ALL 11 BOUTS FOR INAUGURAL INVICTA FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN’S MMA EVENT MADE OFFICIAL AT WEIGH-INS
Grappling specialist Sarah D’Alelio (left) will face off with unbeaten Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt Vanessa Mariscal in a bantamweight (135 pounds) matchup at the first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships all-women’s MMA event, live on InvictaFC.com, from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. on Saturday.
Twenty-four year-old MMA and Muay Thai competitor Kaitlin Young (left) weighed in at 135.4 pounds while her opponent, power puncher Leslie Smith (right), weighed in at an even 135 pounds for the pair’s bantamweight tilt.
U.S. Marine Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche (left) collides with unbeaten Kansas City prospect Ashleigh Curry (right) in another featured bantamweight battle.
Fast-rising star Jessica Penne (left) faces off with submission fellow specialist Lisa Ellis-Ward (right) in the atomweight (105 pounds) co-main event.
Superstar and former Strikeforce champion Marloes Coenen (left) engages 22-year-old armbar wizard Romy Ruyssen (right) in a tense staredown one day before their main event rematch at the inaugural Invicta Fighting Championships event. Coenen was the victory of their first meeting in Aug. 2008 by way of second round submission (rear-naked choke).
Coenen (left) and Ruyssen (right) continued to eye each other even after they faced off.
All 11 bouts, including the featherweight (145 pounds) main event rematch between superstar Marloes Coenen (19-5) of The Netherlands and 22-year-old armbar wizard Romy Ruyssen (5-1) of France, were made official at today’s weigh-in at Hotel Phillips for the inaugural Invicta Fighting Championships all-women’s Mixed Martial Arts event tomorrow/Saturday, April 28 at Memorial Hall, live on InvictaFC.com.
Coenen weighed in at 146 pounds and Ruyssen originally weighed in at 150.4 pounds, but cut to 149.8 pounds over the course of the next two hours to reduce the weight spread between the two headlining fighters to 3.8 pounds.
Kansas State Athletic Commission rules mandate that opponents, with the exception of those in the featherweight division, must weigh within three pounds of each other in order to compete the following day. Opponents in the featherweight division must weigh within five pounds of each other.
The live stream of the event on InvictaFC.com will begin at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST with the five-bout preliminary card and continue with the six-bout main card. The stream will be available free of charge.
In the co-main event, two 29-year-old submission specialists - Jessica Penne (8-1) of Laguna Hills, Calif. and Lisa Ellis-Ward (14-7) of Lacey, Wash.- will square off with one another at strawweight (105 pounds).
Strikeforce bantamweight star and United States Marine Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche (5-2) of San Diego, Calif. will square off with unbeaten prospect Ashleigh Curry (1-0) of Kansas City, Mo.
Leslie Smith (3-2) of Pleasant Hill, Calif. will meet Kaitlin Young (7-5) of St. Louis Park, Minn. at bantamweight and Sally Krumdiack (9-4) of Bellingham, Wash. will duke it out with Sarah Schneider (5-5) of Kansas City, Mo. at flyweight (115 pounds).
In preliminary card action, 2008 Olympic wrestling bronze medalist Randi Miller (0-0) of Denver, Colo. will make her highly-anticipated MMA debut against Mollie Estes (1-0) Lake Lotawana, Mo.
**Photo Credit: Esther Lin/Invicta Fighting Championships
