Tag: invicta fc 8

Invicta FC 8 Summed Up in One GIF


(GIF via r/MMA)

Invicta FC 8 aired on UFC Fight Pass last night.

A Fight Pass deal was a welcomed development. Invicta finally had a stable medium to broadcast their shows on…or so we thought.

After a pretty entertaining card, the stream froze shortly into the main event, which pitted Michelle Waterson against Yasuko Tamada.

People were understandably upset, though some tried to justify the stream going down by saying the phone stream was intact. The stream bounced back for about 10 seconds in the third round and then froze again. It didn’t come back (at least not for us) until Mike Schiavello was saying goodbye to everyone. From what we did see of the main event, Waterson looked incredible. She was agile, her strikes were lightning quick and she was unloading fierce combinations on Tamada. Tamada, on the other hand, looked like she was about 60 years old. We’re not kidding either. Her age is unknown. She had to be close to 40 at least. Outside of the fact that she was slow, her skill set was anemic. Waterson destroyed her.

Overall, the event was pretty good if you ignore the stream collapsing at the end (bad streams must be some kind of Invicta curse).


(If GIFs had sound you’d be hearing “THISFIGHTTHISFIGHTTHISFIGHTTHISFIGHT.” / GIF via r/MMA)

Invicta FC 8 aired on UFC Fight Pass last night.

A Fight Pass deal was a welcomed development. Invicta finally had a stable medium on which to broadcast their shows…or so we thought.

After a pretty entertaining card, the stream froze shortly into the main event, which pitted Michelle Waterson against Yasuko Tamada.

People were understandably upset, though some tried to justify the stream going down by saying the phone stream was intact. The stream bounced back for about 10 seconds in the third round and then froze again. It didn’t come back (at least not for us) until Mike Schiavello was saying goodbye to everyone. From what we did see of the main event, Waterson looked incredible. She was agile, her strikes were lightning quick and she was unloading fierce combinations on Tamada. Tamada, on the other hand, looked like she was about 60 years old. We’d love to know how old she actually is but her age is unknown. No joke. She had to be close to 40 at least. Outside of the fact that she was slow, her skill set was anemic. Waterson destroyed her.

Overall, the event was pretty good if you ignore the stream collapsing at the end (bad streams must be some kind of Invicta curse).

We got to see Katja Kankaanpaa capture the Invicta FC strawweight title with a plucky submission win over Stephanie Eggink. Eggink controlled the first four rounds of the fight and nearly finished Kankaanpaa on multiple occasions. In the fifth round, Kankaanpaa caught Eggink, who seemed to disregard Kankaanpaa’s chances so late in the fight, in a d’arce choke. For some reason, the announcer called it a “dragon sleeper choke.” Cool, sure.

Other fights:

Tonya Evinger absolutely wrecked Ediane Gomes, dominating her in the grappling department and ultimately submitting her with an armbar. In her post-fight interview, Evinger said her game plan was simply to “kick someone’s ass.”

Women’s MMA pioneers Roxanne Modafferi and Tara LaRosa met on this card. Modafferi looked like a different fighter. Her striking and footwork improved about a thousand times over since we saw her in the UFC. She picked LaRosa apart en route to a unanimous decision.

DeAnna Bennett scored an incredible liver kick KO over Michelle Ould. The kick was brutal enough to have Ould reeling for several minutes after the fight was over.

Veronica Rothenhausler couldn’t continue her streak of knocking out her opponents in the first round. She managed to clip Charmaine Tweet in the first few seconds of the fight, but Tweet recovered quickly and proved to be far too much for Rothenhausler to handle. Tweet took control of the fight, dragged Rothenhausler to the mat, and finished her with ground and pound.

There were two fights of note on the prelims:

Irene Aldana defeated UFC-vet Peggy Morgan in a totally one-sided match-up. Aldana submitted Morgan with a rear-naked choke after flooring her multiple times with powerful strikes.

Alexa Grasso became 5-0 after defeating Ashley Cummins via unanimous decision. Grasso could potentially be a big name in the future. She’s conventionally attractive, talented, and Mexican–which will likely cause the UFC to call her up as they seek to expand in Mexico and Latin America.

The complete results of Invicta FC 8 are below:

Main Card

Michelle Waterson def. Yasuko Tamada via TKO (knee and punches), 4:58 of round 3.
Katja Kankaanpaa def. Stephanie Eggink via submission (d’arce choke), 2:03 of round 5.
Tonya Evinger def. Ediane Gomes via submission (armbar), 3:31 of round 1.
Roxanne Modafferi def. Tara La Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
DeAnna Bennett def. Michelle Ould via TKO (liver kick), 1:34 of round 2.
Charmaine Tweet def. Veronica Rothenhausler via TKO (punches), 4:05 of round 1.

