Invicta announces Morandin vs. Ruiz for July 30 show

Dave Mandel/Invicta FC

Invicta FC have announced their second card since their shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday Invicta Fighting Championships announced their second card since operations went on hiatus due to the ongoing…

Janaisa Morandin, Invicta FC

Dave Mandel/Invicta FC

Invicta FC have announced their second card since their shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yesterday Invicta Fighting Championships announced their second card since operations went on hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Invicta’s first show since their shutdown (Invicta FC 40) is scheduled for this Friday night on UFC Fight Pass and features a strawweight main event pitting UFC veteran Juliana Lima versus Emily Ducote.

In a press release the promotion announced that Invicta FC 41 would take place on July 30th at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, KS. Just like at Invicta FC 40, this event will feature strawweights in the headline bout.

This time around it will be former title challenger Janaisa Morandin (who has struggled to make 115 lbs in the past) taking on Montserrat Ruiz. Morandin aka ‘Evil Princess’ is 10-3 as a professional. She’s currently on a two fight losing skid, with defeats to Ducote and current UFCer Virna Jandiroba.

Ruiz, who goes be ‘Conejo’ (Rabbit), has a record of 8-1. She made her unsuccessful Invicta debut back in 2018, losing via decision to Danielle Taylor. Ruiz had been undefeated up until then.

The co-main event is a flyweight clash between Erin Blanchfield (5-1) and Stephanie Geltmacher (4-1). Blanchfield scored an impressive knockout over Victoria Leonardo last time out, at Invicta FC 39. Geltmacher’s last Invicta appearance was also against Leonardo. That fight was an exciting back and forth bout which ended with some controversial scorecards in Leonardo’s favour.

Also on the card is a featherweight bout between former Invicta matchmaker Kaitlin Young (10-10-1) and Latoya Walker (5-1) and a strawweight fight between former KOTC champion Cynthia Arceo (5-2-1) and LFA veteran Itzel Esquivel (4-2).

Rounding out the card are bouts between Caitlin Simmons (2-0) and Claire Guthrie (1-0) and Natalya Speece (0-0) and Alexa Culp (0-0).

Due to continued concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be taking place without fans or media present. It will air exclusively live on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 8PM ET.