We end the year with a lot of events and news.
With her title match approaching, we talked to Kate Jackson about her fight in Hawaii at Bellator, the growth of British women in MMA, weight cutting, and her preps.
Also some InvictaFC updates going into 2020.
Plus we go over cards heading the New Years.
Busy few weeks in the women’s divisions.
We get an interview with Leslie Smith who is facing Arlene Blenclowe at Bellator next week. We talk about the new additions to the Bellator featherweight division, her training partners, and her continued learning about her fight for labor equality.
Invicta weigh-ins shake up the card, plus I answer questions about the featherweight division and Invicta’s Phoenix Series tournaments.
In what will be a busy week between PFL, Tuff-n-uff, UFC, One Championship, Rizin, and Combates; we give you the fights to watch. We will be live at the PFL playoffs and Tuff-n-uff and our guest Chelsea Rae helps us break them down as she prepares for her own fight at Tuff-n-uff Saturday. She will also be coaching some of the Wimp 2 Warrior participants in their first MMA bouts.
Invicta was this past weekend and we go through the results and give you the line-up for the next card.
Plus a lot of news.
This week on the WMMath podcast talk InvictaFC 37 with two atomweights working their way up the ranks.
Linda “F109” Mihalec is a Kentucky based fighter with several teammates who are Invicta vets. We talk to Mihalec about her preps and how she got into fighting.
Shino VanHoose is coming off a year layoff and is looking forward to returning to action. Recently moved to las Vegas, we talk to VanHoose in studio about her fruitful career, and her thoughts on the future of the 105 division. Continue reading WMMath Podcast – Shino VanHoose and Linda Mihalec
We are back in the podcasting game.
The WMMath podcast will be a semi-weekly source for fighting news out of the women’s divisions, discussion on current topics, fan questions, and of course great guests.
We had two great guests for the launch, which was recorded in the High Mountain Studios in Henderson, Nevada.
Making headlines as of late, Justin Kish was in studio to talk about her challenge to Paige VanZandt, training at the UFC’s Performance Institute, and improvements to her game. Continue reading WMMath Podcast – Justine Kish in Studio and Jessica Eye
(Photo courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC)
The flyweights are featured this time as InvictaFC hosts their second Phoenix Series Friday night. Set with a field of international talent, the winner has a shot of facing the winner of the Vanessa Porto and Karina Rodriguez for the flyweight title.
A group of young guns are also in line in reserve and non-tournament bouts.
For those new to the series, the tournament consists of one 5 minute round for the quarter and semi-finals, with the finals a full three round fight. Fastest finish time in the quarterfinals receives opponent choice for the semi-finals, plus any finish gets a bonus.
Weigh-ins and draws were held Thursday in Kansas City. All tournament participants made weight. Only Chantel Coates missed the mark on the whole card, and will forfeit 25% of her purse plus is now ineligible to be a injury replacement.
The card starts at 7 p.m. central time and will stream on UFC Fight Pass.
Here are the weigh-in results and bout draws for the tournament, plus some background about the participants. Continue reading InvictaFC Phoenix Series 2 Primer
InvictaFC President Shannon Knapp is starting the stack the last two cards of the year, and one will crown a new strawweight champion.
Knapp announced on the “Beatdown After the Bell” podcast that Bellator vet and former flyweight title challenger Enily Ducote will face Rizin star Kanato Murata for the vacant 115 title. The belt was held by Phoenix Rizin 1 winner Brianna Van Buren before she signed to the UFC shortly after winning it. Continue reading Invicta Strawweight Title Match Announced; Gonzalez vs Walker Added to October Card
Photos Courtesy – Dave Mandel, Invicta FC
History will be made Friday night as a new tournament format will be introduced, and a new champion will be crowned.
The Phoenix Rising one night tournament takes place Friday night in Kansas City and will be live on UFC Fight Pass. One round fights happen for the quarter and semi-finals, with the finals being three rounds. The winner takes home the strawweight title, vacated by Virna Jandiroba, who has signed to the UFC. Continue reading InvictaFC Phoenix Rising 1 Primer
Photo Courtesy Esther Lin/InvictaFC
A pioneer in Indian MMA, Manjit Kolekar has her toughest test to date at InvictaFC’s Phoenix Rising tournament May 3rd in Kansas City.
It was announced this week that Kolekar will face Amber Brown in an alternate bout in the strawweight tournament, which will crown a new champion. Continue reading Manjit Kolekar Ready to Alter her Career in Invicta
Photo Courtesy – Dave Mandel, Invicta FC
A busy fight weekend starts with InvictaFC Friday night on UFC Fight Pass.
The main event will fill the vacant flyweight title as Pearl Gonzalez (9-3) faces perennial contender Vanessa Porto (20-8).
The co-main and featured bouts are tournament semi-finals to find a contender for the main event winner. Milana Dudieva (12-7) and Karina Rodriguez (6-3) will take the co-main spot with DeAnna Bennett (9-4-1) vs. Miranda Maverick (4-1) as the featured fight. Continue reading InvictaFC 34 Preview Show Plus Weigh In Results
Photo Courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC
Invicta was ahead of the game as they announced their 33rd card for December 15th in Kansas City. We talked to InvictaFC president Shannon Knapp about the lead up to the event.
Being towards the end of the year, Invicta wanted to get ahead in terms of planning, and wanted its fans to have some leeway before the holiday travel rush. This also gave them an opportunity to start planning InvictaFC 34, which is slated for January in Kansas City. Knapp told us to expect the vacant flyweight title to be filled on the card. Continue reading Shannon Knapp on InvictaFC 33: Frey vs. Grusander II Had to Be Booked
Photos courtesy: Dave Mandel, Invicta FC
Invicta has been busy in 2018, and six weeks after their last card, they are ready to once again bring the action to Kansas City.
The 31st event will feature Virna Jandiroba’s first defense of her strawweight title as she takes on the 10-1 Janaisa Morandin.
The co-main event sees Pearl Gonzalez wanting to make her argument for a flyweight title shot against Daiane Firmino.
For the first time in the promotion’s history, there will be one fight that will be streamed on facebook as Helen Peralta and Kay Hansen will kick ff the card. The fight will also stream on Fight Pass.
Only one person missed weight. Mallory Martin tipped the scales at 117 pounds, which is 2 pounds over the strawweight limit. She will be fined 25% of her purse.
The strawweight title match is official with both Jandiroba and Morandin coming in under 115 pounds.
The rest of the card will stream on UFC Fight Pass Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. central time.
Here is the breakdown of the fights and the weigh-ins results. Continue reading InvictaFC 31 Primer
