After a tough decision victory, Erin Blanchfield wants a finish at Invicta FC 32
At Invicta 30, Erin Blanchfield stepped into the Invicta FC cage for the first fight of her six-fight deal with the ground-breaking all-women promotion. The 19-year old flyweight faced Brittney Cloudy, who gave Blanchfield her toughest test to date, going to a decision for the very first time.
“It was definitely the toughest fight I’ve had so far, I mean, I’m only 2-0 right now so I haven’t had that many fights. She’s a very tall striker so it pushed me to utilize my striking and I felt like I displayed a lot of my striking in that fight as well as my jitsu. It was a very tough fight, but I was glad I was able to get the win, I felt like it pushed me and I felt like I could learn a lot from that fight which I’m using for this fight right now.”
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Blanchfield said this fight showed her composure and ability to make in-fight adjustments. The fight wasn’t one sided as her previous ones had been and she suffered damage for the first time as well. The blood that came from her face she said didn’t prove to herself that she loved the sport because she already knew that, it proved it to any doubters she may have had.
“I knew I loved this sport before, but I think this solidifies, maybe not so much to myself but to others who thought I was just a jiu jitsu person, that I’m definitely down to have a good hard fight.”
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That “good hard fight” showed off Blanchfield’s fight IQ as she recognized what she needed to do when hurt after taking a right hand to the head in the first round and helped her realize that she has a few things to improve such as keeping her head in the right position when going for a takedown so she doesn’t eat elbows while attempting it.
“In the first round she caught me with a little bit of a right hand I just kept my hands up and knew I had to move away to get my composure back, I didn’t freak out at all, I just knew I needed a second to get myself together. But then when I was going for that takedown, I kept my head too low and she was very tall so she was able to get her elbows over and hit me. It didn’t really hurt as much but I felt the blood coming down, so I knew that was good obviously so I went down lower. I was able to finish the takedown but I took too much punishment for it.”
Now, Blanchfield is looking to take those lessons learned into her next fight on November 16 at Invicta FC 32. Blancfield was originally supposed to face Luanna Alzuguir who is also a well-known name in the jiu jitsu world. But Alzuguir decided to pull out of the fight. Now she will face fellow 19-year-old prospect Kay Hansen who earned a victory at Invicta FC 31 over Helen Peralta. After she won her fight, Hansen called Blanchfield out. Blanchfield thought it was pretty cool.
“Honestly it was pretty cool, I mean I was watching it live and I heard her call me out and I was like oh ok, I’ll fight you no problem. Honestly, I wasn’t put off or anything by it, if anything it was cool because it was an event I wasn’t event at and people were still talking about me so it’s good for me.”
Blanchfield also likes the matchup, noting that she has a size advantage and feels her skills nullify Hansen’s.
“Kay has a very wrestling style, I feel like my striking and jitsu are definitely much better. I don’t care where the fight goes honestly. I know she talks about her boxing a lot, but if you watch her fights she throws a few punches, then tries to clinch up and take people down, but I have no problem going to the ground with her.”
The well-known jiu jitsu player believes this fight will most likely be played out on the ground and she will go back to her finishing ways.
“I feel like it will definitely be a finish or a TKO. I didn’t get the finish my last fight but I definitely want to get back to finishing fights.”
