As most expected, Invicta FC Featherweight Champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino easily retained her title in the main event of Friday night’s Invicta Fighting Championships 11 card in Los Angeles, California. The champion destroyed challenger Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet in just 46 seconds.

In the action-packed strawweight co-main event, Mexican rising star Alexa Grasso earned a Unanimous Decision win over Japanese prodigy Mizuki Inoue. DeAnna “The Argentine Assassin” Bennett and Grasso’s teammate, Irene Aldana “Robles,” also scored key victories on Friday’s main card.

Justino (13-1-0, 1 ND), who made more headlines this week for the ongoing speculation regarding a future showdown with UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey than for her title fight on Saturday, set the tone right away by rocking Tweet (6-5-0) with an early combination. She dropped the Canadian fighter with a right hook that appeared to break Tweet’s nose. Tweet survived a follow-up onslaught of punches and hammerfists on the ground and returned to her feet, but Justino swarmed on her with punches until the bout was waved off at the 46-second mark.

Following the one-sided title tilt, Justino once again expressed her desire to challenge Rousey in the future. However, it appears that the potential super fight is still a far-off dream, as Justino’s next fight is expected to take place at 145 pounds. The proposed championship defence is targeted for July 10th in Las Vegas, Nevada, at what will likely serve as Invicta Fighting Championships 13. Invicta FC 12 will be held first on April 10th at a location to be announced.

In a battle between two of the top strikers in the women’s strawweight division, Mexico prevailed over Japan as Grasso (7-0-0) outstruck Inoue (8-4-0) en route to a well-deserved Unanimous Decision victory. Grasso controlled the standup exchanges in round one by mixing up her strikes well. Her punch-kick combos and knees in the clinch kept Inoue guessing, and Grasso quickly returned to her feet when Inoue did score a brief takedown in the final minute.

Round two was more of the same and Grasso landed a variety of kicks early on. She mixed in knees to the body, but Inoue countered with combinations over the top. Grasso’s striking pressure forced Inoue to shoot in for a takedown, but Grasso reversed it and took her back. She locked on a reverse triangle choke and threatened with a kimura late in the round.

Inoue rallied in the final stanza and fought through Grasso’s punch-kick combinations in order to secure a much-needed takedown. She moved from the scarf hold position to mount and looked to set up an arm-triangle choke from the top. Grasso eventually scrambled free and attempted an armbar and a guillotine choke in the final minute, but Inoue mounted her again before the bell.

Judge Jackie Denkin returned an absurd 30-26 scorecard, while judges Derek Cleary and Ron McCarthy both had it at a sensible 29-28. All three favoured Grasso, who walked away with a big victory in front of UFC personnel including president Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby. The 21-year-old will likely be placed in an Invicta FC title fight or moved to the UFC in the near future.

Competing as a strawweight for the first time, former flyweight contender Bennett (7-0-0) outworked late replacement opponent Norma Rueda Center (3-2-0) to take a competitive Unanimous Decision victory. Bennett pressured Center with punches and takedown attempts against the cage in all three rounds. Center stayed on her feet, but she was forced to play defence until round three, when she finally had some success on the feet with her punches. It was not quite enough, however, and Bennett made a successful strawweight debut with scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice.

Opening up the main card, Aldana (5-1-0) put forth yet another impressive performance by dispatching of the much more experienced Colleen “The Thoroughbred” Schneider (6-6-0) in just 65 seconds. Aldana took advantage of an early Schneider stumble by swarming on her with punches. Schneider turned away and Aldana jumped on her back. She dragged Schneider to the mat and locked on a rear-naked choke that forced Schneider to submit at the 1:05 mark. Like her teammate, Grasso, Aldana will also likely move on to an Invicta FC title fight or a spot on the UFC roster shortly.

The Invicta FC 11 preliminary card showcased a number of talented young prospects. In the featured 115-pound prelim, former Tuff-N-Uff champion Jamie Moyle (2-0-0) scored her second straight win inside the Invicta FC cage by choking out J.J. Aldrich (1-1-0) in the first round. Moyle caught an early kick and knocked Aldrich down with a right hand. She quickly took Aldrich’s back and secured a tight rear-naked choke that rendered Aldrich unconscious. The official time of Moyle’s technical submission win came at the 2:20 mark of round one.

Amy “The Resurrection” Cadwell Montenegro (6-1-0) made a successful Invicta FC debut and extended her winning streak to three by narrowly outpointing Brianna “Tha Bull” Van Buren (3-2-0) in strawweight action. VanBuren got the better of the striking exchanges early in round one, but Montenegro pinned her against the fence and threatened with a guillotine choke. She held VanBuren against the cage again in round two and landed knees, but VanBuren reversed a takedown and mounted Montenegro before the bell. Montenegro fought off a kimura attempt in round three and pressured VanBuren late with elbows and knees. Scores were 30-27 and 29-28 twice for Montenegro, who earned a Unanimous Decision win.

Hard-hitting flyweight Christine “Knuckles” Stanley (4-1-0) made quick work of short-notice replacement opponent “Lethal” Laura Salazar (3-1-0), who took the bout on two days’ notice. Stanley opened the action with a spinning hook kick and landed a series of punches that dropped Salazar, who recovered and scored a takedown. Stanley stood and drilled her with knees, then flattened Salazar out on the mat and teed off with punches until the one-sided fight was stopped at the 2:59 mark of round one.

Friday’s card began with a flyweight fight between former amateur standout Aspen Ladd (1-0-0) and fellow pro debutant Ana Carolina Vidal (0-1-0), who stepped in as a short-notice replacement. Vidal scored two takedowns in the opening minutes and worked for an armbar after taking Ladd’s back. Ladd escaped and landed hard shots from the top that opened a cut beside Vidal’s left eye. She mounted Vidal and unloaded with punches and elbows for a TKO stoppage at the 4:21 mark of the first round.

Full play-by-play for all bouts on the Invicta FC 11 card can be found here.

(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)