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Tonya Evinger Seals ‘Invicta FC 17: Evinger Vs. Schneider’ Victory With A Kiss — ‘Triple Threat’ Smooches Interviewer Laura Sanko After Title Defense

By Jan Omega
Published on: 11:45 PST, May 10, 2016

Whenever the all-women MMA promotion Invicta Fighting Championships (Invicta FC) is ever brought up, most people, which include MMA fans, automatically think of Cristiane Justino, better known by her ring name Cris Cyborg. Since 2013, Cyborg has dominated her division in the promotion, scoring knockout or technical knockout wins against Fiona Muxlow, Marloes Coenen, Charmaine Tweet, Faith Van Duin, and Daria Ibragimova. Four out of five of those fights were won in the first round. And now Cyborg is making news yet again because she is about to make her UFC debut.

Still, Invicta FC shouldn’t just be seen as the “Cyborg Knockout Show.” Angela Hill, a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter 20, struggled to find her place in the UFC strawweight division and was eventually cut. In Invicta FC, she dethroned the undefeated Livia Renata Souza to become the new Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. Ayaka Hamasaki changed divisions after losing to Cláudia Gadelha and has been dominating the Invicta FC Atomweight Division winning the title back in July of 2015.

Out of all the Invicta FC champions, the one that stands out with the exception of Cris Cyborg is Tonya Evinger. Unlike Cyborg who wanted to find a way into UFC primarily to fight Ronda Rousey, Evinger has made it clear she does not care about fighting in the biggest MMA promotion today nor does she care to take on Rousey. Instead, Evinger is enjoying her dominance in Invicta FC in which she defeated Colleen Schneider in her latest title defense at Invicta FC 17: Evinger vs. Schneider. To celebrate, Tonya Evinger planted a wet, juicy kiss on the lips of Invicta FC interviewer Laura Sanko.

Prior to the kiss, Tonya Evinger only had one thing on her mind: to defend her Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship she won back in July 9, 2015, when she fought Irene Aldana at Invicta FC 13: Cyborg vs. Van Duin. Though “Triple Threat” did not finish the fight, she was dominant enough to score a unanimous decision at the main event, as reported by Bleacher Report. She celebrated her victory by first puking into a bucket, which has become her trademark of sorts over the last few years, followed by being interviewed by Laura Sanko. Minutes into it, Evinger, who is openly gay, said she wanted to win MMA Moment of the Year and proceeded to lay a wet, juicy kiss on Sanko’s lips.

Apparently, Laura Sanko is taking it with stride, brushing off the situation of any negativity it may produce. As a matter of fact, Sanko took another picture with Tonya Evinger saying that the Invicta FC Bantamweight Champion is “one heck of a prankster,” as reported by MMA Fighting.

It should also be noted that such behavior by Tonya Evinger is nothing new. Back in 2007, she fought Gina Carano in EliteXC. Prior to the fight, Evinger made it clear she wanted to kiss “Conviction” in an interview.

“I’d like to make out with Gina, but I am here to knock her out. Either way she wants it, though, is fine with me.”

Publicity about Tonya Evinger’s sexual orientation aside, she continues to dominate her division in which she is the most dominant fighter in Invicta FC outside of Cris Cyborg. She won her last nine fights since 2011. Only a third of those fights have been by decision, and the rest were finished. After UFC 198: Werdum vs. Miocic, Tonya Evinger will become the most dominant female fighter to never have fought in the UFC.

[Image via Esther Lin/Invicta FC Post-Event Promotions for Invicta FC 17: Evinger vs. Schneider]

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