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<h3><a href="/go=news.detail&gid=439245" target="_blank">
Three title fights at Invicta FC 7 on Dec 7
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<p>Invicta FC <br />
Ameristar Casino Hotel
Kansas City, Missouri
Dec. 7
Streaming live via online pay-per-view.
Champion Barb Honchak vs. Leslie Smith - for flyweight title
Champion Carla Esparza vs. Claudia Gadelha - for strawweight title
Lauren Murphy vs. Miriam Nakamoto - for inaugural bantamweight title
Felice Herrig vs. Tecia Torres
Joanne Calderwood vs. Katja Kankaanpaa
Julia Budd vs. Charmaine Tweet
Zoila Frausto Gurgel vs. Vanessa Porto
Tonya Evinger vs. Kelly Kobold
Nina Ansaroff vs. Munah Holland
In addition to the three title fights, this tremendous card features the Invicta debut of Felice Herrig and Kelly Kobold, undefeated Joanne Calderwood vs. undefeated Katja "Killer Bunny" Kankaanpaa, and much more.
Supposedly Invicta 8 is in January and will probably have Thug Rose, Bec Hyatt, and Cyborg (check Shannon Knapp's twitter feed for hints).
Anyway it looks like a really stacked card, but if I had a caveat, it seems to lack any prelims. You'd think a 4-match prelim show would be a good idea (or really, even just 2 matches) since the first couple matches usually help warm up the crowd, and if any main card matches get scratched they can serve as stand-ins. Also it can give a stage to talent that needs developing. There's also a distinct lack of Atomweights on the card, so it'd be good to see at least one match like that on the prelims.
So, I'd be proposing something like the following for a Prelim card:
AW Match: Lisa Ellis-Ward (15-8) vs. Lacey Schuckman (9-6)
LW Match: Jessica Halverson (4-2) vs. Veronica Rothenhausler (1-0) (3-0 amat.)
FW Match: Mollie Estes (1-2) (8-1 amat.) vs. Taylor Stratford (0-0) (9-1 amat.)
SW: Paige VanZant (2-1) vs. Norma Center (2-1)
plastekt - I figured they were waiting until after TUF to book this card but I guess not. What a stacked card.
It's already been very delayed compared to previous cards, and they're still waiting for TUF to actually have the card.
It just shows how deceptively deep Invicta is where they can have half of potential main card fighters for them fighting on TV and still put out a great card with completely different fighters involved. Whoever is doing the scouting and booking for them is truly a genius. I don't mean to slight any of the female fighters on TUF, but most of them seem like they'd be prelim or gatekeeper Invicta fighters outside of the veteran names who have already lost on the show. Which is part of the excitement, I have no idea who wins at this point. That huge chick is probably going to gas from the weight cut and I think she's the only one left on on Rousey's team against Moras.
I was just expecting for the show to end and half of the women who didn't win in the first round to make up part of the card which would be announced shortly after completion.
I'm really impressed and gained some perspective by how easily they did without those fighters. That card looks like potentially the best they've ever put together and didn't need anyone from TUF.
Ch1ef - Chromium, is Taylor Stratford training again?
I don't know. I was throwing her name out there because I thought it was a huge shame that someone who showed so much promise never made their professional debut, also she did have a contract with Invicta at one point but is no longer listed on their roster page.
plastekt -
The It just shows how deceptively deep Invicta is where they can have half of potential main card fighters for them fighting on TV and still put out a great card with completely different fighters involved. Whoever is doing the scouting and booking for them is truly a genius. I don't mean to slight any of the female fighters on TUF, but most of them seem like they'd be prelim or gatekeeper Invicta fighters outside of the veteran names who have already lost on the show. Which is part of the excitement, I have no idea who wins at this point. That huge chick is probably going to gas from the weight cut and I think she's the only one left on on Rousey's team against Moras.
I was just expecting for the show to end and half of the women who didn't win in the first round to make up part of the card which would be announced shortly after completion.
I'm really impressed and gained some perspective by how easily they did without those fighters. That card looks like potentially the best they've ever put together and didn't need anyone from TUF.
