Invicta Fighting Championships
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| Private | |
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Shannon Knapp Janet Martin |
| Headquarters | United States |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Shannon Knapp (President) Julie Kedzie (Matchmaker) |
| Website | http://www.invictafc.com/ |
Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion for female fighters based in the United States.[1] It was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin[2] a former VP with MMA organization Blackeye Promotions[3] and Shannon Knapp, who held positions at various levels, including executive positions with King of the Cage, World Fighting Alliance, International Fight League, Affliction Entertainment, UFC and Strikeforce.[4] It has a strategic partnership with fellow Japanese MMA promotion Jewels.[5]
Contents
History
When Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, purchased rival promotion Strikeforce in March 2011, Shannon Knapp received several calls from female fighters who were afraid of what the future might hold for them in Strikeforce since the UFC had never promoted a women's fight.[2][6] As the women were calling Knapp for representation, she started looking at the issue and met Janet Martin, and between the two acquired the financial resources needed.[7]
The term Invicta, a Latin word for "invincible and incomparable", was chosen by founders Knapp and Martin since the terms invincible and incomparable are very masculine, but the term appears in the feminine form in Latin, and they thought it was a good description for women's MMA.[8]
Free online streamed events
After more than a year in the making,[7] the promotion held its first event, Invicta FC 1 on April 28, 2012.[9] It was headlined by a rematch between former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and French fighter Romy Ruyssen.[9] The event also marked the MMA debut of 2008 Summer Olympics women's freestyle wrestling medalist Randi Miller.[10] The event was available as a free video stream at the Invicta Fighting Championships webpage.[11] After the event, fight of the night went to Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith who fought to a draw whilst submission of the night was awarded to Sarah Schneider. Liz Carmouche and Jessica Penne both received social media bonuses.[12]
On June 9, it was announced that Invicta has formed a strategic partnership with Japanese promotion JEWELS to cross-promote the world’s top female fighters on their respective fight cards in the United States and Japan.[13]
Invicta then held its second event (Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann) on July 28, 2012. Like the first event, it was made available as a free stream on the promotion's official website. The event was headlined by 2004 Summer Olympics women's freestyle wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann and Shayna Baszler.[14] Carla Esparza and Barb Honchak made their promotional debuts on this card. As part of the alliance with Japanese promotion Jewels, Jewels lightweight champion Ayaka Hamasaki was set to face undefeated Austrian fighter Jasminka Cive as part of the main event but Cive was unable to secure her visa in time and was replaced by Lacey Shuckman.[5][15]
On September 24, 2012, Invicta announced a strategic alliance with the Super Fight League, which aims to bring the best Indian female fighters to Invicta, whilst Invicta will aim to send world class female mixed martial artists to the Super Fight League.[16]
Sara McMann was originally scheduled to fight for the Invicta FC Bantamweight Championship at Invicta FC 3 but this did not occur due to an injury to McMann.
Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama took place on October 6, 2012. Invicta continued their partnership with Jewels as Jessica Penne faced and beat the previously undefeated Jewels 105 lb champion Naho Sugiyama for the inaugural Invicta FC Atomweight Championship.
Also at Invicta FC 3, Leslie Smith fought Kaitlin Young in a rematch from their exciting "fight of the night" Invicta FC 1 bout where they fought to a draw. This time, Smith was able to get the better of Young and defeated her by TKO in the second round.[17] Invicta FC3 also saw the promotional debut of long time Women's Bantamweight and Flyweight standout Tara LaRosa, as well as the debuts of Michelle Waterson and Cat Zingano. Fight of the night bonuses went to Michelle Waterson and Lacey Schuckman. The submission of the night bonus was split between Jessamyn Duke and Stephanie Frausto while knockout of the night went to promotional newcomer Joanne Calderwood.
Move to online pay-per-view events
On December 19, 2012, Shannon Knapp announced Invicta FC 4 would air as an online pay-per-view.
