fight-ending choke.
Meanwhile, Lisa
Verzosa rebounded from her first career defeat and kept her
name on the shortlist of title contenders at 135 pounds with a
split decision over Raquel
Canuto in the three-round bantamweight co-main event. All three
judges scored it 29-28: Kevin Champion for Canuto, Greg DiVilbiss
and Steven Graham for Verzosa.
Verzosa (6-1, 5-1 Invicta) routinely beat the Hawaiian to the
punch, made seamless stance switches and struck in combination.
Perhaps most importantly, she denied all of Canuto’s attempted
takedowns, trapping the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in a
kickboxing match. Canuto (6-7, 3-4 Invicta)—who had not fought in
more than three years—sprang to life with a strong third round,
where she capitalized on a fatigued opponent and connected with
knees from the clinch, counter right hands and kicks to the body
and leg. However, the finish she needed was never within reach.
Elsewhere, Parana Vale Tudo export Jessica
Correa Delboni leaned on powerful punching combinations and
airtight takedown defense, as she laid claim to a unanimous
decision over Herica
Tiburcio in a three-round strawweight showcase. Delboni (10-2,
2-1 Invicta) swept the scorecards with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 nods
from the judges.
In her first appearance since May 20, 2017, Tiburcio (11-5, 3-3
Invicta) was hampered by a slow start and a troubling habit of
carrying her chin high. Delboni was the aggressor throughout and
seized control with two-, three- and four-punch volleys, forward
pressure and knees to the body from the clinch. Tiburcio seemed to
find herself in the second half of the match and let her hands fly
with more conviction, though the former atomweight champion’s
efforts ultimately fell short.
Delboni has rattled off three wins across her past four
outings.
In other action, Victoria
Leonardo (7-2, 3-2 Invicta) took a unanimous decision from
Liz
Tracy (5-4, 1-3 Invicta) in a three-round flyweight pairing,
carrying all three scorecards by 29-28 margins; and Helen
Peralta (3-1, 3-1 Invicta) cruised to a unanimous verdict over
Jennifer
Chieng (1-1, 0-1 Invicta), drawing 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 marks
from the judges in a three-round catchweight clash at 120 pounds.