InvictaFC 24 Aftermath: What’s Next for the Athletes?

New stars were born Saturday night as InvictaFc 24 in Kansas City.

The promotion added to its flyweight and featherweight rosters and solidified itself with the most international roster of female athletes.

So what is next in the wake of the event?

InvictaFC 24 Primer

Never say that Invicta doesn’t have back-up plans.

After several lineup changes, InvictaFC’s 24th edition will have a solid set of eight fights, with an international main event and a co-main which will serve as the people’s main event.

UFC vet Milana Dudieva will make her flyweight debut against Italy’s Mara Romero Borella in the main event, while fan favorite Jinh Yu Frey battle decorated police officer Ashley Cummins.

The anticipated bout between Mallory Martin and Tiffany Masters has been scrapped as Martin was taken to the hospital with an undisclosed illness.

Two of the 4 featherweight fighters missed weight as Pam Sorenson (149.6) and Amy Coleman (149.5) will be fined 25% of their purse fr missing the mark.

The complete card will stream on UFC Fight Pass Saturday.

Here is a breakdown plus  the weigh-in results.

(Photos Courtesy Scott Hirano/InvictaFC)

InvictaFC President Shannon Knapp Talk Titles and Contenders

With most of the InvictaFC titles in a state if flux, InvictaFC president Shannon Knapp took some time Monday to update us.

• With Megan Anderson now signed to the UFC, Knapp confirms that the InvictaFC featherweight title has not been vacated. They are still waiting for the dust to settle after the Anderson versus Cyborg match in July.
• When asked about the Tonya Evinger and Helen Kolesnyk possibly being an interim title match, Knapp state “it’s on the table”.
• The strawweight title will finally have an owner coming at InvictaFC 25. A date, location, and participants has yet to be announced.
• The reason the Jinh Yu Frey verse Ashley Cummins fight was booked was because Ayaka Hamasaki has yet to contact Invicta on when she is ready to come back. Even after losing to Livia Souza, Hamasaki has still shown her insistence to stay at 115. Until Hamasaki gives Invicta a definitive thumbs up for the move, the atomweight title will stay around her waste. The Frey versus Cummins match is a title eliminator.

Some other things of note we discussed:

• The UFC is definitely interested in getting some Invicta talent on their upcoming “Contenders Series”, but have yet to book any.
• Fans were asking about when and if we would see Daria Ibragimova again in Invicta. Knapp tells us she will be available come the fall. It is not known if she will drop to 135 and stay at 145.
• Invicta Boxing is taking a little longer than expected, but things are still going smoothly.

InvictaFC 24 Card Announced; Anderson vs. Cyborg Set for UFC

The InvictaFC 24 gets a new main event as Megan Anderson has signed with the UFC to face Cris “Cyborg” Justino at UFC 214 in Anaheim, California July 29th. The match will be for the vacant UFC featherweight title, as the UFC stripped Germaine de Randamie of the belt for refusing to defend it against Justino.

The deal has been rumored for weeks since no contenders could be found inside the UFC for the belt. InvictaFC champ Anderson stepped up wanting the fight and with no other options, the UFC signed her. The fight will serve as the co-main event on pay-per-view and will be the third time in the modern UFC era a debuting fighter(s) will get vie for title. (Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche and Carla Espaeza vs. Rose Namajunas are the others.)

---

With Anderson out, bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger has stepped up to take her place against Helena Kolesnyk at featherweight in a three round non-title affair in the main event of InvictaFC 24 in Kansas City July 15th, which will stream on UFC Fight Pass.

InvictaFC 23 Primer

The flyweight division has been getting a lot of attention as of late, and InvictaFC is no exception.

The 23rd offering comes this Saturday as some of the best 125 pound athletes on the planet converge in Kansas City and will be live on Fight Pass.

The main and co-main event will determine number 1 contenders for Jennifer Maia’s flyweight title. Two bright prospects in Agnieszka Niedźwiedź and Sarah D’Alelio will look to upset veterans Vanessa Porto and Roxanne Modafferi (respectively).

Fan favorite Andrea Lee taking and newcomer Liz Tracey round out the flyweight talent Saturday.

InvictaFC 23 Sees Flyweights Take Center Stage

Two flyweight contender bouts are set to see who will face Jennifer Maia for the title.

InvictaFC 23 May 20th in Kansas City will see the main event of former title challenger Vanessa Porto battle undefeated Agnieszka Niedźwiedź, while the co-main event will see another former title challenger Roxanne Modafferi battle Sarah D’Alelio.

InvictaFC 22 Aftermath – What’s Next for the Fighters & the Promotion

InvictaFC delivered once again, even with a seven fight card. New stars were made and staples of the promotion solidified their spots as they climb the ladder.

Two titles were finally vacated, with the interim titleholder becoming the undisputed champion.

The promotion itself has several projects in different stages of implementation.

Here is a rundown of all that happened and what we could to expect going forward to going forward.

InvictaFC 22 Primer

It is a rematch that will end the controversy.

Tonya Evinger will once again defend her title against Yana Kunitskaya at InvictaFC 22 in Kansas City Saturday. Their first bout ended when Evinger tapped out to an armbar, but the referee’s insistence that Evinger’s defense of the armbar (placing a foot on Kunitsyaya’s head) was illegal lead to a successful appeal and turning the first bout into a no-contest. Kunitskaya looks to hold the gold once again at the end of the night.

Watercooler – King of the Cage, Invicta Expands Women’s Divisions; Gonzalez vs. Calvillo Announced

Gina Carano will be honored April 20th at the Artemis Film Festival.

The former MMA fighter and current big screen star will receive the  “Action Warrior Award”.

The festival is in its 3rd year and honors women’s action stars, stunt women, and documentary film makers that focus on real women’s stories.

UFC & V-MODA Take WMMA Press 2016 Promotion & Sponsor Awards Respectively

The UFC has repeated as WMMA Press Promotion of the Year, as V-Moda picks up its first award for Sponsor.

The awards are voted on by the WMMA Press committee, a set of journalists that have covered the female divisions of martial arts for years on may different levels.

Charmaine Tweet Takes WMMA Press Knockout of the Year 2016

(Photo courtesy Esther Lin/InvictaFC)

It was the spin the got her the InvictaFC title shot.

Canada’s Charmaine Tweet takes home the WMMA Press Knockout of the Year 2016.

Watercooler: Kagan Retires; Invicta & Rizin Add Matches

Two additional matches will round out the InvictaFC 22 card March 25th in Kansas City.

Ashley Cummins will be making her way back to the InvictaFC cage taking on friomer title challenger Amber Brown in an atomweight bout.

Cummins (4-3) is coming off a submission of the year candidate of Nikki Smith, which broke a three fight losing streak. This will be her first cut to 105 of the St. Louis police after going to a 110 catchweight in her last fight.