MMA Rising: Joanne Calderwood Dominates Lena Ovchynnikova At SFL 3

Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood kept her unbeaten MMA record intact with a dominant Unanimous Decision victory over Ukrainian striker Lena “Hunter” Ovchynnikova tonight at Super Fight League 3 in New Delhi, India. Scores were 30-26 thrice for Calderwood, who controlled the bout throughout.
Ovchynnikova had her greatest success of the fight early in round one when she landed a spinning hook kick to the face, but Calderwood countered with a takedown and trapped Ovchynnikova in a triangle choke. Ovchynnikova escaped, but she was forced to play defence for the remainder of the fight.

The fight between Calderwood (2-0-0) and Ovchynnikova (8-2-0) began with an exchange of kicks and Ovchynnikova landed a pair of left hooks. She briefly wobbled Calderwood with the spinning hook kick, but Calderwood took her down. Ovchynnikova countered with a guillotine choke and Calderwood managed to fight her way free. The fighters stood and Calderwood tripped Ovchynnikova to the mat. Ovchynnikova rolled forward and escaped. From the top, she landed punches, but Calderwood locked on a triangle choke from the bottom. Ovchynnikova tried to step over to escape and Calderwood switched to a triangle armbar. Ovchynnikova briefly secured a leg scissor choke and spun free of the triangle before the bell, but round one was clearly 10-9 in Calderwood’s favour.
Ovchynnikova landed a body kick and a knee in the second round. Calderwood countered with punches and two takedowns. She took Ovchynnikova’s back and used short punches to set up a rear-naked choke. Calderwood locked on the choke, but Ovchynnikova somehow escaped. Calderwood maintained a body triangle until Ovchynnikova rolled and tried to spin into her guard. Calderwood transitioned to an armbar. The fighters stood and Calderwood took Ovchynnikova’s back. She turned into the clinch and landed a knee and uppercuts. Referee Yuji Shimada called for a break and Ovchynnikova was docked a point for grabbing the fence. Calderwood scored a takedown in the final seconds. 10-8 Calderwood.
Both women landed kicks to the upper body in the final round and Ovchynnikova attempted a spinning backfist. A left cross snapped Calderwood’s head back and Ovchynnikova followed with a combination. She continued to fare well in the striking exchanges until Calderwood took her down. Ovchynnikova looked for a guillotine choke from the bottom, but Calderwood escaped and punched from knee-on-belly position. She then moved to side control and landed more punches. Ovchynnikova gave up her back and ate right hands, and Calderwood worked to secure a rear-naked choke as Ovchynnikova’s right eye swelled up. Calderwood peppered Ovchynnikova with short punches and elbows from the back and tried again for a rear-naked choke. In the final five seconds, Calderwood rolled through into an armbar, but time expired. 10-9 Calderwood.
The judges were united in their scoring of the bout, with all three returning 30-26 scorecards for the unbeaten Scottish prospect. Ovchynnikova suffers her second straight defeat after opening her career with eight consecutive victories.
Winner Joanne Calderwood by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) after three rounds. She improves to 2-0-0.