Next Saturday’s Invicta Fighting Championships 2 event has undergone a late change as Austria’s Jasminka Cive has been forced out of her bout with Jewels champ Ayaka Hamasaki. Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman now faces Hamasaki on the card, which takes place in Kansas City, Kansas.
The change was officially announced by the promotion today and comes after Cive was unable to secure a visa in time to compete. Hamasaki has yet to taste defeat as a professional and is one of Japan’s most skilled female fighters. Schuckman has posted wins in four of her past six fights.
Schuckman (7-4-0) is a veteran of the Colorado mixed martial arts scene, where she has had success competing in bouts between 110 and 125 pounds. In January 2011, Schuckman captured the Rocky Mountain Bad Boyz 110-pound women’s title with a first-round submission victory over Diana “Dynamite” Rael. She suffered a disappointing loss to “Little” Patricia Vidonic in her next fight, but bounced back with a win in December. Stepping in on short notice, Schuckman submitted Michelle “Bobcat” Blalock to capture the Ring of Fire 125-pound championship.
She will drop back down to her more natural weight class of 115 pounds for the fight with Hamasaki and once again enters as a late replacement. Schuckman has finished five of her opponents to date and her striking has improved considerably over the past 18 months.
Hamasaki (7-0-0) has thus far dominated all challengers in her home country of Japan, where she became the first Jewels Lightweight Queen Champion at 115 pounds in late 2010. The talented judoka has won three straight fights since claiming the title and each bout came against formidable opposition. In September, Hamasaki handed 17-year-old prodigy Mizuki Inoue the first and only loss of her MMA career. Three months later, she scored a second victory over South Korean standout Seo Hee Ham.
Hamasaki is coming off of her most impressive victory to date, a dominant first-round submission of Japanese legend Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji, and now looks to position herself as a top Invicta FC contender in her North American debut. The Megumi Fujii protégé is one of the most well-rounded competitors in the 115-pound women’s division.
Invicta Fighting Championships 2 takes place on July 28th at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas.
Invicta Fighting Championships 2 Fight Card (subject to change):
– Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (14-6-0) vs Sara McMann (5-0-0) [135 pounds]
– Alexis Davis (11-5-0) vs Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (18-9-0) [135 pounds]
– Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche (6-2-0) vs Kaitlin Young (7-5-1) [135 pounds]
– Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (5-2-0) vs Vanessa Porto (14-4-0) [135 pounds]
– Ayaka Hamasaki (7-0-0) vs Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman (7-4-0) [115 pounds]
– Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes (6-2-0) vs Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (3-2-1) [135 pounds]
– Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak (5-2-0) vs Bethany Marshall (4-0-0) [125 pounds]
– Julia “The Jewel” Budd (2-2-0) vs Elina Nilsson (2-2-0) [145 pounds]
– Carla Esparza (6-2-0) vs Sarah “White Tiger” Schneider (6-5-0) [115 pounds]
– Sarah “Cheesecake” Moras (2-0-0) vs Raquel “Rocky” Pennington (1-1-0) [135 pounds]
– Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke (5-2-0 AM) vs Suzie Montero (1-0-0) [135 pounds]
– Jocelyn “Lights Out” Lybarger (4-2-0 AM) vs Cheryl Chan (6-2-0 AM) [125 pounds]
– “South Valley’s Own” Angelica Chavez (4-1-0) vs Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc (7-6-0) [105 pounds]
– Jessica Philippus (7-1-0 AM) vs “Lightning” Liz McCarthy (6-0-0 AM) [105 pounds]