Kanako Murata submitted Liana Pirosin at Invicta FC 35 earlier today. The Japanese strawweight trained at CSA in California to work on her striking but didn’t get to use it as the fight hit the floor almost instantly.
After a brief exchange on the feet the Japanese southpaw pressed Pirosin against the fence and dragged her down with ease. While she worked to pass into side control, the Brazilian used some slick jiu-jitsu to slide out and grab the back.
In spite of having the arm trapped, Murata was able to stay composed and escape. Stuck along the fence and with her legs wrapped up, Pirosin wiggled out and stood up for a brief moment only for the Rizin veteran to dump her back down.
In too deep
In a flash Murata took the back and isolated the left arm which opened up the neck. Pirosin was able to get her arm free but the rear-naked choke was in so deep that she had to tap even without the hooks in.
Murata (10-1) extends her winning streak to six straight and puts the strawweight division on notice. Pirosin drops to 7-3 and goes back to the drawing board after scoring a big win against former Pancrase title challenger Kinberly Novaes in her previous fight.
Murata’s grappling prowess could give many of the top contenders in the division a problem but in the post-fight interview she claimed not to be working on her submission game,
“I have never really practiced the rear-naked choke,” she said.
Closely contested
The headliner was the flyweight tournament final between DeAnna Bennett and Karina Rodriguez. It was a closely contested fight ending in a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards for Rodriguez.
The 33-year-Mexican utilized her strikes well and defended takedowns effectively to squeak out the victory. Rodriguez (8-3) becomes the number one contender in the flyweight division and gets the title shot against Vanessa Porto for the title at an event yet to be determined.
Bennett (10-5-1), the former UFC flyweight, has been trading wins and losses for the past few years and will need to reevaluate moving forward at the age of 34.
In the co-main event, UFC veteran Viviane Pereira (14-3) dropped down to atomweight and took Alesha Zappitella (5-1) off the list of undefeateds. The Brazilian surgically broke down her foe through all fifteen minutes leading to a clear unanimous decision while snapping a three-fight skid.
Earlier in the night, Thailand’s Loma Lookboonmee stayed unblemished in the Invicta cage by dominating Monique Azevedo. The Muay Thai world champion showed a combination of skills to get the unanimous decision, moving to 3-1.
Invicta FC 35, Kansas City, June 7
Karina Rodriguez def. Deanna Bennett via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Viviane Pereira def. Alesha Zappitella via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Kanako Murata def. Liana Pirosin via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:10 of Round 1
Lisa Spangler def. Katharina Lehner via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Kaitlin Young def. Faith McMah via TKO (Punches) at 3:52 of Round 3
Chelsea Chandler def. Britney Victoria via TKO (Punches) at 3:58 of Round 2
Kelly D’Angelo def. Jillian DeCoursey via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Loma Lookboonmee def. Monique Azevedo via Decision (Unanimous) at 5:00 of Round 3
Genia Goodin def. Valerie Wong via Decision (Split) at 5:00 of Round 3
