It wasn’t easy, but Danni McCormack is bringing the strawweight title home to Ireland.
In the main event of Invicta FC 52, which took place at ReelWorks Denver in Denver Wednesday evening, Valesca Machado aimed to defend her strawweight throne for the first time. McCormack (7-2), however, had other plans.
When it was all said and done, McCormack gave herself the best birthday present by overcoming early adversity to win a unanimous decision with scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 to take the strawweight title.
It was a dominant first round for Machado (12-4), who dropped McCormack twice with sharp punches, busting her nose open in the process. It appeared a finish was possible after the second knockdown, but McCormack gathered herself and put together some offense of her own before the conclusion of the round.
In the second, McCormack continued to prove she would not be an easy out, as she gave the champ some trouble on the feet and in the clinch against the cage. It was a much better round for McCormack, who tied the fight up on all three scorecards.
The fight began to even out in the third round, where both fighters had their moments over the course of five minutes before the championship rounds. Two judges believed McCormack turned in the better frame.
Fatigue on the side of Machado began to really show in the first championship round. McCormack was able to implement solid grappling and end the round on top raining down heavy punches.
With just five minutes to go, McCormack kept the pressure high to put a stamp on the fight in the clinch, leaving no questions when the scorecards were read.
In just two fights with the promotion, McCormack claimed Invicta gold. Her first fight under the banner was in November at Invicta FC 50, a unanimous decision win over Maira Mazar. Machado claimed the vacant strawweight title by defeating Karolina Wojcik by unanimous decision at the same event, but was unable to record her first defense.
Watch a replay of the event in the video above, and check out the full official results of the card below.
Official results of Invicta FC 52 include:
- Danni McCormack def. Valesca Machado via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) – for strawweight title
- Karolina Wojcik def. Ediana Silva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Shauna Bannon def. Minna Grusander via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Mayra Cantuaria def. Calie Cutler via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:16
- Fatima Kline def. Natalia Kuziutina via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Sayury Canon def. Amanda Macioce via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Kendra McIntyre def. Diana Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
