The best two women in mixed martial artists will be fighting in Los Angeles on the last weekend in February. Only, they won’t be fighting each other.
While UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will defend her belt against Cat Zingano at UFC 184 on Feb. 28 at the Staples Center, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino will be competing a night prior just a mile-and-a-half down Figueroa St. at the Shrine Auditorium. The Invicta FC featherweight champion will defend her title against Charmaine Tweet on Friday, Feb. 27.
Tweet (6-4) is coming off a TKO victory over Veronica Rothenhauser in the promotion’s first foray into lightweight. She returns to featherweight having won five of her last six fights.
Justino (12-1), meanwhile, makes her first appearance in a year-and-a-half. She was scheduled to fight in December but suffered an ankle injury that forced her off the card. She won the 145-pound title at Invicta FC 6 in 2013 against Marloes Coenen, stopping the Dutch fighter via TKO in the third round.
On Tuesday, Invicta FC put out a press release announcing the Invicta FC 11 fight card in its entirety. The co-main event will be a strawweight fight between two up-and-coming stars in women’s MMA — 21-year old upstart Alexa Grasso versus 20-year old Mizuki Inoue.
Here is a look at the full eight-fight card:
Main Card:
Featherweight Championship Fight: Cristiane Justino (12-1) vs. Charmaine Tweet (6-4)
Strawweight Fight: Alexa Grasso (6-0) vs. Mizuki Inoue (8-3)
Strawweight Fight: DeAnna Bennett (6-0) vs. Lynn Alvarez (6-3)
Bantamweight Fight: Irene Aldana (4-1) vs. Melanie LaCroix (3-2)
Undercard:
Strawweight Fight: Jamie Moyle (1-0) vs. J.J. Aldrich (1-0)
Strawweight Fight: Brianna Van Buren (3-1) vs. Amy Montenegro (5-1)
Flyweight Fight: Christine Stanley (3-1) vs. Emily Corso (4-0)
Flyweight Fight: Kristi Lopez (2-0) vs. Aspen Ladd (0-0)