InvictaFC 34 Preview Show Plus Weigh In Results

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.

Video: Sarah Moras Talks Successful UFC Return

It was an almost two year journey for Sarah Moras to get back into the octagon.

After some injures and having to do a GoFundMe page to pay for camp, she was able to shake off any cage rust and get a submission victory over Ashlee Evans-Smith at UFC 215 a few weeks ago.

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.

Veronica Macedo Takes the WMMA Press Newcomer of the Year 2016

Venezuela has a new star and she has won a WMMA Press award.

UFC’s Veronica Macedo has been voted to be the Newcomer of the Year for 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.

2016 WMMA Press Nominees for Promotion of the Year

The demand for female fights have grown.

More than 700 fights happened in the pro women’s divisions alone in 2016. Five Promotions were ahead of the curve and are nominated for this year’s award.

The WMMA Press committee is a set of journalists that have covered the female divisions of martial arts for years on may different levels.

Six journalists will vote on the award:

• Gina Begley – Pro WMMA Now / Bluegrass MMA
• Pedro Henrique – Da Made Ferro MMA (Brazil)
• Charlie Jewett – CJ’s Report (covering Asian MMA)
• Yael Grauer – Sherdog.com
• MarQ Piocos – WombatSports.com
• Elias Stefanescu – Ground and Pound (Germany)
• Kristin Ursy – Women’s MMA Round-up

This is the 7th year for the awards which sees the best in female fighting recognized.

Here at the nominees for the WMMA Press Award for Promotion of the Year.

• UFC (52 fights in 2016)
• Invicta (48 Fights in 2016)
• IMMAF (42 ammy fights in 2016)
• King of the Cage (38 fights in 2016 pro & ammy)
• DEEP JEWELS (24 Fights in 2016)

Light as a Feather: The 145 Women’s Conundrum

We are on the verge of crowning three featherweight champions this year, and a lot of people have seen this as a problem.

The UFC’s announcement in December started it all as they announced they will crown their first 145 champion with Holly Holm versus Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208 February 11th in Brooklyn, New York. With Cyborg Justino possibly being under suspension by USADA and not having defended her title in the past year due to her UFC stint, Invicta will be crowning an interim champion this coming Saturday in Kansas City with Charmaine Tweet versus Megan Anderson.

2016 in the Women’s MMA Division by the Numbers

When we posted the half years numbers in July, we had our doubts we would reach more than 700 pro female bouts in MMA. The last six months exceeded expectation.

The last half saw 385 bouts with three months out of the six topping the most fights per month list. On average there was 13.5 bouts per week this year.

Here is a look back at 2016 as a whole by the numbers.

UFC Announces Featherweight Division – Holm vs. de Randamie to Vie for First Title

UFC President went through with his promise on creating a featherweight division, but the first champ won’t be Cyborg Justino.

Fox Sports reported Tuesday former bantamweight champion Holly Holm will face Germaine de Randamie for the initial UFC 145 title at UFC 208  February 11th in Brooklyn, New York.

Holm won the 135 title last year beating Ronda Rousey to become the second champion ever. Holm would lose the belt to Miesha Tate earlier this year, and is coming off a loss to Valentina Shevchenko.

Randamie (7-3) is coming off back to back finishes and has won four out of her past 5 fights.

The news comes as Cyborg Justino, the best fighter in the division, decided to take some time off to recover from a bad weight cut and sort out some personal issues. Justino says she will be able to come back in action in March.

With the new title and division, it is unlikely Justino will return to Invicta to defend her title. We expect an announcement in the coming weeks on the fate of that belt.

Miesha Tate: A Career of Adversity and Triumph

It was a sad night for the women’s divisions of MMA.

After losing to Raquel Pennington by decision this past Saturday, Miesha Tate stated she was hanging up her gloves. “It’s time for the next generation” Tate explained in her post fight comments.

When I first started covering the women’s divisions of the sport, one of the first I got to interview and cover was Miesha. It was right after she lost to Sarah Kaufman in 2009; Tate was a last minute replacement going into the fight. I remember how impressed I was with her wrestling, and how warm and friendly she was.

Watercoler – Olympic Gold Medalists Kayla Harrison Going to MMA; Rizin NYE Shapes Up

After months of speculation, Olympic Gold Medalist Kayla Harrision has decided to sign World Series of Fighting to begin her MMA career.

Watercoler: UFC 205 Adds Jędrzejczyk vs. Kowalkiewicz; Tate vs. Pennington

Cris Cyborg Justino made weight at 141 pounds on Friday ahead of her match with Saturday against Lina Lansberg in Brasilia, Brazil for UFC Fight Night. Lansberg tipped the scales at 140 pounds. The match will air on Fox Sports 1 as the main event.