Well, for one thing, Invicta 7 is exactly one week after The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. So waiting that long would have made zero sense.
Also if Invicta has one major problem, it's actually that their roster is too deep for the amount of cards they put on. Fighters have to take outside fights, which is fine since they're an indy fed, they're not the UFC or Bellator, but they can barely manage to get their champions enough fights. Unless you're mega-popular (see Joanne Calderwood) you're only getting a fight every 6 months, even when until now they were putting on 14 fights a show. Shannon Knapp has hinted on twitter that they're aiming for Invicta 8 in January though, and stated in an interview that they're planing to do 8-10 events next year, so hopefully roster utilization will no longer be an issue.
Check out her latest KO. 5-0 all kos. She's the Ronda Rousey of WMMA striking. I would love to see her square off with Cyborg. Bet the house on Holly.
This girl she k.o.ed is a natural flyweight.
Holly is more technical, but Cyborg is faster, more aggressive and hits with much more power. Just check their respective fights against Jan Finney, who lasted three rounds against Holly.
Ch1ef - Chromium, is Taylor Stratford training again?
I don't know. I was throwing her name out there because I thought it was a huge shame that someone who showed so much promise never made their professional debut, also she did have a contract with Invicta at one point but is no longer listed on their roster page.
plastekt -
The It just shows how deceptively deep Invicta is where they can have half of potential main card fighters for them fighting on TV and still put out a great card with completely different fighters involved. Whoever is doing the scouting and booking for them is truly a genius. I don't mean to slight any of the female fighters on TUF, but most of them seem like they'd be prelim or gatekeeper Invicta fighters outside of the veteran names who have already lost on the show. Which is part of the excitement, I have no idea who wins at this point. That huge chick is probably going to gas from the weight cut and I think she's the only one left on on Rousey's team against Moras.
I was just expecting for the show to end and half of the women who didn't win in the first round to make up part of the card which would be announced shortly after completion.
I'm really impressed and gained some perspective by how easily they did without those fighters. That card looks like potentially the best they've ever put together and didn't need anyone from TUF.
Well, for one thing, Invicta 7 is exactly one week after The Ultimate Fighter 18 Finale. So waiting that long would have made zero sense.
Also if Invicta has one major problem, it's actually that their roster is too deep for the amount of cards they put on. Fighters have to take outside fights, which is fine since they're an indy fed, they're not the UFC or Bellator, but they can barely manage to get their champions enough fights. Unless you're mega-popular (see Joanne Calderwood) you're only getting a fight every 6 months, even when until now they were putting on 14 fights a show. Shannon Knapp has hinted on twitter that they're aiming for Invicta 8 in January though, and stated in an interview that they're planing to do 8-10 events next year, so hopefully roster utilization will no longer be an issue.
I remember waiting for her pro debut, and she had an injury (knee?) and was sidelined for awhile.
JustAnotherMMAFan - Solid card. Sadly, Cyborg and Coenen (who is recovering from a knee surgery) won't fight.
Zoila is coming from two hard losses and facing Vanessa Porto is not a good fight for her, IMO.
I hope Miriam Nakamoto wins her fight and, somehow, ends up meeting Germaine de Randaime in the cage, either in Invicta or in the UFC.
Yeah, Miriam vs. Germaine just makes so much sense. Two highly decorated Muay Thai (undefeated at that) vets who have never faced off before. I've been riding that train since de Randaime beat Kedzie. I have an idea there would be a lot of blood and a easy FOTN bonus.
Oh, and where the hell are the atomweights? My sweet baby Michelle Waterson needs some fresh meat to feed on. Let's get that divison built up. Or get some top 115er's to drop down. If it's true that Thug Rose walks around at less than 120, she needs to make the move eventually. Those two trained together recently, I wonder if either one had the upper hand during sparring?
You seem really oddly negative about this card. They just announced it a few days ago and it's stacked as fuck. Arguably 14 of the 18 fighters are Top 10 in their division (and Munah Holland only isn't because of inactivity), plus it has Tecia Torres, Miriam Nakamoto, and the return of Kelly Kobold. I have little doubt the hype will be there when we're closer than 8 weeks out.