Knockdown Daily 5/12/22: Emily Ducote Defends Invicta FC Belt Against Alesha Zappitella
Emily Ducote's win leads the MMA headlines for Thursday
Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue has the top MMA news, including a report on last night’s Invicta FC card.
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Doctor Stoppage Takes Alesha Zappitella Out Of Main Event, Earns Emily Ducote First Win As Champion
A third-round doctor stoppage forced Alesha Zappitella out of her fight against Invicta FC Strawweight Champion Emily Ducote on Wednesday night.
Swelling around Zappitella’s left eye caused the doctor to end the fight before the third round started, earning Ducote a victory for the first time in her reign. The swelling became visible for Zappitella in the second round and started to change how she was moving in the cage.
The fight headlined Invicta FC 47, which took place at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, USA.
Before the finish, the fight was a close stand-up battle on the feet. Zappitella attempted to take the bout to the ground with takedowns, although takedown defense from Ducote stopped the fight from going to the ground.
The result marked the first time that Ducote has defended her belt since winning it last year.
Ducote earned the belt with a “Knockout of the Year” contender in 2021, freezing Danielle Taylor in the first round with a head kick. The fight on Wednesday was Ducote’s third consecutive victory.
Zappitella, a former atomweight champ, was making her debut up at strawweight. She lost the Invicta FC Atomweight Championship earlier this year, dropping a unanimous decision to Jessica Delboni.
A full report on Invicta FC 47 can be read here.
Quick Results:
Main Card (8:00PM EDT) (Youtube)
Bout 1: Alyssa Linduska def. Jennifer Chieng via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Fatima Kline def. Sidney Trillo via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 4:45)
Bout 3: Serena DeJesus def. Brittney Cloudy via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Liana Pirosin def. Janaisa Morandin via Decision, Split
Bout 5: Jillian DeCoursey def. Lindsey VanZandt via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 1:01)
Bout 6: Chelsea Chandler def. Courtney King via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 7: Emily Ducote def. Alesha Zappitella via TKO, Doctor Stoppage (RD 2, 5:00) (Invicta FC Strawweight Championship)
UFC Looking To Book Brian Ortega vs. Yair Rodriguez To Headline July 16th Card
Brian Ortega could make his return later this year, headlining a UFC “Fight Night” card against Yair Rodriguez. A fight between the ranked featherweights is being targeted for the promotion’s July 16th card, per reports from Carlos Contreras Legaspi of ESPN Deportes and Ariel Helwani.
The booking would be Ortega’s first appearance since coming up unsuccessful in a title bout for the second time. He challenged reigning UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 266 last year, losing a unanimous decision result after five rounds of action.
Ortega’s last victory was in the main event of a 2020 card when he beat The Korean Zombie on scorecards.
Rodriguez will also be fighting to get back into the win column the next time he appears. He fought former title challenger Max Holloway in November 2021, suffering a unanimous decision loss in that fight.
Disney Reports Increase In ESPN+ Subscriptions, Decrease In UFC PPV Income
ESPN+ has seen a steady increase in subscribers recently, although a decline in UFC pay-per-view purchases along with higher sports programming costs has slowed revenue growth for the subscription service.
These recent developments were revealed as part of the second-quarter earnings report from The Walt Disney Company recently.
ESPN+, the monthly subscription service that offers numerous sports including live UFC programming, saw a 62 per cent increase in subscribers year-over-year. This jump represented going from 13.8 million subscribers to 22.3 over the past 12 months.
While ESPN+ saw an increase in overall subscribers, the “Average Monthly Revenue Per Paid Subscriber” only went up 4 per cent. This increase accounted for the average customer generating just an extra 18 cents per month.
The recent report noted that the company has observed a decrease in UFC PPV buys and attributed this decline as part of why revenue growth from ESPN+ wasn’t higher.
“Lower results at ESPN+ were due to higher sports programming costs and a decrease in income from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pay-per-view events, partially offset by an increase in subscription revenue due to subscriber growth,” the report said. “Lower UFC pay-per-view income was due to a decrease in average buys per event.”
The majority of UFC “Fight Night” events have aired exclusively on ESPN+ since the promotion started a deal with the distributor in 2019. The service has been the exclusive home for purchasing UFC PPV events, and also airs original content like “Dana White’s Contender Series” and “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Alexander Gustafsson To Return Against Nikita Krylov At July 23rd UFC London Card
Two-time light heavyweight title challenger Alexander Gustafsson is set to make his return to action at UFC’s July 23rd event, facing light heavyweight Nikita Krylov.
News of the matchup was confirmed by the promotion this week. The fight is joining a card that is set to take place at The O2 Arena in London, England.
The booking marks Gustaffson’s first pro appearance in nearly two years. He last fought in 2020, when he lost a fight up at heavyweight against Fabricio Werdum.
Gustaffson’s last fight at his usual weight class of 205-pounds was a 2019 submission loss against Anthony Smith. He briefly announced retirement between that defeat and his 2020 appearance.
Krylov appeared on UFC’s previous card this year in London, England. He suffered his second consecutive loss in that appearance, getting caught early by a submission from Paul Craig.
Krylov will be searching for his first victory since early 2020 in the next booking.
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