Jennifer Dugwen Chieng Earns a Split Decision Victory in Philly at XCC 28

On Friday night, Jennifer Dugwen Chieng (1-1) earned a split decision victory at the National Guard Armory in Philadelphia, PA. The former Rio Olympic boxer defeated Stephanie Irizarry (1-1). Irizarry is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blue belt, in addition, to a background in judoka, and wrestling. The bout took place under the XCC 28 (Xtreme Caged Combat) promotion. This win for Chieng improves her record to 1-1 as an amateur mixed martial artist.

Chieng, fighting in only her second amateur MMA bout relied on her highly skilled striking. The former Olympic Boxer impressed everyone in attendance in her first bout against Destiny Quinones, with her snapping jabs and excellent footwork. The strawweight (115-pounds) continued her impressive showcase in a battle verse Irizarry at a catchweight 118-pound fight.

In this bout, The Rio Olympic Boxer earned a victory over her opponent because of her improved takedown defense. Denying Irizarry’s continuous takedown attempts and springing back to her feet, allowed the New York City-based fighter to do what she does best, speaking with her fists.

“She was open for a lot of overhand rights, so I threw a lot of those,” Chieng mentioned to My MMA News. Chieng stuck with her game plan of excellent footwork, making it difficult for Irizarry to locate Chieng, and keep the fight standing. As tempted as Chieng was to plant her feet and trade punches with her tough opponent, as she mentioned, she stuck to her game plan. “I also tried to stick to the footwork and not settle in front of her,”

“As far as takedown defense, I was happy that I stuffed a lot of attempts and was able to get up quickly those times she did take me down. slow and steady progress, so I’m happy,” Said Chieng. Chieng credited her success in Friday night’s bout to her focused training on improving her BJJ and wrestling.

The two women battled through three hard fought rounds. After the final bell, the decision was left to the judges’ scorecards. They scored the fight 29-28, 29-28, 28-29, in favor of Jennifer Dugwen Chieng, by Split Decision. “Fight wise, I felt I won all 3 rounds, I knew that the only possible reason it was a split decision was that in the last 10-seconds she took me down for 5-seconds before I got back up,”

The former boxer also recalled her opponent scoring only one other takedown, but she immediately sprung back to her feet and got back to work landing numerous strikes. “So overall, I feel good about the fight. Each round I felt more comfortable,” said the victor. Chieng also mentioned in the third and final round of the bout, she didn’t want to fall victim to a couple of takedowns and showed her boxing experience by getting right to work, wasting no time to pick apart Irizarry. “I didn’t want those takedowns to negate everything.”

In the city of Brotherly Love, unless of course if you’re from the state of New York, Chieng expressed how “it felt good,” to be on the road for only her second MMA bout. “there’s added pressure too, which I do like,” she mentioned. Chieng accomplished a tall task entering hostile territory for only her second amateur MMA fight. Even with her experience boxing around the world, MMA is a different sport and Philidelphia is a different animal. In many situations, when the home crowd is amping up their fighter, it can be daunting at times for a fighter to stay calm and focused. Chieng demonstrated great focus in her bout Friday night at XCC 28 after being taken down and not allowing Irizarry to settle on top. Hand control and will power to rise to her feet, not only won her the fight but also showed from Chieng’s first fight to her second bout, the amount she has progressed in her MMA game.

“I’m just really happy, I wanted to win this so bad,” Chieng said.

“I learned that I’m even more eager now to keep pushing in this sport. I want to improve as a fighter and work on fixing the mistakes I made in the cage. I have to keep on grinding and stay focused,” The amateur Strawweight Said.

The two women battled at 118-pounds, a catchweight bout, on the XCC 28 fight card. Jennifer Dugwen Chieng (1-1) defeated Stephanie Irizarry (1-1) via Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29). This win improves Chieng’s record to 1-1. Chieng enthusiastically mentioned she plans to stay busy and “get as much experience as I possibly can,”. She hopes to leap onto a card in the latter part of this Summer but has to discuss that with her manager, Matt Cully, of Battlescar Management.

Jennifer Chieng wanted to recognize several people. “Thanks to Battlescar Management and XCC promotions for the opportunity to fight at this event, all my coaches and training partners, and my family and friends for their constant support.”

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Kyle Carroll

Kyle Carroll is a Long Island, N.Y. native and avid MMA and amateur wrestling fan. He has been a part of the wrestling community for nearly 20 years. Carroll has six years of experience coaching high school wrestling. His father coached high school wrestling over 35 years, passing on his strong knowledge. Carroll has been reporting MMA news since January 2011. The former wrestler’s coverage includes the 2012 U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team Trials, 2013 & 2016 NCAA D1 Wrestling Championship, and numerous MMA events (Bellator MMA, King of the Cage, North American Fighting Championship, and Glory).

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