Invicta FC’s debut event on UFC Fight Pass, Invicta FC 8, is set to take place on September 6, 2014 at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO, promotion president Shannon Knapp announced on a Thursday conference call.
The show will be the all-female organization’s first in nine months, and is expected to be headlined by duel title bouts, with Stephanie Eggink (4-1) and Katja Kankaanpaa (9-1-1) vying for the vacant Invicta FC strawweight title in the night’s co-main event, and atomweight champion Michelle Waterson (11-3) attempting the first defense of her belt against Yasuko Tamada (15-8-3) as the headlining attraction.
“I’m beyond excited,” said Waterson. “I’ve got butterflies and my heart is screaming at the top of its lungs.”
Also announced for the card are match-ups between veteran fighters, Ediane Gomes (10-2) vs. Tonya Evinger (13-5), Michelle Ould (7-3) vs. DeAnna Bennett (4-0), Roxanne Modafferi (15-11) vs. Tara LaRosa (21-4), Peggy Morgan (2-1) vs. Irene Aldana (3-1), and Invicta FC’s first ever lightweight bout, Veronica Rothenhausler (1-0) vs. Charmaine Tweet (5-4).
Knapp noted that Invicta FC 8 marks a giant step forward as the promotion seeks to extend its reach past the online pay-per-view space that has proved so troublesome over the last two years. Invicta FC’s complete fight library has already been uploaded to UFC Fight Pass, and Knapp expects September’s debut event to be an exciting first step in Invicta FC’s multi-year partnership with the UFC.
“We plan on doing quite a few shows,” Knapp said. “We don’t have a number that’s set in stone. We’ll kick off this first show, and we hope to at least do one every other month, but you know, there’s always obstacles and things like that, so I don’t want to commit to anything at this point in time. But I will tell you that our objective here is to stay very active and to provide opportunities for these female athletes.”
UFC chief content officer Marshall Zelaznik echoed Knapp’s statement, adding that the potential UFC Fight Pass provides for Invicta FC to grow its audience internationally is a significant advantage that both sides will be looking to harness as best as possible.
“The UFC is available in almost 150 countries now around the world, in over a billion television homes, so we have partnerships all around the world that we’re going to look to, reach out to, and find a way to help Shannon get distributed that way,” Zelaznik said.
“Not all TV deals are easy to do, but we’re going to work really hard to make sure we get as much distribution as we can for Shannon.”
A complete Invicta FC 8 fight card can be seen below.
- Michelle Waterson vs. Yasuko Tamada (Atomweight championship)
- Stephanie Eggink vs. Katja Kankaanpaa (Vacant strawweight championship)
- Ediane Gomes vs. Tonya Evinger
- Michelle Ould vs. DeAnna Bennett
- Roxanne Modafferi vs. Tara LaRosa
- Peggy Morgan vs. Irene Aldana
- Veronica Rothenhausler vs. Charmaine Tweet
- Alexa Grasso vs. Ashley Cummins
- Jodie Esquibel vs. Jinh Yu Frey
- J.J. Aldrich vs. Delaney Owen