Invicta Fighting Championships held their fourth event (Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt) on January 5, 2013. The event was headlined by the inaugural Invicta FC Strawweight Championship bout between Carla Esparza and Bec Hyatt (in Hyatt's promotional debut). Esparza was originally scheduled to fight Ayaka Hamasaki for the title but Hamasaki pulled out of the fight due to commitments to defending her JEWELS lightweight title. Hamasaki was originally replaced by undefeated Brazilian fighter Claudia Gadelha but on December 28, Gadelha was also forced to withdraw after suffering a broken nose in training. Esparza defeated Hyatt to become the first Invicta FC Strawweight Champion. Also Alexis Davis defeated Shayna Baszler in the card's fight of the night and Rose Namajunas won knock-out of the night in her professional MMA debut.
Due to purchasing issues on the night of the event, the event was streamed for free rather than pay per view and it was announced that all buyers would be refunded.
Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson took place on April 5, 2013. The card was headlined by Jessica Penne who lost her Invicta FC Atomweight Championship to "The Karate Hottie" Michelle Waterson. The event featured a co-main event of Vanessa Porto vs. Barb Honchak with the latter being crowned as the first Invicta FC Flyweight Champion. In addition, Sarah Kaufman and "Cyborg" Cristiane Justino both won in their Invicta FC debuts. On this occasion, the online pay per view went smoothly, avoiding any issues experiences at Invicta FC 4.
During Invicta FC 5, there were no issues with the Ustream pay-per-view system as there had been in January.
Televised Pay-Per-View
Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg took place on 13 July 2013, featuring the crowning of Cristiane "Cyborg" Justino as the inaugural Featherweight champion and a Strawweight title eliminator match won by Claudia Gadelha over Ayaka Hamasaki (previously unbeaten JEWELS lightweight champion). The winner will face champion Carla Esparza. The card also featured wins by Jessica Penne, Lauren Taylor, Tecia Torres, Leslie Smith and Joanne Calderwood.
This event was aired on cable and satellite pay-per-view in the United States and Canada in addition to their online PPV stream, as the promotion had come to a deal with Integrated Sports Media for live viewing.[18]
UFC Fight Pass
In early 2014 an agreement with the UFC was announced to air all future Invicta FC events exclusively on the UFC's subscription-based digital streaming service, Fight Pass, and that the entire Invicta FC fight library would be added to the "On Demand" part of UFC Fight Pass. On July 10, Invicta and the UFC held a joint conference call to announce that Invicta FC 8 would be the first event to stream live on Fight Pass. The September 6th event was to be headlined by Michelle Waterson's first title defense of her atomweight belt vs. Yasuko Tamada.[19]
Combate
On February 24, it was announced the partnership between Invicta and Combate. The deal allows the Brazilian channel the broadcast of Invicta live events as well the event library of Invicta in the South American country. The first Invicta event broadcast on Combate was Invicta FC 11: Cyborg vs. Tweet showing the Brazilian Invicta's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg versus the Canadian challenger Charmaine Tweet.[20]
Rules
Invicta's current rules follows the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts that were originally established by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board and modified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.[21]
Scheduled events
| Event | Date | Venue | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invicta FC 20 | November 18, 2016 | TBD | TBD |
| Invicta FC 19 | September 23, 2016 | TBD | TBD |
| Invicta FC 18 | July 2016 | TBD | Las Vegas, Nevada |
Past events
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Current champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title Defenses | Top Contender |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightweight | 155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st) | Uninaugurated | |||
| Featherweight | 145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st) |  Cristiane Justino |
July 13, 2013 (Invicta FC 6) | 3 | |
| Bantamweight | 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st) |  Tonya Evinger |
July 9, 2015 (Invicta FC 13) | 1 | |
| Flyweight | 125 lb (57 kg; 8.9 st) | Barb Honchak |
April 5, 2013 (Invicta FC 5) | 2 | |
| Strawweight | 115 lb (52 kg; 8.2 st) | Angela Hill |
May 7, 2016 (Invicta FC 17) | 0 | |
| Atomweight | 105 lb (48 kg; 7.5 st) |  Ayaka Hamasaki |
July 9, 2015 (Invicta FC 13) | 1 |
