Tag: Invicta Fighting Championships

Press Release – KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 31, 2012) – Professional boxer and undefeated MMA upstart Kim Connor-Hamby (4-0) of Stuttgart, Ark. will collide in a bantamweight (135 pounds) bout with fellow prolific striker Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (3-2-1) of Pleasant Hill, Calif. at the highly-anticipated Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama, women’s world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City on Saturday, Oct. 6.

Connor-Hamby will replace Cat Zingano, whom Invicta FC has sent to compete in Strikeforce.

In Invicta FC 3 preliminary card action, undefeated power puncher Katalina Malungahu (2-0) of Las Vegas, Nev. will face submission specialist Ediane Gomes (8-2) of Coconut Creek, Fla. via Sao Paulo, Brazil in a featherweight (145 pounds) bout, after Malungahu’s original opponent, Taylor Stratford, was forced to withdraw from the commitment due to a knee injury.

“I’m very excited to be fighting with all the big names that are on this Invicta FC card,” said the 31-year-old Connor-Hamby who, to date, has been lighting up her local MMA scene with her polished western boxing skills. “My hands are where it’s at. I want to show everyone what a woman can do with boxing inside the cage and I do not want to go to the ground at all in this fight.”

Since she began her pro career in the boxing ring in 2004, Connor-Hamby has registered a record of 10-2-2 (4 KO’s) in the sport, earning her 10th career victory in the sweet science with a 10-round unanimous decision over Nicole Woods on Aug. 25.

It was four years ago, shortly after giving birth, that Connor-Hamby took up MMA training as a means of getting back in shape, after learning about the sport’s rigorous conditioning routines from a work colleague of her husband. Realizing, soon after, that her boxing skills could be used as a weapon in MMA competition, Connor-Hamby decided to try her hand in the hybrid sport.

In her MMA debut on June 27, 2009, Connor-Hamby needed just 20 seconds to stop Crystal Hamilton with a barrage of punches. Connor-Hamby reeled off TKO victories in each of her next two starts and earned a split decision over Jessica Hilger in her last MMA bout on April 17, 2010.

The 31-year-old Smith is also a seasoned striker. On April 28, she brought fans to their feet at the inaugural Invicta FC event at Memorial Hall, exchanging flurry after flurry of strikes with Kaitlin Young in a matchup that was scored a majority draw by the judges. The bout was recognized as “Fight of the Night” by Invicta FC.

Smith, a product of the Cesar Gracie Academy, went unbeaten (3-0) as an amateur before turning pro on March 6, 2009 and scoring a third round (4:16) TKO on Louise Johnson with a series of punches.

Training at American Top Team, Gomes is looking to notch her third consecutive win. A submission specialist who has tapped out opponents in six of her eight-career victories, Gomes is a five-year veteran of pro MMA competition.

Since she stormed onto the competitive MMA scene in 2011, Malungahu has gained recognition for her furious punching abilities, stopping both of her professional opponents and all three of her amateur opponents inside of two rounds. She is coming off a 36 second KO (punches) victory over Ericka Newsome on July 28.

Tickets for Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama, priced from $25, are on sale at Memorial Hall box office (913-549-4853), online at Ticketmaster.com and InvictaFC.com and by phone at (800-745-3000)

In the main event, atomweight (105 pounds) superstars Jessica Penne (9-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. and Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (8-0) of Kyoto, Japan will square off in the first-ever Invicta FC world championship bout.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (14-7) of Sioux Falls, S.D. will return to action in the bantamweight co-main event and take on Invicta FC 2 winner Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (6-2) of San Jose, Calif.

Former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Sarah Kaufman (15-2) of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada will face off with prolific striker Kaitlin Young (7-6-1) of St. Louis Park, Minn.

Another Invicta FC 2 victor, Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak (6-2) of Bettendorf, Iowa will throw down with rising star and exciting finisher Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly (13-3) of Dublin, Ireland in a flyweight (125 pounds) contest.

Submission expert and women’s MMA pioneer Tara LaRosa (21-2) of Woodstown, N.J. will lock horns at flyweight with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Vanessa Porto (14-5) of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (9-3) of Albuquerque, N.M. will battle Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman (7-5) of Lakewood, Colo. in an atomweight scrap.

In the leadoff main card bout, Julia “The Jewel” Budd (3-2) of Port Moody, Canada will meet Elaina “Beef” Maxwell (7-4) of San Jose at featherweight.

The six-bout preliminary card will be topped by a strawweight (115 pounds) matchup between Carla Esparza (7-2) of Redondo Beach, Calif. and Lynn Alvarez (5-2) of Las Vegas.

