Jessica
Correa Delboni provided an opportunity, and Jillian
DeCoursey took full advantage.
The Queens, N.Y., native claimed atomweight gold with a submission
of Delboni in the
Invicta FC 49 headliner at Sugar Creek Casino in Hinton, Okla.,
on Wednesday night. DeCoursey (6-3, 5-2 Invicta) brought the show
to a close with a rear-naked choke 4:49 into Round 1, forcing
Delboni (12-4, 4-3 Invicta) to tap for the first time in her
professional career.
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“Never let anyone doubt you. If you put a goal in mind and you work
hard enough, anything is possible,” DeCoursey said. “I definitely
proved that tonight.”
It was a measured beginning for both fighters, but Delboni appeared
to control the majority of exchanges in the early going with quick
punching combinations and kicks to the legs of her opponent.
However, momentum shifted when Delboni punched her way into the
clinch and changed levels for a takedown late in the round. The
Brazilian was able to ground her adversary, but DeCoursey quickly
reversed into top position and took Delboni’s back. From there, the
East Coast Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu representative locked in a
rear-naked choke and applied the squeeze. Delboni held on for as
long as she could, but she couldn’t make it to the end of the
stanza.
In the co-main event, Ketlen
Souza enjoyed a successful Invicta FC debut, taking a clear-cut
unanimous decision against short-notice foe Maiju
Suotama in a flyweight clash. All three judges submitted 30-27
tallies in favor of the Brazilian, who has won four straight
fights.
Souza (12-3, 1-0 Invicta) controlled the fight at range with
unorthodox movement, flashy leaping and spinning attacks and
consistent body work — most notably hurting her opponent with a
spinning back kick to the midsection in Round 1. Suotama tried
(8-7, 0-2 Invicta) her best to get the fight to the mat, but Souza
did well to remain upright, often punishing the Finland native with
short punches, elbows and knees in close quarters after stuffing
takedown attempts. Suotama has lost her last four professional
outings.
In earlier action: Valesca
Machado (10-3, 1-0 Invicta) outpointed (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Liz
Tracy (7-5, 3-4 Invicta) at strawweight; Kaytlin
Neil (6-4, 1-1 Invicta) dominated Hannah Guy
(4-2, 0-1 Invicta) en route to a unanimous decision victory (30-25,
30-27, 30-27) in a flyweight affair; Poliana
Botelho (9-5, 1-0 Invicta) garnered a unanimous decision
(30-27, 30-27, 29-28) against Helen
Peralta (5-3, 5-2 Invicta) at flyweight; Montserrat
Rendon (5-0, 1-0 Invicta) took a contentious split-decision win
(28-29, 29-28, 29-28) over Brittney
Cloudy (4-5, 0-3 Invicta) at bantamweight and Shauna
Bannon (3-0, 1-0 Invicta) defeated Nadia Vera
(3-1-1, 0-1 Invicta) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
at strawweight.