Last night at Invicta 10, the all-women’s MMA event went down in Houston with a main event featuring Atomweight champion Michelle Waterson making a title defense against unheralded Brazilian Herica Tiburcio. Waterson was a big (-600) favorite, with Tiburcio paying back at (+400), so when the Brazilian locked in a guillotine choke early in the third round for the tap and the win, she paid back 4 to 1. Tiburcio proved fearless in the fight, taking what Waterson gave and taking her opportunity to finish when it was given. Look for a re-match in 2015.
Veteran featherweight Tonya Evinger was a big (-385) favorite over Belgium’s Cindy Dandois, who showed she was game until she got caught by an arm bar in the 2nd round. Evinger is streaking and she will be in line for a featherweight title shot. Dandois deserves another look, perhaps against less seasoned competition.
At strawweight, Alexa Grasso and Alina Gray came in swinging for the fences early, as both women appeared to get rocked in early exchanges. Grasso landed good uppercuts throughout, and it was an uppercut that floored Gray, after which Grasso poured it on until the ref stepped in. Grasso paid back at (-260).
Veteran Roxanne Modaferri was a slight (+160) underdog heading into her match-up with Andrea Lee, who was a (-210) favorite. This was a difficult fight to judge, as Lee came out strong tin the first round, and though Modaferri got a takedown, she did little with it. The second round saw Modaferri again get the fight to the ground, though she lost the position battle at first and ate elbows and punches. She finished the round on top, however. In the third, Lee tired a bit and wound up with Modaferri controlling the round throwing punches. The Split Decision went to the veteran Modaferri.
The other bout at 125 lbs was a slugfest between undefeated Deanna Bennett and Jennifer Maia. Bennett was the favorite paying back at (-230), but Maia came to fight and several observers felt she did enough to win.
The last fight with odds at the books saw slight underdog Peggy Morgan (+125) edge Andrea Wawro at the judges in another bout that had some observers giving Wawro the edge.
Check out the highlights from the Invicta 10 weigh-ins:
