Valesca Machado Wins Strawweight Tournament, Claims Vacant Belt at Invicta FC 50

Valesca Machado stuck to the game plan, and it paid off in the form of some championship hardware.

Machado (12-3, 1 NC , 3-0 Invicta) completed her run through the one-night strawweight tournament with a unanimous decision triumph over Karolina Wojcik in the Invicta FC 50 headliner at Reelworks Denver, in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday night. All three judges scored the contest for Machado: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. With the victory, the 26-year-old Brazilian claims the promotion’s vacant 115-pound belt.

After fighting three rounds earlier in the evening, Machado adopted a measured approach in the tournament final. She controlled the distance, utilized intelligent movement and landed nearly all the strikes of consequence, countering effectively when her opponent moved forward. After struggling to impose her will early, Wojcik (10-3, 1-1 Invicta) was able to get inside and force several clinches in the third frame, but she was still unable to put Machado in serious peril down the stretch.

In one 115-pound semifinal, Machado captured a hard-fought split-decision triumph against Ediana Silva. The Brazilian known as “Tina Black” earned scorecards of 30-27 and 29-28 from two judges, while a third saw it 29-28 in favor of Silva (12-3, 0-1 Invicta).

The taller Machado controlled the distance, countered effectively and blended in takedowns to dictate the action against her 20-year-old adversary. Silva spent the majority of the bout stalking her opponent, and while she had a few instances where she was able to land punching flurries, she largely struggled to get the fight to her preferred range.

In the other semifinal, Wojcik relied on forward movement and overall aggression to capture a unanimous decision triumph against four-time UFC veteran Gloria de Paula (6-6, 0-1 Invicta). All three cageside judges submitted 29-28 tallies in favor of the Polish fighter.

Wojcik’s best work came in Round 2, when she caught a de Paula kick, landed a takedown and took her opponent’s back in a scramble. From there, she threatened with a rear-naked choke and attacked with punches to the head. De Paula rallied in the final stanza, as she had Wojcik reeling on a few occasions thanks to a striking arsenal that included straight punches, head kicks, elbows and knees. Ultimately, it wouldn’t be enough to get the nod on the scorecards.

In other action: Talita Bernardo (9-4, 2-0 Invicta) used a kimura to submit Katharina Lehner (7-4, 1-3 Invicta) 4:26 into the second round of their bantamweight clash; Claire Guthrie (4-1, 3-1 Invicta) defeated Brigid Chase (3-2, 0-1 Invicta) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) at bantamweight; Danni McCormack (6-2, 1-0 Invicta) garnered a three-round verdict (29-28, 29-28 29-28) against Maira Mazar (8-5, 0-1 Invicta) in a strawweight tournament reserve bout; Elise Pone (2-1, 2-1 Invicta) took a unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) against Melissa Oddessa Parker (3-3, 0-2 Invicta) at flyweight.