Leslie Smith, a two-time ‘Fight of the Night’ winner at Invicta FC, has signed a multi-fight agreement with the organization and has agreed to face Jennifer Maia on July 13th at Invicta FC 6. Sources close to the situation confirm the news and further indicate Smith will drop from bantamweight to flyweight.
Invicta FC 6 takes place on July 13th at the Ameristar Casino Kanasis City in Kansas City, Missouri. The event will be headlined by a clash between Marloes Coenen and challenger Cristiane Santos to crown the organization’s first-ever featherweight champion. Their bout is a rematch of their 2010 fight under the Strikeforce banner where Santos won via third-round TKO.
The winner of the bout between Smith and Maia will face current Invicta flyweight champion Barb Honchak for the title, sources confirm. Honchak won the title at Invicta FC 5 where she defeated Vanessa Porto via unanimous decision.
Smith, 30, is 2-1-1 in her run through Invicta shows. She’s fought Kaitlin Young twice, first to a draw at the inaugural Invicta event where they both earned Fight of the Night honors. In their rematch at Invicta FC 2, Smith defeated Young by second-round TKO. She most recently fought to a unanimous if controversial decision loss to Sarah Kaufman at Invicta FC 5 in April. That bout also earned her Fight of the Night. Smith is 5-3-1 in professional MMA.
Maia, 24, is also an Invicta veteran when she bested Zoila Frausto Gurgel at Invicta FC 5 by unanimous decision. She is 7-2 in professional MMA with losses coming to UFC veteran Sheila Gaff and Invicta contender Vanessa Porto.