Invicta FC Flyweight Champion Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak returns to the cage to make the next defence of her title on November 1st at Invicta Fighting Championships 9 in Davenport, Iowa. Honchak faces off against Deep Jewels Middleweight Champion Takayo Hashi in the main event.
In addition to the Honchak-Hashi headliner, the rest of the ten-fight Invicta FC 9 card was also confirmed on Tuesday. The co-main event features a strawweight contender’s bout between Mizuki Inoue and KSW champion Karolina Kowalkiewicz. At 105, Ayaka Hamasaki faces Hérica Tibúrcio.
Honchak (9-2-0) is currently riding an eight-fight winning streak that includes victories over many of MMA’s top female flyweights. She became Invicta FC’s inaugural flyweight champion at Invicta FC 5 when she outpointed veteran Brazilian contender Vanessa Porto. In her most recent title defence, Honchak headlined Invicta FC 7 in December and scored a Unanimous Decision victory over current UFC competitor Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith. The popular fighter will have fan support on her side when she defends her title in Iowa.
Hashi (15-4-1) has also faced high-level opponents throughout her career and she holds notable victories over Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano, Amanda Buckner and Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi. The former Smackgirl Middleweight Champion challenged unsuccessfully for three titles in North America in 2010 and 2011, including the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship, but she captured a new title in her most recent fight. At Deep Jewels 4 in May, Hashi stopped Shizuka Sugiyama to become the first Deep Jewels Middleweight Champion at 135 pounds.
Inoue (8-2-0) remains one of the most highly-touted female prospects in MMA and she joins Hashi on the Invicta FC 9 card as a fellow Deep Jewels champion. Following a successful Invicta FC debut in July 2013, Inoue returned to Japan and defeated veteran Emi “Kamikaze Angel” Fujino at Deep Jewels 2. The win set up a Deep Jewels Lightweight Championship bout between Inoue and Emi Tomimatsu, but Inoue was controversially disqualified when she was unable to make weight. She avenged the loss and captured the Deep Jewels belt by submitting Tomimatsu in a rematch this past month.
Kowalkiewicz (5-0-0) brings an unblemished record and an impressive skill set into her Invicta FC debut in November. The Polish standout became the KSW 121-pound women’s champion this past year and her title was later rebranded as the KSW Women’s Strawweight Championship when Kowalkiewicz made the move down to 115 pounds. Following a Unanimous Decision victory over Simona Soukupova in September, Kowalkiewicz made it two-for-two against Invicta FC veterans by submitting Jasminka “Impressive” Cive at KSW 27 in May. She now looks for her biggest win to date.
Elsewhere on the Invicta FC 9 card, former Jewels Lightweight Champion Ayaka Hamasaki (10-1-0) aims to pick up her second straight win in her new home at 105 pounds when she faces Brazilian submission specialist Hérica Tibúrcio (8-2-0). Hamasaki vacated her Jewels title this past year due to nagging injuries that kept her sidelined for 13 months. She returned to action in August and won her atomweight debut by destroying fellow ex-Jewels champion Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama. Tibúrcio has submitted six opponents to date and she holds key wins over Camila “Camilinha Pitbull” Lima and Kinberly Novaes. She has won three straight and most recently defeated Aline Sattelmayer in March.
Fan favourite Kaitlin Young (7-8-1) looks to put an end to a three-fight losing streak when she takes on Dutch fighter Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois (5-1-0) in a bantamweight matchup. Young engaged in one of Invicta FC’s best bouts to date at the promotion’s inaugural event when she went toe-to-toe with Leslie Smith for three rounds. Dandois, who makes her long-awaited return to competition after close to four years away, is renowned for her victory over former Strikeforce champion Marloes “Rumina” Coenen, and has also bested UFC veteran Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff.
Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc (8-7-0) returns to the Invicta FC cage to face off against Jodie Esquibel (4-1-0) in atomweight action. Rivera-Calanoc suffered a disappointing submission loss at Invicta FC 1, but rebounded with an impressive win over “South Valley’s Own” Angelica Chavez three months later. She was most recently stopped by TUF 20 contestant Jessica Penne. Esquibel is 2-1 under the Invicta FC banner and the Jackson-Wink MMA prospect most recently rallied back and eked out a Split Decision win over Jinh Yu Frey at Invicta FC 8 two weeks ago.
Also at 105 pounds, Amber “The Bully” Brown (3-1-0) takes on “Lightning” Liz McCarthy (2-1-0) in a battle between two of the division’s brightest prospects. Brown opened her career with back-to-back wins for King of the Cage and made two appearances for Pancrase this past year. She was defeated by the much more experienced Emi Fujino, but scored her biggest win to date when she upset Kikuyo Ishikawa at Pancrase 250. McCarthy followed up on a perfect amateur career by winning her pro debut at Invicta FC 1 and she most recently defeated Cassie “The Hulk” Robb in May.
Fresh off of her vicious knockout win over Marina Shafir, Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell (2-2-0) steps back into the Invicta FC cage to face Maria Hougaard Djursaa (5-5-0) in featherweight action. Bell suffered back-to-back defeated in her first two pro bouts, including a loss to Tamikka Brents at Invicta FC 4, but she has since bounced back with a pair of wins including the highlight-reel KO of Shafir this past month. Djursaa brings a wealth of experience into her Invicta FC debut. The Danish fighter recently won three straight fights before suffering a decision loss in May.
Shannon Sinn (1-1-0) and Andrea “KGB” Lee (1-0-0) meet in a flyweight bout on the Invicta FC 9 preliminary card. Both fighters competed extensively as amateurs prior to turning pro this year. Sinn kicked off her pro career with a quick submission victory and she now looks to get back on the winning track following a decision defeat in July. Lee scored a ten-second TKO victory in her pro debut this past weekend when a high kick broke the finger of opponent Kim Colbert and left Colbert unable to continue.
Highly-touted Jenny Liou Shriver (2-0-0) aims to keep her perfect record intact when she battles Tuff-N-Uff champion Jamie Moyle (5-2-0 amateur), who makes her pro debut. Shriver already holds notable wins over Rachael Ostovich and Jillian “Justice” Lybarger, and she looks to spoil Moyle’s pro debut in November. Moyle has won three straight amateur bouts and she most recently earned an Invicta FC contract by defeating Molly Wren-Holmes in June to become the Tuff-N-Uff Women’s Strawweight Champion.
Opening up the Invicta FC 9 card, “Killer” Kelly McGill (1-0-0) faces Maegan “Mayhem” Goodwin (5-0-0 amateur) in a bantamweight bout. McGill needed just 93 seconds to win her pro debut in January. Goodwin has submitted three of her five opponents to date and now makes her pro debut in search of her biggest victory to date.
Invicta Fighting Championships 9 takes place on November 1st at RiverCenter in Davenport, Iowa.
(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)