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Invicta FC’s Phoenix Series 2 is scheduled for September 6th at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS.

On May 3rd, Brianna Van Buren clinched the vacant Invicta FC flyweight title by running through her competition (Manjit Kolekar, Juliana Lima, and Kailin Curran) at Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising 1. After winning that one-night tournament Van Buren signed with the UFC, meaning the title was again vacated.

To give that belt a new home Invicta is running another flyweight tourney at September 6th’s Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising 2. In a recent press release the promotion confirmed the final line-up of tournament participants.

The flyweights expected to compete for the title are:

• DeAnna Bennett (10-5-1)
• Milana Dudieva (12-8)
• Maiju Suotama (8-4)
• Daiana Torquato (9-3)
• Shanna Young (6-2)
• Liz Tracy (5-3)
• Victoria Leonardo (6-1)
• Miranda Maverick (5-2)

Bennet’s name is likely the most familiar for the majority of MMA fans. The 34-year-old, nicknamed ‘Vitamin D’, debuted in the UFC in 2017 after going 1-1 on The Ultimate Fighter Season 26. Prior to entering that reality-show/competition Bennett had a long Invicta run that saw her fight for the strawweight title versus Livia Renata Souza. Since leaving the UFC she has gone 2-1 in Invicta, taking wins over Karina Rodriguez and fellow tournament entrant Miranda Maverick.

Dudieva also comes to the competition with UFC experience. She went 1-2 in the Octagon and was cut after back-to-back losses to Julianna Pena and Marion Reneau. She signed with Invicta in 2017 and lost her first two appearances, versus Mara Romero Borella and then Vanessa Porto. She got her first Invicta win last March, versus Christina Marks, but followed that up with a loss to Karina Rodriguez earlier this year.

Dudieva, who hails from North-Ossetia, is a controversial figure thanks to her public expressions of fondness for a key member of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s inner-circle; an individual who has been implicated in Chechnya’s ‘gay purge’ (per Karim Zidan).

The tournament format is the same as the previous Phoenix Rising event, with randomly drawn one-round quarterfinal match-ups. The two semi-final bouts with also be one-round fights. The final will be three rounds. The unusual format is thanks to the Kansas commission’s restrictions on how many rounds a person may fight in a single night.

The tournament will also have two reserve bouts, with the winners on deck should someone receive a night-ending injury or fail to make weight. Those bouts are Chantel Coates (1-1) vs. Flore Hani (1-1) and Kay Hansen (4-3) vs. TBA.

The card will also feature two non-tournament fights: Alexa Conners (5-3) vs. Mariya Agapova (6-1) and Josee Storts (1-0) vs. Helen Lucero (0-0). Those are both flyweight fights. So, theoretically, there will be plenty of 125 lb women around should the card require some shuffling.

The event will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Carlos Condit is coming back for another ride. The former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight champion is in line to face off against Mickey Gall at the upcoming UFC on ESPN event on Dec. 7, 2019 in Washington D.C.

MMA Fighting’s Damon Martin has the scoop:

It’s been a rough stretch for Condit over the last three years, losing five straight, three of those via submission. And while “The Natural Born Killer” has hinted at retirement a couple of times, it seems he simply can’t walk away from the fight game.

With his last win coming back in 2015 over Thiago Alves, Condit is determined to right his ship before he decides to call it a day. At 35 years of age and with 43 professional fights under his belt, he’ll prove to be a big step up for the 27-year old Gall.

Mickey (6-2, 4-2 UFC) was last seen taking out Salim Touahri at UFC on ESPN earlier this month. The win put him back into the win column after being thoroughly dominated by Diego Sanchez — Condit’s former training partner — in his previous outing.

A win for Mickey would be huge for his goals of climbing the Welterweight ladder, all while potentially ushering Carlos out of the fight game for good.

Early predictions?

UFC on ESPN 7 is set to be headlined by a hard-hitting Heavyweight bout between Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris. Also on the card, Stefan Struve will take on Ben Rothwell, while Cynthia Calvillo and Claudia Gadelha duke it out in women’s Strawweight action. Plus, Yana Kunitskaya will face Aspen Ladd at Bantamweight.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Demetrious Johnson gives props to ONE Championship for its policies regarding fighter weight.

Since Demetrious Johnson signed with ONE Championship, he also moved up in weight. While he still competes at what they call their “flyweight” division, he weighs in at 135 pounds, as part of the company’s own weight class policy.

Now that he gets to fight at a more natural weight, “Mighty Mouse” feels a sense of rejuvenation.

“At the end of the day, it’s depending on what you want to do, because when I fight at 135, this is going to be my third fight in the year,” Johnson told MMA Junkie. “At 33 years old, I think that’s pretty impressive. When I was cutting to 125, I was throwing so much trauma on my body just trying to make that weight and blow back up to 141 in one day.

“So with me staying closer to my natural weight, which is 135, and then fighting there, I don’t have to have as much trauma on my body, my liver, my kidneys, all that stuff.”

Although the promotion hasn’t always been transparent about its results and collection, part of ONE’s policy is for fighters to have their weight checked multiple times during fight week. There is also said to be a mandated hydration test before they are allowed to compete.

For Johnson, ONE Championship set the standard when it comes to fighter weight.

“I think at the end of the day in America, I don’t know what the commissions are waiting on,” he said. “I think ONE FC are doing it right; everybody makes weight. When it comes to fighting or an event coming up, everybody shouldn’t be focused on who’s going to miss weight and who’s going to make weight. I’ll be surprised if Vegas didn’t have lines for that.

“When (ONE) signs guys, they’re like, ‘This is what you’re fighting at.’ Like, ‘You’re fighting at this weight class.’”

The former UFC pound-for-pound king defeated Tatsumitsu WADA at ONE: Dawn of Heroes in Manila, Philippines early this month. With the victory, he advanced to the finals of ONE’s flyweight grand prix, where he faces Danny Kingad at ONE: Century on October 13th in Tokyo Japan.