INVICTA FC 4 WEIGH-IN RESULTS: CARLA ESPARZA AND BEC HYATT ON WEIGHT FOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MAIN EVENT FIGHT
ALL 13 BOUTS OFFICIAL FOR STAR-STUDDED WOMEN’S MMA EVENT
All 13 bouts, including the main event and first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships world strawweight (115 pounds) title fight between Carla Esparza (8-2) of Redondo Beach, Calif. and “Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (4-1) of Brisbane, Australia, were made official today for the promotion’s fourth women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 5 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, live on Invicta FC.com..
Esparza weighed in at 114.75 pounds while Hyatt weighed in at exactly 115 pounds. Bantamweight (135 pounds) co-main event opponents Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (15-7) of Sioux Falls, S.D. and Alexis Davis (12-5) of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada tipped the scales at 134.75 pounds and 135.75 pounds, respectively. Of the 26 fighters on the card, only Veronica Rothenhausler (0-0) of Reno, Nev. weighed in one-half pound over the 146 pound limit for her featherweight (145 pounds) preliminary card bout with Katalina Malungahu (2-1) of Las Vegas, Nev. Rothenhausler will make her professional debut after reeling off two consecutive, five-second KO victories as an amateur.
Tickets for Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt, 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. The live stream of the event, which will begin at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST, is available for purchase, in its entirety, on InvictaFC.com for a credit c! ard charge of $7.95. MMA legend Bas Rutten, superstar “King Mo” Lawal and women’s sensation Julie Kedzie will call the action cageside.
In other main card, power puncher Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (4-2-1) of Pleasant Hill, Calif. will square off with submission specialist Raquel “Rocky” Pennington (3-2-1) of Colorado Springs, Colo. at bantamweight. Hard-hitting KO artist Amanda “Lioness of the Ring” Nunes (7-2) of Salvador Bahia, Brazil will take on submission specialist Sarah “The Monster” D’Alelio (6-3) of San Jose, Calif. at bantamweight. JEWELS star Hiroko Yamanaka (12-2) of Kisarazu, Japan will battle Invicta FC 3 winner Ediane Gomes (8-2) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. in a featherw! eight (145 pounds) contest. Unbeaten Matt Lindland-protégé and European Muay Thai Champion Livia von Plettenberg (1-0) of Vienna, Austria will meet undefeated Joanne Calderwood (4-0) of Glasgow, Scotland at strawweight.
The seven-bout preliminary card will be capped off with an atomweight (105 pounds) matchup between Stephanie Frausto (4-4) of Cincinnati, Ohio and Cassie Rodish (3-3) of Des Moines, Iowa. Unbeaten Tamikka Brents (1-0) of Springfield, Illin. will take on Amanda Bell (0-0) of Medford, Ore. at featherweight. Jodie Esquibel(2-0) of Albuquerque, N.M. and Liz McCarthy (1-0) of Tigard, Ore. will square off at atomweight. Emily Kagan(2-0) of Albuquerque, N.M. will put her undefeated record on the line against Rose Namajunas (0-0) of Milwaukee, Wis. In a strawweight matchup. Paige Van Zant(2-0) of Sparks, Nev. will face off with Tecia Torres (1-0) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. at strawweight. Laura MarcusseSanko (0-0) of Kansas City will make her professional debut in the cage in an atomweight matchup with Cassie Robb (0-0) Casper, Wyo. Doors at Memorial Hall open for Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt open at 5 p.m. CST and the first preliminary bout begins at 6 p.m.
Invicta FC 4 Weigh-In Results:
Carla Esparza (114.8) vs. Bec Hyatt (115) - for inaugural strawweight title
Shayna Baszler (134.8) vs. Alexis Davis (135.8)
Raquel Pennington (134.8) vs. Leslie Smith (135.8)
Sarah D'Alelio (135.8) vs. Amanda Nunes (135.8)
Ediane Gomes (143.2) vs. Hiroko Yamanaka (145.6)
Joanne Calderwood (116) vs. Livia Von Plettenberg (116)
Stephanie Frausto (105) vs. Cassie Rodish (105.8)
Amanda Bell (145) vs. Tamikka Brents (145)
Jodie Esquibel (104.2) vs. Liz McCarthy (104.2)
Emily Kagan (115.6) vs. Rose Namajunas (114.6)
Tecia Torres (115.6) vs. Paige VanZant (114.8)
Katalina Malungahu (145.8) vs. Veronica Rothenhausler (146.6)*
Cassie Robb (105.6) vs. Laura Sanko (105.6)
* Rothenhausler initially weighed 146.6 pounds but made weight on her second attempt.
Carla Esparza (left) will put her three-fight win streak on the line against “Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (right) in the main event and first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships world strawweight (115 pounds) title fight tomorrow/Saturday, Jan. 5 at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan., live on InvictaFC.com
Invicta FC 4 co-main event opponents and top-ranked bantamweight (135 pounds) stars Shayna Baszler (left) and Alexis Davis (right) put on a show for the crowd after hitting the scales.
Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (left) will look to notch her second! consecutive win in the Invicta FC cage tomorrow when she faces Raquel “Rocky” Pennington (right) in a bantamweight contest.
Hard punching KO artist Amanda Nunes (left) and submission specialist Sarah D’Alelio (right) clowned around on stage after weighing in for their bantamweight matchup.
Ediane Gomes (left) will battle Hiroko Yamanaka (right) in a featherweight (145 pounds) collision.
Rising star Joanne Calderwood (left) will put her perfect professional record on the line against unbeaten Matt Lindland protégé and Muay Thai champion Livia Von Plettenberg (right) in a strawweight tilt.
In Invicta FC 4 preliminary card action, Xtreme Couture upstart Katalina Malungahu (left) will square off with Veronica Rothenhausler (right), who made headlines in July after scoring her second consecutive five-second KO as an amateur. Rothenhausler makes her highly-anticipated professional debut tomorrow.
