The Invicta FC Strawweight Championship was on the line in the co main-event tonight and it was a highly competitive contest. Eggink (Pictured) showed the world why she was champion, but Kankaanpaa proved to the world she was the better woman tonight.

Eggink was in full control the first round. She utilized her reach for the majority of the first round and peppered Kankaanpaa with plenty of jabs. Once Kankaanpaa was able to get her to the ground, Eggink worked off her back and threatened a triangle choke. Kankaanpaa was smart in getting in an angle where she could not get choked out, but she still took some punishment as her arms were constricted.

For the second and third rounds, the momentum was constantly swaying back and forth. Whenever Eggink was starting to land combinations on the feet, Kankaanpaa would take the fight to the ground. Kankaanpaa would often walk into Eggink’s submission attempts, but she defended brilliantly and escaped to gain some top-control time. Even though Eggink spent most of these rounds off her back, she did more work and was very close to ending the fight multiple times.

Kankaanpaa saw almost no offense in the fourth round as she spent all of it trying to convince the referee to let the fight continue while turtled up. Eggink had her trapped in a body triangle but could not get a good angle to land a decent enough shot to finish the bout.

Kankaanpaa landed a takedown at the start of the fifth and transiitoned right into side control. She had nice top pressure and wrapped her arm around the neck of Eggink, setting herself up for a D’Arce choke. Eggink tried to spin out of it but it only sunk the choke in further!

Close to passing out, Eggink had no choice but to relinquish her championship and tap out.

Katja Kankaanpaa def. Stephanie Eggink by way of Submission (Dragon Sleeper) 2:03 of Round 5