Two undefeated prospects, Ashley Cummins (3-0) of St. Louis, MO. and Joanne Calderwood (3-0) of Glasgow, Scottland will collide at flyweight.

Amy Davis (3-3) of Idaho Falls, Idaho will face Stephanie Frausto (3-4) of Middletown, Ohio in an atomweight affair.

Fresh off her professional debut win at Invicta FC 2, highly-touted Jessamyn Duke (1-0) of Richmond, Ky. will face unbeaten Marciea Allen (1-0) of Sioux Falls in a bantamweight battle.

Tecia Torres (0-0) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Kaiyana Rain (0-0) of Los Angeles, Calif. will make their respective professional debuts against each other at strawweight.

About Invicta Fighting Championships:

Invicta Fighting Championships (www.invictafc.com) is a world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp and sports aficionado Janet Martin, Invicta is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible matchups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport.

SUPERSTARS JESSICA PENNE AND NAHO SUGIYAMA TO BATTLE FOR FIRST-EVER INVICTA FC WORLD TITLE IN ATOMWEIGHT MAIN EVENT IN KANSAS CITY, OCT 6

Press Release – KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Aug. 15, 2012) – American phenom Jessica Penne (9-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. will square off with undefeated Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (8-0) of Kyoto, Japan in the first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships title fight and atomweight (105 pounds) main event of the promotion’s third all-women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. on Sat., Oct. 6.

The ticket on-sale date for the much-anticipated Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama event, featuring 13 professional bouts, will be announced soon.

After bringing fans to their feet in a hard-fought main event battle against Olympic Wrestling Silver Medalist Sara McMann, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler of Sioux Falls, S.D. will return to action in the bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event and take on Invicta FC 2 winner Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (6-2) of San Jose, Calif.

Another Invicta FC 2 victor, Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak (6-2) of Bettendorf, Iowa will face off with rising star and furious finisher Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly (13-3) of Dublin, Ireland in a super flyweight (125 pounds) contest.

Invicta FC will welcome one of the original pioneers of women’s MMA, submission expert Tara LaRosa (21-2) of Woodstown, N.J., who will lock horns at super flyweight with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Vanessa Porto (14-5) of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Undefeated Cat “Alpha” Zingano (6-0) of Broomfield, Colo. will make her long-awaited Invicta FC debut against Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (3-2-1) of Pleasant Hill, Calif. in a bantamweight matchup and Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (9-3) of Albuquerque, N.M. will also make her first start under the Invicta FC banner against Lacey “The Ladie” Schuckman (7-5) of Lakewood, Colo. in an atomweight scrap.

In the leadoff main card bout, Julia “The Jewel” Budd (3-2) of Port Moody, Canada will meet Elaina “Beef” Maxwell (7-4) of San Jose, Calif.

Jessica Penne vs. Naho Sugiyama

The 29-year-old Penne will move to headlining status after a spectacular co-main event showing on Invicta FC’s inaugural card on April 28 when she stopped Lisa Ellis-Ward with an onslaught of punches in the third round (2:48) of their matchup shortly after breaking Ellis-Ward’s nose with a knee strike. A lifelong athlete, Penne was a competitive swimmer before stumbling upon a pair of boxing gloves and deciding to try her hand at MMA.

Sugiyama will put her perfect record on the line in The United States for the first time since she began tearing through the ranks of professional competitors in Japan three years ago. On Dec. 17, 2011, the 34-year-old was crowned a champion in Japanese all-women’s promotion JEWELS after defeating two opponents – Kikuyo Ishikawa and Misaki Takimoto – in one night of action.

Shayna Baszler vs. Sarah D’Alelio

The charismatic, 32-year-old Baszler helped create an electric atmosphere at Memorial Hall on July 28 by engaging McMann in an all-out war for three rounds before losing a heartbreaking decision. A fearsome grappler, Baszler has earned the respect of the fight world by earning 13 of her 14 victories with submissions, including her patented hold that she dubbed the “shwing.”

D’Alelio, 31, pulled off a stunning upset at the Invicta FC event on July 28, tapping out Porto, a far more advanced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player with a beautifully executed reverse triangle armbar in the first round (3:16) of their meeting. To date, D’Alelio has notched five of her six wins by way of submission.

Barb Honchak vs. Aisling Daly

Honchak turned in a dominant performance at Invicta FC 2, scoring a second round (1:22) TKO on Bethany Marshall with a barrage of punches to notch her sixth career win. A protégé of UFC veteran Steve Berger who recently relocated to Quad Cities, Iowa to train at Miletich Fighting Systems, the 32-year-old Honchak will look to secure her sixth consecutive victory.