Title history
Featherweight Championship
- 136 to 145 lbs (62 to 66 kg)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiane Justino def. Marloes Coenen |
Invicta FC 6: Coenen vs. Cyborg Kansas City, MO, USA |
July 13, 2013 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days (incumbent) |
1. def. Charmaine Tweet at Invicta FC 11 on Feb 27, 2015 2. def. Faith Van Duin at Invicta FC 13 on July 9, 2015 3. def. Daria Ibragimova at Invicta FC 15 on Jan 16, 2016. |
Bantamweight Championship
- 126 to 135 lbs (57 to 61 kg)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lauren Murphy def. Miriam Nakamoto |
Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith Kansas City, MO, USA |
December 7, 2013 | 208 days | ||
| Murphy vacated title on July 3, 2014 to sign with the UFC. | ||||||
| 2 | Tonya Evinger def. Irene Aldana |
Invicta FC 13: Cyborg vs. Van Duin Las Vegas, NV, USA |
July 9, 2015 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days (incumbent) |
1. def. Colleen Schneider at Invicta FC 17 on May 7, 2016. | |
Flyweight Championship
- 116 to 125 lbs (53 to 56 kg)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barb Honchak def. Vanessa Porto |
Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson Kansas City, MO, USA |
April 5, 2013 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days (incumbent) |
1. def. Leslie Smith at Invicta FC 7 on Dec 7, 2013 2. def. Takayo Hashi at Invicta FC 9 on Nov 1, 2014 |
| - | Jennifer Maia def. Vanessa Porto for interim title |
Invicta FC 16: Hamasaki vs. Brown Las Vegas, NV, USA |
March 11, 2016 | — |
Strawweight Championship
- 106 to 115 lbs (49 to 52 kg)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carla Esparza def. Bec Hyatt |
Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt Kansas City, KS, USA |
January 5, 2013 | 341 days | |
| Esparza vacated title on December 11, 2013 to participate in The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned.[23][24] | |||||
| 2 |  Katja Kankaanpäädef. Stephanie Eggink |
Invicta FC 8: Waterson vs. Tamada Kansas City, MO, USA |
September 6, 2014 | 230 days | |
| 3 | Livia Renata Souza |
Invicta FC 12: Kankaanpää vs. Souza Kansas City, MO, USA |
April 24, 2015 | 380 days | 1. def. DeAnna Bennett at Invicta FC 15 on Jan 16, 2016 |
| 4 | Angela Hill |
Invicta FC 17: Evinger vs. Schneider Costa Mesa, CA, USA |
May 7, 2016 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days (incumbent) |
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Atomweight Championship
- 96 to 105 lbs (44 to 48 kg)
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jessica Penne def. Naho Sugiyama |
Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama Kansas City, KS, USA |
October 6, 2012 | 181 days | |
| 2 | Michelle Waterson |
Invicta FC 5: Penne vs. Waterson Kansas City, MO, USA |
April 5, 2013 | 609 days | 1. def. Yasuko Tamada at Invicta FC 8 on Sept 6, 2014 |
| 3 | Herica Tiburcio |
Invicta FC 10: Waterson vs. Tiburcio Houston, Texas, USA |
December 5, 2014 | 216 days | |
| 4 | Ayaka Hamasaki |
Invicta FC 13: Cyborg vs. Van Duin Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |
July 9, 2015 | Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist. days (incumbent) |
1. def. Amber Brown at Invicta FC 16 on Mar 11, 2016 |
Honors and awards
In January 2015, it was announced that the promotion had beaten the UFC by 4% of the community vote to win the 2014 Best Promotion Award in the Awakening Fighters WMMA Awards[25]
See also
References
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External links
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Professional mixed martial arts organizations
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| Asia |
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| Australia |
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| Brazil |
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| South Africa |
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| Canada |
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| China |
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| Europe |
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| Japan |
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| Romania |
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| Russia |
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| United Kingdom |
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| United States |
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Invicta Fighting Championships current champions
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| Featherweight |
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| Bantamweight | |
| Flyweight | |
| Strawweight | |
| Atomweight | |
