Lisa Spangler maintained her perfect record at Invicta FC 35 on Friday, overcoming a slow start to earn a unanimous decision over former title contender Katharina Lehner.
Former Invicta FC bantamweight title challenger Katharina Lehner returned on Friday, taking on Lisa Spangler at Invicta FC 35. Lehner had fought Sarah Kaufman for the vacant belt at Invicta FC 29 just over a year ago. Following that fight, she tried her hand at The Ultimate Fighter 28, competing at featherweight. She lost her first fight on the show as well, and then strayed to boxing for a single fight, before moving back to bantamweight in Kansas City, Kansas on Friday.
Spangler, meanwhile, was a perfect 3-0 as a pro, after an impressive amateur career.
Spangler and Lehner exchanged early in their bout, but with the pair looking to figure out distance and timing, not a ton was landing clean. From there, it was an extended feeling out process. Circling, jabbing, not much connecting. When the pair did attack, it was mostly single strikes, moving in with fakes, movement, and feints. Spangler would force a clinch toward the end of the round, looking for a takedown, but could not land it. The pair would finally get active just prior to the bell, trading.
Round two had Lehner working her jab, but again, a lot of feints, little in the way of strikes landing. Certainly few significant strikes. Spangler connected with a low kick to the ankle. Lehner took a big swing with her right, but hit air. At the mid-way point, however, the pair opened up, both women landing. That seemed to wake the duo up, as another short exchange followed. They’d wind up going to a third.
The lack of action, and significant strikes, takedowns, and so forth were going to make this one a hard one to judge. Lehner would land a heavy right around the midway point of the third, but Spangler stayed right in it. The pair circled, moved in and out, and Spangler launched a kick or two, while Germany’s Lehner popped off a two-punch combination. Spangler answered with a combo of her own, and they finally opened up again, trading. Spangler, in addition to some redness around the face that had blossomed earlier in the fight, was showing blood by the ear. Lehner caught a leg, but couldn’t dump her opponent. Spangler began landing a little more frequently, with both lefts and rights, splitting the guard of her opponent. A body kick put Lehner into retreat mode, and Spangler finished strong. That was enough to seal the deal.
Lisa Spangler def. Katharina Lehner by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
