- It has been called “perhaps the bloodiest confrontation in Invicta Fighting Championships history” by the MMA website Sherdog.
- And, after seeing photos and videos from Friday’s show, it’s easy to see why.
- Julija Stoliarenko and Lisa Verdosa engaged in a grueling and gory ruckus, a fight so bloody it left the Kansas canvas looking like a crime scene.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
It has been an extraordinarily brutal yet compelling weekend for women’s mixed martial arts (MMA).
One day before Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk hit each other so hard they looked disfigured in a UFC strawweight championship fight, Julija Stoliarenko and Lisa Verzosa left an Invicta FC canvas in Kansas looking like a crime scene.
It all went down on Friday at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City. Stoliarenko and Verzosa headlined the Phoenix Series 3 show in a bantamweight title bout.
With a main event status it was expected to be a top tier contest, but few were perhaps expecting it to end up the way it did. It was carnage of the bloodiest kind.
Here's a look at the fight which made it look like the competitors had shared the cage with a bear.
The MMA website Sherdog said it was "perhaps the bloodiest confrontation in Invicta Fighting Championships history." It was a bout which Stoliarenko won, having opened up a huge, nasty cut on Verzosa's head.
Before and after: Stoliarenko vs Verzosa. 😱 #PhoenixSeries3 pic.twitter.com/yWvemYZmBd
— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) March 9, 2020
Verzosa's cut was so horrific it looked like she had been attacked by a bear. And it wasn't the only laceration she sufferd, as she was also opened up on her cheekbone.
What a WAR! Respect to both fighters for laying it all on the line tonight at #PhoenixSeries3! pic.twitter.com/MbOLy1Vbju
— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) March 7, 2020
The canvas afterwards looked like quite a picture.
https://twitter.com/cynthiavance/status/1236155804547497989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Watch highlights of the bout below, a bout which Stoliarenko won thanks to her effective striking and numerous submission attempts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc9mcbH9nGQ?start=185
Stoliarenko bemoaned the result afterwards even though she won. The Lithuanian athlete took issue with the split nature of the decision, saying she had done enough to be given a unanimous decision win.
Read more:
Conor McGregor told to fight Justin Gaethje if he wants a second shot at Khabib Nurmagomedov
Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk both looked disfigured after a brutal, bloody UFC war