Invicta FC 40 results: Emily Ducote rallies for decision over Juliana Lima

Emily Ducote once fought for Bellator gold, and now she’s well on her way to title contention in Invicta FC.

Ducote (9-6 MMA) headlined Invicta FC 40, the company’s first event since March 6 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on Thursday night against former UFC competitor Juliana Lima. Ducote got off to a slow start in the opening round of the strawweight scrap, then roared back to take the final two rounds and thus the unanimous decision in an entertaining fight.

The judges’ scores at the Police Athletic League in Kansas City, Kan. were 29-28 across the board, as Ducote won for the third time in her past four fights.

“I thought I would be a little more aggressive, but I was better tonight than she was,” Ducote (9-6 MMA) said.

Lima (9-6 MMA) got the better of things in the opening round, as she used her length and reach advantage to her benefit.

Sometime in the second round, though, Ducote broke through and began consistently closing the distance. Once she did so, she began to implement her wrestling game. A takedown late in the second round turned things in her favor for good, as she opened up a nasty cut under Lima’s right eye with ground-and-pound offense from top position.

The third round saw both fighters go for it, but Ducote had more in the gas left in the tank. She threw calf kicks throughout the fight, and they noticeably slowed Lima by the final round, as Ducote threw more often and landed the more damaging shots to seal the decision.

Ducote, who lost to Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in 2017 in a Bellator flyweight title fight in her highest-profile bout, took the win over a fighter with Lima’s name recognition as a solid step forward.

“I knew she’s experienced, she fought several high-level people and that’s a level where I want to be at, so I’m going to take this lesson and be a little more aggressive.”

Lima has now dropped three fights in a row.

In the evening’s co-feature bout, Alesha Zappitella made her case for a shot at the vacant Invicta atomweight title with an impressive performance against Lindsay VanZandt, earning a split decision on scores of 28-29, 29-27, and 30-27.

The Michigan-based Zappitella (7-2 MMA) used a strong ground game to stymie VanZandt (7-4 MMA) for much of the fight. VanZandt, for her part, landed the fight’s heaviest shots in the standup, but every time it appeared she might be starting to turn the fight in her favor, Zappitella reinstituted her game plan and took things back to the mat, where she regained control.

The evening’s fights were conducted under open scoring rules. After the fight, Zappitella made clear she knew she was up on two scorecards, and thus her third round approach was to simply make sure VanZandt couldn’t do anything to steal the fight.

“Obviously, the open scoring gave me a huge idea I had already won,” Zappitella said after her sixth career decision win. “I knew at the end of the second round I had it won.

“Going into this fight I had this was going to be the AW contenders fight so I hope this win shows enough that I can fight for the title.”

Complete Invicta FC 40 results:

• Strawweight: Emily Ducote def. Juliana Lima via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Alesha Zappitella def. Lindsey VanZandt via split decision (28-29, 29-27, 30-27)
• Chelsea Chandler def. Liv Parker via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 1:05
• Trisha Cicero def. Laura Gallardo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Genia Goodin def. Shelby Koren via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)