Rayanne
Amanda dos Santos took her game to another level.
The Marajo Brothers product walked away with the undisputed
Invicta Fighting Championships bantamweight title, as she
cruised to a unanimous decision over Jillian
DeCoursey in the five-round
Invicta 53 headliner on Wednesday at ReelWorks in Denver.
Scores were 50-45, 50-45 and 48-47—all for dos Santos (14-6, 2-0
Invicta). That the fight never felt particularly competitive was a
testament to the Brazilian’s considerable efforts.
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Moments of success were few and far between for DeCoursey (6-4, 5-3
Invicta), who struggled and ultimately failed to match her
challenger’s output, consistency and speed. Dos Santos tore into
her with blinding combinations, incorporated leg kicks when the
situation called for it and ran circles around her in the grappling
exchanges. DeCoursey was left with significant damage to her left
eye, multiple facial cuts and a ruptured cauliflower ear.
Meanwhile, Great Britain Top Team rep Olga Rubin
disposed of Claire
Guthrie with a buggy choke in the second round of their
bantamweight co-main event. Rubin (9-3, 2-1 Invicta) slammed the
door 4:23 into Round 2, winning for the third time in four
appearances.
Guthrie (5-2, 4-2 Invicta) seized the reins at the start,
alternating between effective combinations from a distance and a
frustrating clinch along the fence. She battered Rubin’s midsection
and legs with knee strikes in close quarters, incorporating short
punches whenever the opportunity arose. Guthrie countered a trip
takedown into top position late in the second round and immediately
wandered into danger. Rubin bit down on the buggy choke with
conviction and prompted the surprising tapout.
The setback snapped Guthrie’s four-fight winning streak.
Finally, damaging leg kicks, merciless forward pressure and
superior output carried Jessica
Correa Delboni to a unanimous decision over former King of the
Cage champion Danielle
Taylor in a three-round strawweight showcase. All three
cageside judges scored it for Delboni (13-4, 5-3 Invicta): 30-27,
30-27 and 29-28.
Taylor (11-9, 1-4 Invicta) spent far too much time circling with
her back to the fence, often limiting herself to one strike at a
time. Xtreme Couture’s Delboni set a pace with which she was
comfortable and maintained a purposeful rhythm, as she continued to
target the legs and head with equal aplomb. Taylor never managed to
force the Brazilian off her mark.
Delboni, 29, has won three of her past four bouts.
In other action, Monique
Adriane (6-2, 2-1 Invicta) laid claim to a clear-cut unanimous
decision over Nicole
Geraldo (5-1, 0-1 Invicta), sweeping the scorecards with 30-27
marks across the board; Elise Pone
(3-1, 3-1 Invicta) was awarded a unanimous verdict—30-27, 29-28,
29-28—over Liana
Ferreira Pirosin (8-6, 1-4 Invicta) in a three-round flyweight
encounter;
Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira (6-2, 2-0 Invicta) took a
unanimous decision from Flor
Hernandez (4-1, 0-1 Invicta) in a three-round atomweight tilt,
drawing 30-27 scores from all three judges; and Ky Bennett
(3-2, 1-0 Invicta) put away Kendal
Holowell (2-3, 0-2 Invicta) with punches 4:04 into the second
round of their flyweight pairing.