“South Valley’s Own” Angelica Chavez has an opponent for her upcoming fight at XFC 23: “Louisville Slugfest” on April 19th in Louisville, Kentucky. The New Mexico native is set to face Stephanie “The Scrapper” Skinner in a featured atomweight matchup. XFC officials announced the bout today.
Chavez and Skinner face off in one of two female fights on the April card. XFC is set to crown its first female strawweight champion when Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink squares off against veteran opponent Angela Magana in the 115-pound co-feature. Both bouts will air on the televised main card.
Chavez (4-2-0) kicked off her pro career with submission victories in four straight fights before tasting defeat for the first time at the hands of Diana “Dynamite” Rael in August 2011. She returned to action in July and faced Nicdali “The Night Queen” Rivera-Calanoc at Invicta FC 2. Rivera-Calanoc prevailed via Unanimous Decision, but Chavez nearly secured a fight-ending armbar in the dying seconds of round three. The Kajukenbo fighter looks to get back on track when she makes her XFC debut next month.
Skinner (2-4-0), in stark contrast to her XFC 23 opponent, began her pro career with losses to Colorado standouts Angela Hayes, Jennifer Moran and Rael. Since then, however, she has earned stoppage wins in two of her three bouts. Her lone defeat in 2012 came via a close and competitive decision against then-unbeaten prospect Darla “Train Wreck” Harris at Women’s Fighting Championship 1 on May 12th. Skinner may enter as an underdog against Chavez, but she showed marked improvement in each of her bouts this past year and now aims for her biggest win to date.
In the XFC 23 co-main event, Eggink (2-1-0) and Magana (11-5-0) vie for the inaugural XFC Women’s Strawweight Championship. Eggink rebounded from her first pro loss by defeating “Hurricane” Heather Clark in her XFC debut in December. She will now face her most experienced opponent when she takes on Magana, who has battled injuries that have limited her fighting schedule in recent years. Magana has fought just three times since September 2010, winning two fights by armbar submission and losing a one-sided Unanimous Decision to top-ranked flyweight Jessica “Evil” Eye this past August. She had won five of her past six prior to the loss to Eye and now returns to 115 pounds to compete for the XFC title.
XFC 23: “Louisville Slugfest” takes place on April 19th at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky.