Invicta FC 14 results: Tonya Evinger stops overweight Pannie Kianzad in headliner

Tonya Evinger

Tonya Evinger (18-5) continued to display her dominance over the Invicta FC bantamweight division when she stopped Pannie Kianzad (8-2) with strikes in the second round of Invicta FC 14’s main event.

Although Evinger is champion of Invicta’s 135-pound division, the contest with Kianzad was a non-title affair because the challenger missed weight for the matchup, which headlined the UFC Fight Pass-streamed event at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Miss.

On top of being fined 20 percent of her purse and missing out on a chance to win the title, Kianzad took a lopsided beating from Evinger for more than eight minutes.

Evinger scored an early takedown in the first round and began an onslaught of offense that nearly led to a stoppage. “Triple Threat” picked up right where she left off in the second round when just seconds in she dropped Kianzad with a punch.

Kianzad was unable to get up off the ground from there and Evinger established top control and threw punches until referee John McCarthy called an end to the bout at 3:34 of Round 3.

Evinger’s record will not display a successful title defense due to Kianzad’s weight mishap. However, the champion said she earned the victory which is ultimately what mattered most.

“The title don’t matter to me, it just matters about winning my fights,” Evinger said in her post-fight interview.

DeAnna Bennett wins questionable decision in co-main event

Despite her failure to make weight for the strawweight co-headliner, DeAnna Bennett (8-0) was awarded a surprising unanimous decision victory over former 125-pound champion Katja Kankaanpaa (10-3-1) to remain undefeated.

The grappling-heavy affair saw swings over momentum to both sides. Bennett had a strong showing in the first round, but as the contest wore on it seemed the weight cut began to affect her performance.

Kankaanpaa came to life in the second round and even more so in the third when she began to get her preferred positions on the ground and attempt to finish the fight by submission. She was unable to do that, however, and the former titleholder paid for it on the scorecards.

Although Bennett managed to keep her perfect record intact with her eighth straight victory, she admitted in her post-fight interview that she was not pleased with her performance.

“I’ll be completely honest, I pretty much sucked that last round,” Bennett said. “There’s no other way to say it, but you saw it. This was pretty much the worst fight camp I’ve ever had in my entire life, but I was grateful to fight against Katja Kankaanpaa.”

Modafferi overwhelms Morais for late TKO

Roxanne Modafferi (18-12) earned her first stoppage victory in more than five years when she dominated 19-year-old Mariana Morais (9-3) en route to TKO finish at 4:40 of Round 3.

The flyweight contest went entirely in Modafferi’s favor. “The Happy Warrior” routinely took Morais to the ground and established dominant position while landing powerful strikes until a third-round flurry of elbows forced the stoppage.

The victory moved Modafferi to 3-1 since she joined Invicta and in her post-fight interview the 32-year-old called for a title shot against 125-pound champion Barb Honchak.

“I would very much like to fight for the belt in the very near future,” Modafferi said. “I would fight anyone Invicta asked me to of course, but I would like Barb Honchak.”

Complete Invicta FC 14 results included:

MAIN CARD

Tonya Evinger def. Pannie Kianzad via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 3:34
DeAnna Bennett def. Katja Kankaanpaa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Roxanne Modafferi def. Mariana Morais via TKO (strikes) – Round 3: 4:40
Andrea Lee def. Rachael Ostovich via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 3, 4:58
Cindy Dandois def. Megan Anderson via submission (triangle choke) – Round 2, 2:41

PRELIMINARY CARD

Sharon Jacobson def. Jamie Moyle via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
Jinh Yu Frey def. Liz McCarthy via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – Round 3, 5:00
J.J. Aldrich def. Rosa Acevedo via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 2:24
Aspen Ladd def. Amanda Bobby Cooper via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:42
Felicia Spencer def. Rachel Wiley via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:32

For complete coverage of Invicta FC 14, check out the MMA Events section of the site.