The 24-year-old Daly is ranked amongst the top five competitors in the super flyweight division. She holds a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has earned 6 of her 13 career victories by way of submission and 5 by way of KO.

Tara LaRosa vs. Vanessa Porto

LaRosa has been nearly unstoppable throughout her decade long professional MMA career, defeating a host of fellow superstars, including Baszler, Kelly Kobold and Alexis Davis. Between 2004 and 2009, the 34-year-old went unbeaten in 15 consecutive starts. LaRosa will seek her fourth straight win in her Invicta FC debut

Following her upset defeat at the hands of D’Alelio, which snapped a four-fight win streak, the 28-year-old Porto will look to regain her stride in the women’s super flyweight division. Trained by her husband, Pedro Iglesias, whom Porto met after walking into Iglesias’ gym for the first time in 2004, Porto has shown off her mastery of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by earning 10 of her 14 career wins via submission.

Leslie Smith vs. Cat Zingano

Smith will return to the Invicta FC cage after a fractured wrist kept her on the sidelines from competing on the promotion’s second card on July 28. At the inaugural Invicta FC event on April 28, the 29-year-old Smith earned “Fight of the Night” honors for her brutal, toe-to-toe war with Kaitlin Young that was declared a draw after a three-round see-saw battle.

Zingano, a brilliant finisher who has earned four of her six career wins by way of either KO or submission, will enter the cage for the first time this year and look to extend her perfect record that she has been building since 2008. Trained by her husband, Professor Mauricio Zingano, the 30-year-old is a former collegiate wrestler who went on to win the 2007 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships before

Michelle Waterson vs. Lacey Schuckman

Waterson is a 26-year-old student of famed MMA trainer Greg Jackson. A martial arts student since the age of 10, she holds a black belt in American Freestyle Karate and was a contestant on the Muay Thai-themed Fight Girls reality series on the Oxygen television network. On Jan. 21, Waterson ended a near two-year hiatus from competition, submitting Diana Rael with a rear-naked choke in the first round (2:12) of their matchup in Albuquerque.

Also a former Muay Thai fighter, the 24-year-old Schuckman showed the world that she is always game by accepting an Invicta FC 2 fight with undefeated JEWELS champion Ayaka Hamasaki on less than two weeks’ notice. Despite the short window of time that she had to prepare for the task, Schuckman, who has earned four of her seven career wins by way of submission, nearly pushed Hamasaki the distance of their bout before succumbing to a Hamasaki armbar with just 15 seconds remaining in the third and final round of their bout.

Julia Budd vs. Elaina Maxwell

The chiseled Budd, a 29-year-old lifelong athlete and budding fitness trainer, began her prize fighting career in the sport of Muay Thai where she chalked up several a number of notable wins, including one over superstar Gina Carano, before transitioning to MMA. She is a student of former UFC competitor and world-ranked Shooto fighter, Lance Gibson. Budd scored a first-round (3:49) TKO on Elina Nilsson with a combination of punches and elbow strikes at the Invicta FC 2 event on July 28.

Like Budd, the 33-year-old Maxwell boasts a stellar kickboxing resume. A three-time champion in San Shou rules kickboxing, she won the first American gold medal at the world Wushu (San Shou) Games in Macau, China in 2003. Maxwell reeled off her third straight MMA win on March 30, earning a unanimous decision over Ashley Sanchez in Kearney, Neb.

The six-bout preliminary card will be topped by a matchup between Carla Esparza (7-2) of Redondo Beach, Calif. and Lynn Alvarez (5-2) of Las Vegas, Nev.

Two undefeated prospects, Ashley Cummins (3-0) of St. Louis, MO. and Joanne Calderwood (3-0) of Glasgow, Scottland will collide at super flyweight.

Amy Davis (3-3) of Idaho Falls, Idaho will face Stephanie Frausto (3-4) of Middletown, Ohio in an atomweight affair.

Fresh off her professional debut win at Invicta FC 2, highly-touted Jessamyn Duke (1-0) of Richmond, Ky. will face unbeaten Marciea Allen (1-0) of Watertown, S.D. in a bantamweight battle.

Tecia Torres (0-0) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and Kaiyana Rain (0-0) of Los Angeles, Calif. will make their respective professional debuts against each other at flyweight.

Unbeaten Katalina Malungahu (2-0) of Las Vegas, Nev. will tangle with Taylor Stratford (0-0) of Woodland, Calif. in a featherweight (145 pounds) fight.

About Invicta Fighting Championships:

Invicta Fighting Championships is a world championship Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp and sports aficionado Janet Martin, Invicta is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible matchups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport.