Two Title Bouts Set To Headline Eight-Fight Invicta FC 44 CardTwo new champions will be crowned on August 27th at Invicta Fighting Championships 44: “A New Era” in Kansas City, Kansas. In the main event, Emily “Gordinha” Ducote makes her second bid for the vacant Invicta FC Strawweight Championship when she faces “Dynamite” Danielle Taylor.

The Invicta FC 44 co-main event sees Lisa “Battle Angel” Verzosa take on Taneisha “Triple Threat” Tennant for the vacant Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship. Both title bouts were first reported by MMAFighting.com, and the rest of the card was subsequently announced by the promotion.

Ducote (9-6-0) joined the Invicta FC roster in 2019 following an eight-fight stint with Bellator that included a flyweight title rematch against then-champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Ducote’s promotional debut ended in a first-round TKO victory over Janaisa Morandin at Invicta FC 36, which then set up a strawweight title bout between Ducote and Kanako Murata for Invicta FC 38. Ducote dropped a hard-fought Split Decision to Murata, who soon departed for the UFC, but she rebounded with a Unanimous Decision victory over Juliana Lima in the Invicta FC 40 headliner this past July.

Taylor (11-5-0) returns to Invicta FC for the first time since May 2019 when she was defeated by Lima in the opening round of the inaugural Phoenix Series tournament. The five-time UFC veteran then sat out for more than 18 months before returning to competition in November at Xtreme Fighting Championships 43. There, Taylor earned one of the biggest victories of her career when she edged out former WSOF champ Jessica Aguilar. Now back with Invicta FC, Taylor looks to keep her momentum going by capturing strawweight title gold next month.

 

Verzosa (6-1-0) is no stranger to the Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship, as she fought for the title in one of 2020’s best fights at Invicta FC’s Phoenix Series 3 in March 2020. Verzosa dropped a razor-thin Split Decision to Julija Stoliarenko, who prompted vacated the title in order to sign with the UFC. Verzosa, who suffered multiple cuts during the bout with Stoliarenko, returned to the cage in September and scored a hard-fought Split Decision victory over Raquel Canuto to put herself right back into bantamweight title contention.

Tennant (3-1-0) fought on the same Phoenix Series 3 card as the Verzosa-Stoliarenko title tilt, where she won the promotion’s one-night bantamweight tournament by defeating current WSOF contender Taylor Guardado in the finals. Tennant’s performances caught the eye of UFC matchmakers, who brought her in to compete on Dana White’s Contender Series, but she suffered a Split Decision loss to Danyelle Wolf. Now looking to bounce back from her first defeat, Tennant returns to Invicta FC with bantamweight title aspirations.

 

Elsewhere on the Invicta FC 44 card, Brogan “Killer Bee” Walker-Sanchez (6-2-0) looks to get back on track when she faces UFC veteran Mara “Maravilla” Romero Borella (12-9-0, 2 NC) in a flyweight matchup. Romero returns to Invicta FC for the first time in more than four years. Also returning to Invicta FC is Jodie Equibel (6-6-0), whose history with the promotion dates all the way back to Invicta FC 4. Esquibel will battle Kelly “Wildfire” D’Angelo (4-4-0) at atomweight.

Rounding out the action, Lauren “Princess Tiger” Mueller (5-3-0) meets Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus (3-2-0) at bantamweight, Caitlan “Ginger” Sammons (3-1-0) battles Helen “Iansa” Peralta (3-2-0) at flyweight, Katie “Queen of the North” Saull (3-4-0) squares off against Monique Adriane (4-2-0) in atomweight action, and Kayla “Danger” Yontef (5-0-0 amateur) takes on fellow pro debutant Carlene Chandler (0-1-0 amateur) in the featherweight opener.

Invicta Fighting Championships 44: “A New Era” takes place on August 27th at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. The event will air live on pay-per-view.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Invicta Fighting Championships)