Highly-touted strawweight prospect “Thug” Rose Namajunas looks for her second win of 2013 when she faces off against Kathina “Kill Switch” Catron at Invicta Fighting Championships 5 on April 5th in Kansas City, Missouri. The 115-pound matchup was officially announced by the promotion today.
Namajunas made a successful pro debut at Invicta FC 4 when she handed Emily Kagan her first defeat and earned Submission of the Night honours. Catron, 5-0 as an amateur, began her professional career with back-to-back submission wins before tasting defeat for the first time earlier this month.
Namajunas (1-0-0) is one of the most well-rounded competitors in the women’s strawweight division despite having just one pro fight to date. The 20-year-old posted a 4-0 record as an amateur and earned a pair of first-round TKO victories along the way. Under the watchful eye of boyfriend Pat Barry and with training partner Kaitlin Young in her corner, Namajunas turned pro in January at Invicta FC 4 and put on an impressive performance before eventually submitting Kagan with a rear-naked choke in round three. She pocketed an extra $1000 as the winner of the Invicta FC 4 Submission of the Night bonus.
Catron (2-1-0) made a name for herself at home in Oklahoma with TKO victories in all five of her amateur bouts. She turned pro in September and needed just 1:41 to submit the much more experienced Amber Powell. When a planned bout with Jordan Nicole Gaza fell apart on short notice, Catron faced Powell again in a November rematch. She defeated Powell with an armbar and it took just 11 seconds longer than in the first fight. This past weekend, Catron and Gaza faced off in a rescheduled bout. The fight was moved from 115 pounds to 125 pounds less than one week out, which may or may not have played a factor in its outcome. Gaza outgrappled Catron en route to a second-round submission triumph.
With Catron moving down to 115 pounds for her Invicta FC debut, she will face her toughest opponent to date in her first fight for the promotion. The winner takes a big step forward in the strawweight division, which is quickly becoming one of Invicta FC’s deepest and most talent-rich weight classes.
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)
Catron was beaten based on good grappling technique by Gaza, but changing the agreed upon weight a week ahead of the match shows that the Ninja Princess isn’t taking her career seriously. She looked soft… pudgy, really. There’s no reason she shouldn’t make 115 with ease, but she doesn’t put the work in.
Grappling and fighting smalller opponents is an advantage for anyone. Gaza shouldn’t be taking fights at 115lbs if she can’t even come close to making that weight. Waiting until the last minute and then springing the old “Surprise……im not even close to 115 lbs!”, is garbage. I can see being over a pound or even two but having to change the fight weight to 125lbs (10 lbs heavier) at the last minute is as unprofessional as it gets. Everyone knows Gaza has weight issues and likes to pull out of fights so she is only living up to her reputation. I doubt Catron is affected by her loss to Gaza due to the circumstances. If weight didn’t make a difference in this fight then Cyborg and Rousey shouldn’t be making a fuss over 5 lbs. Im not a Gaza fan or a Catron fan, I’m just an mma fan and I would love to see a rematch at 115lbs.