In a meeting of Team Whittaker featherweights, Leah Letson scored a three-round split decision over Julija Stoliarenko.
Scores were 29-28 twice and 28-29.
The fight started with some furious striking exchanges, but as the round progressed, the bout settled into a more measured pace, with Letson holding the edge over Stoliarenko.
Letson stayed a step ahead of her foe in round two, dodging a pair of takedown attempts in the process, but Stoliarenko did open up a cut on the Milwaukee native with a flush elbow at close range, reminding “Nidas” that she was still in the fight.
Two minutes into the third, Stoliarenko found her opening by sinking in a guillotine choke, and while it was tight, Letson ultimately got free and assumed control from the top position. Letson bulled Stoliarenko to the fence and got off some strikes, but she remained cognizant of her opponent’s ground game, drawing a restart from referee Chris Tognoni with 30 seconds left when the action stalled.
With the win, Letson moves to 5-2. Lithuania’s Stoliarenko falls to 4-4-1.
