Unbeaten rising star Cat “Alpha” Zingano will move up to the bantamweight division to face Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez at Invicta Fighting Championships 1 on April 28th in Kansas City, Kansas. MMARising.com confirmed the latest addition to the all-female card with the promotion earlier today.

Zingano returns to action for the first time since May, when she slammed former Strikeforce title challenger Takayo Hashi into unconsciousness. The Colorado native has fought to a decision only one time as a professional. Rodriguez has won five of her past six fights including a victory in January.

Zingano (6-0-0) made a quick rise up the rankings in 2010 after winning all three of her fights. She capped off the year with a lopsided TKO victory over Carina “Beauty But The Beast” Damm in North Dakota before taking five months off. In May, Zingano returned to Colorado to face Hashi in the main event of Fight To Win: “Outlaws.” After controlling the majority of the opening two rounds, Zingano took advantage of an attempted guard pull by Hashi and violently slammed her opponent down to the mat. Hashi was out cold and Zingano retained her Fight To Win title with the impressive stoppage. Zingano has fought above 125 pounds in the past and now moves back up in weight for her Invicta FC debut.

Rodriguez (5-2-0) has also split her time between the 125- and 135-pound divisions and she has found considerable success in both. After dropping a razor-thin decision in her March 2009 professional debut against Strikeforce veteran Jeri “Fists of Fury” Sitzes, Rodriguez avenged the loss three months later to become the Xtreme Fighting League women’s champion. She went on to win three more fights before suffering a quick submission loss to late replacement opponent Tonya Evinger in a non-title XFL bout this past September. Rodriguez rebounded with a Unanimous Decision victory in December and now looks to make it two in a row when she faces her toughest test to date in April.

Invicta Fighting Championships 1 takes place on April 28th at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.

Invicta Fighting Championships 1 Fight Card (subject to change):

– Marloes “Rumina” Coenen vs Romy Ruyssen
– Jessica Penne vs Lisa Ellis-Ward
– Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche vs Ashleigh Curry
– Kaitlin Young vs Leslie Smith
– Cat “Alpha” Zingano vs Anita “El Tigre” Rodriguez
– Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio vs Shana “Rock Solid” Nelson
– “Slick” Sally Krumdiack vs Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider
– Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc vs Amy “Lil’ Dynamite” Davis
– Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez vs Sarah Maloy
– Randi Miller vs “Miss” Mollie Ahlers-Estes
– Ashley “Smashley” Cummins vs Sofia Bagherdai
– Jessica Philippus vs Meghan “The Babe” Wright