Standout strikers Kaitlin Young and Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes are set to face off in a bantamweight bout at Invicta Fighting Championships 5 on April 5th in Kansas City, Missouri. The fight was officially announced by the promotion today and will be a part of the event’s featured main card.

Both Young and Nunes look to get back into contention following defeats in their most recent fights inside the Invicta FC cage. Young was stopped by Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith in an Invicta FC 3 rematch. Nunes dropped a Unanimous Decision to Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio at Invicta FC 4.

Young (7-7-1) debuted for Invicta FC on the promotion’s inaugural card in April after winning three of her past four fights. Her first bout came against fellow striker Smith and the fighters battled back and forth across three action-packed rounds. The bout was named Fight of the Night, but the judges were unable to determine a winner and returned a Split Draw verdict. Young went on to face upcoming UFC title challenger Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche at Invicta FC 2 in July and started off very strong in the first round before eventually succumbing to a rear-naked choke in round two.

In October, Young returned for her third straight fight under the Invicta FC banner. She was matched up against former Strikeforce champion Sarah Kaufman in a bout that was first scheduled to take place in 2008. However, Kaufman withdrew from the card due to an injury and Young ultimately faced Smith in a rematch. Smith secured a TKO victory in the second round and Young now looks for her first Invicta FC win when she returns to action in April. Six of the talented Muay Thai practitioner’s pro wins have come by way of knockout and her ground game has improved considerably over the past year.

Nunes (7-3-0) became an overnight sensation on January 7, 2011 when she knocked out featherweight Julia “The Jewel” Budd in just 14 seconds in her Strikeforce debut. The victory was Nunes’s sixth straight win via a form of knockout and she was immediately positioned for a title fight against then-Strikeforce champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos at 145 pounds. Nunes instead opted to return to her more natural weight of 135 pounds in hopes of making a run at the promotion’s bantamweight title, but fell to Alexis “Ally-Gator” Davis in September 2011.

With her options limited in Strikeforce prior to the promotion’s closure, Nunes joined the Invicta FC roster in July and choked out late-replacement opponent Raquel “Rocky” Pa’aluhi in the first round. She had planned to continue her rise back up the ranks this past month when she faced grappling ace D’Alelio at Invicta FC 4, but D’Alelio’s takedowns and stifling top control proved to be too much for Nunes to handle and she came out on the wrong end of a lopsided Unanimous Decision. Like Young, Nunes also looks to get back on track with a key victory in April in what could be the Fight of the Night.

Invicta Fighting Championships 5 takes place on April 5th and is targeted for the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri. The event is headlined by an Invicta FC Atomweight Championship bout between champion Jessica Penne and Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson. The inaugural Invicta FC Flyweight Championship is up for grabs when Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak battles Vanessa Porto.

(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)