Invicta FC 9 results recap: Honchak retains flyweight title with Hashi win, Kowalkiewicz splits Inoue and more

Invicta FC moved away from Kansas City, Mo., for the first time last night (Sat., Nov. 1, 2014) and headed into Davenport, Iowa, to host Invicta FC 9 at River Center. The nine-fight main card was the all-female promotion's second card streamed live on UFC Fight Pass.

To check out our comprehensive Invicta 9: "Honchak vs. Hashi" play by play and results click here.

In the main event, Barb Honchak successfully defended her flyweight title for the second consecutive time, defeating Takayo Hashi by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) in one of the least exciting fights of the night. In her first fight since Dec. 2013, Honchak would earn the nod by winning the position battle in the clinch and landing more during the striking exchanges that seemed to rarely take place over the course of five rounds.

During the first two rounds, both fighters played a chess match inside, a standing clinch battle with the champion controlling leverage and position for the majority of the time. Late in the third round, Hashi landed an outside trip to get the fight to the ground, but Honchak would return to her feet shortly after and avoid guillotine attempt by Hashi.

Neither fighter would take significant control of the fight.

Another clinch battle would ensue in the fourth stanza until about three minutes left when both fighters opened up for a few exchanges. The fight would return to the clinch one again shortly after and when the fighters separated from it, Hashi landed a single-leg takedown to end the round.

In the final round, the fight again took place in the clinch, but Honchak avoided any takedown attempts by Hashi and also landed some short elbows on the breaks, getting the better of the striking exchanges when they did occur.

Honchak is now 10-2, while Hashi drops to 15-5.

"She is a tough, tough fighter," Honchak told Laura Sanko during the post-fight interview. "I think she has improved her hands quite a bit. Strong. She is a tough fighter, but I was able to shut her down by working against the cage. That's where I can control her."

Karolina Kowalkiewicz edgeed out Mizuki Inoue by split decision in the co-main event. The strawweights turned in a highly competitive back-and-forth fight, engaging in a striking battle for the entire first round. The fight would stay on the feet until less than two minutes remained in the second round when Inoue landed a well-timed throw to move the action to the mat.

Inoue took the Polish fighter's back, but could not capitalize.

In the third round, Kowalkiewicz would get the better of the stand up exchanges by using her reach and head movement to land the more effective and significant strikes to earn the victory. Kowalkiewicz remains undefeated (6-0) and could be next in line to face Katja Kankaanpaa for the Invicta strawweight title.

Raquel Pa'aluhi defeated Kaitlin Young by unanimous decision in the lone bantamweight battle on the card. The Hawaiian fighter stepped in for original opponent Cindy Dandois after visa issues forced her to withdraw from the fight. Pa'aluhi took control of the fight in the second round and threatened with several rear-naked choke attempts. She would do the same in the final frame after landing another takedown and once again controlling the action on the ground.

Pa'aluhi improves to 5-4 with the win. Young drops to 7-9-1.

Three straight decisions led off the evening and the fight card was starting to drag. But, things began to heat up in the next fight when Amanda Bell dominated Maria Hougaard Djursaa. Bell would win the lopsided featherweight affair by technical knockout with only seconds left in the first round after landing a boatload of unanswered strikes on the ground.

Amber Brown and Liz McCarthy would follow that up with a three-round bloody battle thanks to Brown connecting on a knee when McCarthy shot in for a takedown. Brown would earn the split decision victory in the atomweight contest. Two of the scorecards were 29-28 for each fighter and the third was a head-scratching score of 30-27.

In the second atomweight fight of the night, Jodie Esquibel was too quick and too technical in the striking department for Nicdali Rivera and easily cruised to a unanimous decision victory. Esquibel improved to 5-1 with the win.

INVICTA FC 9 QUICK RESULTS:

Barb Honchak def. Takayo Hashi by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Mizuki Inoue by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Raquel Pa'aluhi def. Kaitlin Young by unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Jodie Esquibel def. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Amber Brown def. Liz McCarthy by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Amanda Bell def. Maria Hougaard Djursaa by TKO (punches) at 4:55 of Round One
Andrea Lee def. Shannon Sinn by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Jamie Moyle def. Jenny Lou Shriver by unanimous decision (30-27 x3)
Kelly McGill def. Maegan Goodwin by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x2)

To check out our complete Invicta 9: "Honchak vs. Hashi" play-by-play results click here.