A flyweight battle between Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez and Jordan Nicole “Ninja Princess” Gaza has been added to Dakota Fighting Championships 16: “Fall Brawl 2013” on August 23rd in Fargo, North Dakota. Matchmaker Chris Nelson confirmed the fight with MMARising.com earlier today.
Gutierrez makes her return to the cage for the first time since dropping a Unanimous Decision to Sarah “KO Kid” Maloy at Invicta FC 1. Gaza most recently earned her first pro win in February when she submitted two-time Invicta FC veteran Kathina “Kill Switch” Catron at Xtreme Fight Night 11.
Gutierrez (3-3-0) rebounded from a loss to top contender Felice “Lil’ Bulldog” Herrig in her pro debut by putting together a three-fight winning streak that included a pair of TKO triumphs. After suffering a cut stoppage loss to Amanda “Red Fox” LaVoy in May 2011, Gutierrez sat out for the remainder of the year. She stepped back into action against Maloy on the inaugural Invicta FC card, but Maloy prevailed on the judges’ scorecards. Gutierrez was set to rematch Herrig at Bellator 84 in December, but withdrew from the planned fight after citing a broken hand in training.
Gaza (1-1-0) first rose to fame during her 4-3 run as an amateur, which included a 115-pound title reign for Tuff-N-Uff. In June 2012, Gaza made her pro debut against “12 Gauge” Paige VanZant, but dropped a razor-thin Split Decision after three back-and-forth rounds. She moved up to flyweight and rebounded with a second-round rear-naked choke submission of Catron on February 1st. Gaza was scheduled to face Amber “The Apex Predator” Stautzenberger at Dakota FC 15, but withdrew from the bout. She will make her pro boxing debut on August 3rd in Texas and then faces Gutierrez 20 days later.
Dakota Fighting Championships 16: “Fall Brawl 2013” takes place on August 23rd at Scheels Arena in Fargo, North Dakota.
(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)
I think it’s a little bit misleading saying Gaza moved up to flyweight against Catron since Catron is a strawweight fighter. The fight was originally contracted for 115 lbs. but when it became obvious that she wouldn’t make the weight (lack of discipline? lack of professionalism?), her camp asked Catron’s camp to move it to 125.
That bout was scheduled to be contested at 115 pounds, but almost all of Kathina’s fights to date have taken place at 125. So that fight did change on short notice, but Jordan did begin her move up to 125 then because her fights since then have all been at flyweight. Including the bout against Michele.
Not exactly. Gaza was scheduled to fight Amber Stautzenberger at 115 lbs before she bowed out citing emotional issues. In reality, I think she knew she couldn’t make the contracted weight. The Catron fight was the last one Gaza has had so far.
Love to see Michele Gutierrez back again Awesome Woman just a great Lady all around Love her:-)