An injury has forced one of the major bouts at Invicta 5, which is coming up next weekend, to make a change as Ediane Gomes has suffered an injury and is out of her scheduled fight against former Strikeforce champ Cris “Cyborg” Santos.
Invicta officials announced Gomes‘ injury on Tuesday, but it didn’t take long for them to find a replacement and it happens to be somebody else already scheduled for the card.
Fiona Muxlow, who was originally scheduled to face off against Julia Budd on the card, will instead face Santos as one of the featured bouts on the Invicta 5 internet pay-per-view.
The new fight was confirmed by Invicta officials on Tuesday evening.
Fiona Muxlow comes to Invicta with a 6-2 record overall primarily fighting out of her home area in Australia.
Ironically enough, Muxlow‘s last fight was a loss to current Invicta 145-pound contender Marloes Coenen at the DREAM New Year’s Eve show to close 2012. Muxlow lost to Coenen by first round armbar in Japan.
The expected plan for the winner of the bout between Santos and Muxlow is to face Coenen next for the inaugural Invicta featherweight women’s world title.
Muxlow is facing a tall order stepping in on short notice to face Santos, who returns to action after more than a year away from the sport after testing positive for a banned substance following her last fight in Strikeforce at the end of 2011.
Since that time, Santos has exited Strikeforce after the promotion dissolved, and with her fighting weight at 145-pounds, she’s ineligible to sign with the UFC because they only currently have the 135-pound women’s division.
Instead, Santos signed a multi-fight deal with Invicta with hopes of fighting next weekend, and then battling Coenen for the first ever featherweight title for the promotion.
The fight between Santos and Muxlow will be the third featured bout on the night’s card behind the two title fights that lead the way. Jessice Penne will put up her 105-pound title against Greg Jackson student Michelle Waterson, while Vanessa Porto faces Barb Honchak for the first ever Invicta flyweight title.
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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