2004 Olympic silver medallist and undefeated mixed martial artist Sara McMann takes on her toughest test to date when she faces submission ace Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler in the main event of Invicta Fighting Championships 2. The event is targeted for July 28th in Kansas City.
McMann is coming off of a dominant decision win over former Smackgirl champ Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano at ProElite 3 in January. Baszler has won four straight fights, but she has not fought since November 2010 after planned bouts with Alexis Davis and Kelly Kobold were scrapped.
McMann (5-0-0), much like fellow Olympic medallist Ronda Rousey, has enjoyed a quick rise up the MMA ranks with impressive wins in each of her first five pro fights. The standout wrestler fought four times in 2011 and finished three of her opponents. Only veteran Tonya Evinger made it to the final bell, but McMann’s dominance on the ground yielded a clear-cut Unanimous Decision victory. In January, McMann overpowered Akano through three rounds to earn her biggest win to date. She now takes another step up in competition to face Baszler in her Invicta FC debut.
Baszler (14-6-0) sports a résumé that includes battles with nearly every top star in the women’s bantamweight division. The eight-year veteran holds notable wins over Julie Kedzie, Roxanne Modafferi, Jennifer Tate and Alexis Davis. In June 2010, she won the inaugural Freestyle Cage Fighting Women’s Grand Prix. Five months later, she submitted Elaina Maxwell in the first round to capture The Cage Inc.’s 140-pound women’s title. The talented grappler has earned submission stoppages in all but one of her 14 career wins and poses the greatest threat to McMann’s unblemished record thus far.
Invicta Fighting Championships 2 is targeted for July 28th at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. Additional matchups will be announced for the card in the coming weeks.
(Photo Credit: Sherdog.com)
Hells yeah!
Off topic, hey Sarge how long will you have GSP on your WW rankings? Hasn’t he been gone without a fight for a year now?