Preliminary Card

Irene Aldana def. Peggy Morgan via submission (rear naked choke), 2:51 of round 1.
Alexa Grasso def. Ashley Cummins via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).
Jodie Esquibel def. Jinh Yu Frey via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-27).
JJ Aldrich def. Delaney Owen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26).

Cris Cyborg Dropping to Bantamweight for Invicta FC Fight in December


(Honestly? I still think Frankie wins this one seven times out of ten. / Photo via TitoCouture)

Yesterday, Shannon Knapp announced that Invicta FC 8 (September 6th; Kansas City, MO) will be the first Invicta event to air live on Fight Pass, and will be headlined by two title fights — Michelle Waterson defending her atomweight belt against Yasuko Tamada, and Stephanie Eggink fighting Katja Kankaanpaa for the promotion’s vacant strawweight title. The card will also feature Roxanne Modafferi vs. Tara LaRosa, Ediane Gomes vs. Tonya Evinger, and the return of Veronica Rothenhausler in a 155-pound bout against Charmaine Tweet.

One notable absence from the stacked all-female card is Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, who hasn’t competed in an MMA bout since last July. But there’s a good reason for that — Cyborg is in the process of transitioning to 135 pounds. As MMAJunkie reports:

“Cyborg” Justino is targeted for Invicta FC 10 against a TBA opponent, Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp said. She was targeted on two previous occasions to meet Ediane Gomes before injuries and event scheduling nixed the matchup. Justino could make her second appearance at 135 pounds in February or March, Knapp added.

It’s not yet decided whether Justino will vacate her current Invicta FC featherweight title, Knapp said…A date is not yet set for Invicta FC 10, which is expected to stream live on UFC Fight Pass as part of the all-female MMA promotion’s multi-year deal with the UFC’s digital network.

To aid Justino’s drop from her natural featherweight class, at which she’s fought since battering Gina Carano to win the title in the now-defunct Strikeforce, manager George Prajin said she will work with Tony Aponte, a performance and conditioning specialist who’s worked with ex-UFC champ B.J. Penn and Heath Herring, among others.


(Honestly? I still think Frankie wins this one seven times out of ten. / Photo via TitoCouture)

Yesterday, Shannon Knapp announced that Invicta FC 8 (September 6th; Kansas City, MO) will be the first Invicta event to air live on Fight Pass, and will be headlined by two title fights — Michelle Waterson defending her atomweight belt against Yasuko Tamada, and Stephanie Eggink fighting Katja Kankaanpaa for the promotion’s vacant strawweight title. The card will also feature Roxanne Modafferi vs. Tara LaRosa, Ediane Gomes vs. Tonya Evinger, and the return of Veronica Rothenhausler in a 155-pound bout against Charmaine Tweet.

One notable absence from the stacked all-female card is Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, who hasn’t competed in an MMA bout since last July. But there’s a good reason for that — Cyborg is in the process of transitioning to 135 pounds. As MMAJunkie reports:

“Cyborg” Justino is targeted for Invicta FC 10 against a TBA opponent, Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp said. She was targeted on two previous occasions to meet Ediane Gomes before injuries and event scheduling nixed the matchup. Justino could make her second appearance at 135 pounds in February or March, Knapp added.

It’s not yet decided whether Justino will vacate her current Invicta FC featherweight title, Knapp said…A date is not yet set for Invicta FC 10, which is expected to stream live on UFC Fight Pass as part of the all-female MMA promotion’s multi-year deal with the UFC’s digital network.

To aid Justino’s drop from her natural featherweight class, at which she’s fought since battering Gina Carano to win the title in the now-defunct Strikeforce, manager George Prajin said she will work with Tony Aponte, a performance and conditioning specialist who’s worked with ex-UFC champ B.J. Penn and Heath Herring, among others.

Justino also is headed to Thailand at the end of the month to refine her striking skills and start the process of shedding weight, Prajin added. The ex-champ was outpointed by Jorina Baars in a muay Thai title fight this past March under the Lion Fight banner.

Prajin said the goal of hiring Aponte is to get Justino to a walk-around weight of 155 pounds. He said the fighter walked around as high as 180 pounds as a featherweight.

180 pounds! Mother of God! Until now, the lightest weight that Cyborg has ever competed at was her 140-pound appearance at EliteXC: Unfinished Business in July 2008, where she and Steve Mazzagatti joined forces for one of the weirdest fight-endings in MMA history. Getting down to 135 pounds will require a monumental effort, and may require to significantly alter her pitbull-like frame.

On the other hand, the payoff could be worth it. If Cyborg can prove that she can hit 135 pounds and still be effective, it’ll only be a matter of time before she’s drafted into the UFC for her long-awaited meeting with Ronda Rousey — a match that would be a hell of a lot more profitable than any that the Brazilian slugger would see fighting in Invicta.

Good luck, Cris. I don’t know how a woman who dwarfs Frankie Edgar is going to make 135 pounds, but we’re all pulling for you.