The stakes just got raised for Invicta FC’s one-night, eight-woman strawweight tournament.
The promotion today announced the winner of its inaugural “Phoenix Rising Series” event will become Invicta’s new strawweight champion. Virna Jandiroba vacated her 115-pound belt when she signed with the UFC. She makes her promotional debut against former UFC champ Carla Esparza next week in Florida.
Invicta’s “Phoenix Rising Series” event takes place May 3 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. The event streams on UFC Fight Pass. Eight 115-pound fighters will compete in a one-night single-elimination tournament, including three fighters with UFC experience and two former Invicta title challengers.
The first-round matchups were determined by random draw and announced today by the promotion, as well. Perhaps the most intriguing fight is between Juliana Lima (9-5), a seven-fight UFC veteran, and five-fight UFC vet Danielle Taylor (10-4), who are paired against each other in the opening round.
The tournament’s opening-round and semifinal fights each will be one five-minute round. The tournament final will be three five-minute rounds. After the opening round, the brackets will be shuffled based on performance. According to the promotion, after the four opening-round bouts, the fastest finisher will be allowed to pick her semifinal opponent from among the other three who have advanced. If all four fights in the opening round go to a one-round decision, a random draw again will determine the semifinal matchups.
The “Phoenix Rising Series” broadcast team will be led by Laura Sanko, making her the first woman to call play-by-play for a major promotion, according to Invicta. Joining her in the booth will be former Bellator and UFC analyst Jimmy Smith. In addition, Taryn Tempel will joint the crew as a correspondent and post-fight interviewer.
The bout order and lineup for the event includes:
- TBD vs. TBD – tournament final
- Kay Hansen vs. Magdalena Sormova
- TBD vs. TBD – tournament semifinal
- TBD vs. TBD – tournament semifinal
- Amber Brown vs. Manjit Kolekar – tournament reserve right
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Sharon Jacobson – tournament quarterfinal
- Janaisa Morandin vs. Brianna Van Buren – tournament quarterfinal
- Juliana Lima vs. Danielle Taylor – tournament quarterfinal
- Kailin Curran vs. Sunna Davidsdottir – tournament quarterfinal
- Itzel Esquivel vs. Alyssa Krahn – tournament reserve right
For more on the Invicta FC “Phoenix Rising Series” strawweight tournament, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
