A total of ten fights have now been formally announced for Invicta Fighting Championships 12 on April 24th in Kansas City, Missouri. The event is headlined by an Invicta FC Strawweight Championship bout between Katja “Killer Bunny” Kankaanpää and challenger Livia Renata “Livinha” Souza.
In the flyweight co-main event, Roxanne “The Happy Warrior” Modafferi and Vanessa Porto square off in a rematch from their first fight in April 2008, which Modafferi won by third-round TKO. Elsewhere, Amanda “The Lady Killer” Bell battles Faith “The Immortal” Van Duin in a featherweight bout.
Kankaanpää (10-1-1) is widely regarded as one of the premier female strawweights outside of the UFC today. The Finnish standout has won four of her past five fights and she already holds victories over UFC fighters Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly and Juliana “Ju Thai” de Lima Carneiro. Following a close decision loss to Joanne “JoJo” Calderwood at Invicta FC 7, Kankaanpää took a fight outside of the promotion and submitted Alyona Rassohyna in May. She returned to Invicta FC in September and finished Stephanie “Snowflake” Eggink to become the new Invicta FC Strawweight Champion.
Souza (7-0-0) has made a steady climb up the 115-pound rankings with seven straight victories in her home country. The Brazilian submission specialist has tapped out five of her opponents in the first round, including three in the first minute, and she has only gone the distance once as a professional. Souza holds two victories over veteran Aline Sattelmayer and she is coming off of her biggest win to date in September. At Talent MMA Circuit 12, Souza submitted Camila “Camilinha Pitbull” Lima with a rear-naked choke in just 47 seconds. She now makes her Invicta FC debut next month.
Modafferi (17-11-0) is in the midst of a career resurgence since moving back to the United States. She endured a tough six-fight losing skid against some of the sport’s top female names before a stint on TUF 18 prompted her to refocus her efforts on once again becoming a champion. Since signing with Invicta FC this past year, Modafferi has won back-to-back fights. She first defeated friend and rival Tara LaRosa in a trilogy bout at Invicta FC 8, then handed Andrea “KGB” Lee her first defeat at Invicta FC 10 in December. With a win next month, Modafferi could earn an Invicta FC title shot.
Porto (17-6-0) has won ten of her 13 fights since falling to Modafferi in 2008 and she has racked up notable victories over Germaine “The Iron Lady” de Randamie, Kalindra Faria and Jennifer Maia along the way. After suffering a submission loss in her Invicta FC debut, Porto bounced back with a lopsided decision win over Tara LaRosa at Invicta FC 3. The victory earned Porto a flyweight title shot, but she was outpointed by champion Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak. Since then, Porto has won back-to-back fights against former Bellator champ Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Frausto and Ana Maria “India.”
Bell (3-2-0) got off to a shaky start in her pro career with losses to Tamikka “Boom Boom” Brents and recent Invicta FC title challenger Charmaine “Not So Sweet” Tweet. She earned her first pro win in April, but it was an August bout against highly-touted judoka Marina “The Supernova From Moldova” Shafir that put Bell on the map as a prospect to watch. In just 37 seconds, Bell brutally knocked out Shafir with a barrage of punches. She subsequently re-signed with Invicta FC and stopped Maria Hougaard Djursaa at Invicta FC 9. Bell now looks to make it four in a row next month.
Van Duin (6-1-0) kicked off her professional career with three straight wins before entering a one-night featherweight title tournament at Storm MMA’s “Storm Damage 3” event in August 2013. The New Zealander defeated Michelle “Powerhouse” Peruzzi, Arlene “Angerfist” Blencowe and Kate “Jiu-Jitseira” Da Silva in succession to become Storm MMA Women’s Featherweight Champion. She then battled Blencowe in what was intended to be a championship rematch at Storm Damage 5. Blencowe missed weight for the bout, but stopped Van Duin with a devastating third-round knee to the body.
In other action on the main card, Brazilian veteran Ediane “India” Gomes (10-3-0) looks to get back into bantamweight title contention when she takes on Hawaii’s Raquel “Rocky” Pa’aluhi (4-4-0), who is coming off of a big win over Kaitlin Young at Invicta FC 9. Peggy “The Daywalker” Morgan (3-2-0) seeks her second straight win when she welcomes Sugar Creek Showdown women’s featherweight champ Latoya “Black Mamba” Walker (4-0-0) to the Invicta FC cage. Former Invicta FC atomweight contender Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman (10-8-0) takes on Jenny Liou Shriver (3-1-0) in a strawweight bout.
On the Invicta FC 12 preliminary card, “Sassy” Cassie Rodish (5-4-0) faces off against Stephanie “The Scrapper” Skinner (4-5-0) in atomweight action. Sugar Creek Showdown Women’s Strawweight Champion Delaney “Lil’ Scrappy” Owen (3-1-0) looks for her first Invicta FC win when she battles Sharon Jacobson (2-1-0). In flyweight bouts, Shannon Sinn (1-2-0) faces Maureen “Baby Face” Riordon (0-1-0), and Roma Pawelek (1-0-0) meets the debuting Sijara Eubanks (1-0-0 amateur).
Invicta Fighting Championships 12 takes place on April 24th at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.
(Photo Credit: Esther Lin, AllElbows.com / InvictaFC.com)