When Invicta first announced that their Jan. 4 show would be an iPPV, I immediately predicted that it would be a fiasco because none of the companies who provide this service can't handle any kind of volume. And when Invicta chose to use UStream, that confirmed that there would be problems. For one thing, you don't choose a company that only accepts payment by credit card. And then when many who prepaid couldn't get in to UStream to see the show, the fiasco began. I understand Invicta couldn't get any kind of reasonable customer service to fix the problem. So the paywall was lifted. But I was one of many people who never could get anywhere at UStream. And I'm sure I wasn't the only one who threw in the towel. I just finished watching most of the show now. The video I am posting cuts off with a minute left in the main event. The CEO of UStream said yesterday that 3,000 was the highest number of paid viewers they have ever had for an event. That is not a high number and only proves that none of the companies who provide iPPVs can handle any volume. That Ring Of Honor has gone through four iPPV providers within the last year speaks volumes. All Invicta had to do is five minutes of research to learn that no iPPV provider has the proper infrastructure to handle any more than 1,000. And there is no guarantee that UStream can handle it in the future. Anyone can see that iPPV is too risky...except Invicta management. That's on them, not UStream. Trying to paint a pretty picture now makes them look foolish. There was nothing pretty about Saturday night's fiasco. I thought the show itself was a mixed bag. There were too many mismatches that went the distance and that made the show way too long. The main event with Carla Esparza winning over Bec Hyatt for the Invicta 115lb Championship was a mismatch. Look, I understand that some really really like Bec and give her a lot of credit for hanging in there. But she lost for one reason. She has no takedown defense. The problem was Carla gassed after two rounds and was content to take Bec down and keep her there. She didn't even try to finish her. So obviously Carla needs to work on her endurance because her next fight will be scheduled for five rounds too. Alexis Davis beat Shayna Baszler by rear naked choke at 58 sec. of round three. Alexis has looked good lately and I think her heel hook at the end of round one really hurt Shayna. Leslie Smith beat Raquel Pennington by unanimous decision. Raquel seemed to win round one and I don't know what happened to her after that. Sarah D'Alelio beat Amamda Nunes by unanimous decision. Sarah's takedowns were effective because Amanda had no answer and then worried too much about them. It doesn't seem she was well prepared for that strategy. It was a good win for Sarah but it was a boring match. Ediane Gomes beat HIROKO by unanimous decision. HIROKO was terrible in the first two rounds but she did better in round three. Too little, too late. HIROKO suffered a broken orbital bone and may require surgery. Joanne Calderwood hit Livia von Plettenberg with everything but the kitchen sink but was unable to finish her. I would like to see Joanne add takedowns and ground and pound to her arsenal. That might have got her a finish. Cassie Rodish beat Stephanie Frausto by TKO at 1:04 of round three. Tamikka Brents beat Amanda Bell by unanimous decision. Neither of those fights were on the video of the prelims posted on the Invicta site. Jodie Esquibel beat Liz McCarthy by split decision. I scored it 29-28 for Liz but it was close. The judge who scored it 30-27 for Jodie needs to find a new line of work. Rose Namajunas beat Emily Kagan by rear naked choke at 3:44 of round three. Rose's boyfriend is UFC fighter Pat Barry. He was pretty funny. I'd like to see Rose against a better opponent. Tecia Torres beat Paige VanZant by unanimous decision. An easy win for Tecia but she never came close to a finish. Paige needs to pump some iron. Tecia was too strong for her. Veronica Rothenhausler beat Katalina Malungahu by KO at 1:12 of round one. This was a bad stoppage. if you watch the video, ref Rob Hinds doesn't even look at Katalina before stopping the fight. And Laura Marcusse-Sanko beat Cassie Robb by rear naked choke at 1:07 of round two. Invicta announced that their next show will be in April and will feature two title fights. It will be Barb Honchak vs Vanessa Porto for the 125lb title and Jessica Penne will defend her 105lb title. Sarah Kaufman is also scheduled to appear on this show. I have a feeling that Invicta may be more determined to get a TV deal. Because iPPV is not the answer. Enjoy the video.
Video streaming by Ustream
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