Big Bad Blog Video Theater-DeAnna Bennett vs Katja Kankaanpaa

As I normally do, I am posting the most interesting match from the latest Invicta show. That would be DeAnna Bennett vs Katja Kankaanpaa because a lot of fans on Twitter thought the judges blew the scoring. It also gives me the opportunity to watch the fight again and break it down for you and also to see if I feel any differently about the judges decision. They all scored the fight 29-28 for DeAnna. On Saturday I scored it 29-28 for Katja and I didn't see anything to change my mind. But I will try to explain the judges decision though I think they are out to lunch. Round one is fairly even. Neither fighter scored much until Katja got a takedown with a minute left in the round. Deanna did attempt a guillotine choke but it was not effective so I scored round one 10-9 for Katja. It was very close to a tie round. Round two was very similar except this time I thought DeAnna got the edge at the end of the round so I scored it 10-9 for DeAnna. Katja won round three decisively as she had several submission attempts. So I scored it 10-9 for Katja and I scored the fight 29-28 for Katja. So how did the judges all score it 29-28 for DeAnna. Well, the first two rounds were very close to tie rounds and it's conceivable that the judges believed that DeAnna's guillotine attempt at the end of round one stole the round in the eyes of the judges. I don't believe in stealing rounds and I also don't think her guillotine attempt was effective enough for her to score any points. On the other hand, the fan perception was that the fight was even going into the third round and Katja easily won round three. But it appears the judges scored the first two rounds in DeAnna's favour. So no matter how dominant Katja was in round three, the judges already had her down two rounds. And all three rounds are scored equally. I guess perception doesn't always translate to the judges scorecards. Katja retired after the show and she said she would comment when she got home to Finland. I can only guess she retired because at age 34, there wasn't much chance of her getting into the UFC after two straight losses. I'm sure she has a day job and she had to travel a long way to train in Finland. I think she's a very good but not great fighter. Her grinding style tends not to appeal to judges and I don't think she finishes enough fights. I'll miss her nickname The Killer Bunny. Because she missed weight for the second time, it looks like DeAnna will have to move back up to 125lb. Invicta matchmaker Julie Kedzie said that during the broadcast. And I don't think DeAnna is as good a fighter at 115. Enjoy the video.