Talita Bernardo Edges Taneisha Tennant, Claims Bantamweight Title at Invicta FC 51

Talita Bernardo forced Taneisha Tennant out of her comfort zone.

The former UFC competitor landed multiple takedowns, transitioned to dominant positions and threatened with submissions en route to a unanimous decision triumph in the Invicta FC 51 headliner at Reelworks Denver in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night. All three cageside judges submitted 48-46 tallies in favor of Bernardo (10-4, 3-0 Invicta), who claims the promotion’s bantamweight crown. The final scorecards included a Round 5 point deduction issued to Tennant for a fence grab with her toes early in the period. The fight was tied heading into the final stanza according to open scoring, but Bernardo quickly turned the tide in her favor with an early takedown, and she spent much of the frame on top in north-south position.

Bernardo set the tone early when she caught a Tennant (5-2, 4-1 Invicta) kick, dumped her to the canvas and spent the majority of the opening stanza attached to her adversary’s back. While Tennant enjoyed occasional success landing right hands on the feet and ground-and-pound on the canvas, she was unable to combat the grappling of the Brazilian long enough to sway the scorecards in her favor.

After a 1-3 stint in the UFC, Bernardo has won her last four professional outings.

Ketlen Souza busts open @WarhorseMMA 🩸#InvictaFC51 is LIVE on @AXSTV, @fightnet, YouTube and Facebook!

WATCH: https://t.co/kN0Ht2eetC pic.twitter.com/7HoMJV2h4n

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) January 19, 2023

In the co-main event, Ketlen Souza claimed the vacant flyweight strap with a unanimous decision triumph over Bellator MMA veteran Kristina Williams. Cageside judges submitted scorecards of 50-45, 49-46 and 48-47 for the Brazilian, who has won her last five professional outings. Williams sees a three-bout winning streak snapped in defeat.

Souza (13-3, 2-0 Invicta) landed nearly all the offense of consequence in the fight, as she connected with several heavy overhand rights, a spinning hook kick to the head and an elbow from top position that opened a gash above Williams’ right eye in the third round. Williams (6-4, 2-1 Invicta) landed takedowns on a couple occasions and did her best to force Souza into the clinch, but she was unable to threaten her opponent from those positions. At range, Souza often confounded Williams with her footwork and head movement.

In earlier action: Olga Rubin (8-3, 1-1 Invicta) scored a unanimous decision triumph (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) against Serena DeJesus at bantamweight; Claire Guthrie (5-1, 4-1 Invicta) captured a decision triumph (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) over Auttumn Norton (2-2, 2-2 Invicta) at bantamweight; Elisandra Ferreira de Oliveira (5-2, 1-0 Invicta) edged Marisa Messer-Belenchia (5-2, 1-2 Invicta) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27) in an atomweight bout; Rayanne Amanda dos Santos (13-6, 1-0 Invicta) garnered a unanimous verdict (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) over Katie Saull (5-6, 1-3 Invicta) at atomweight and Fatima Kline (3-0, 3-0 Invicta) defeated Laura Gallardo (4-2, 0-2 Invicta) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) at strawweight