Injury Forces New Invicta FC 14 Headlining Title Fight
Invicta Fighting Championships on Monday released the full fight card for Invicta FC 14, but the announcement included a major change at the top of the bill.
Invicta FC 14 was originally slated to feature a strawweight title bout between champion Livia Renata Souza and No. 1 contender Alexa Grasso. That bout has been temporarily shelved due a Grasso suffering an injury that impaired her ability to properly train for the bout at the Sept. 12 event.
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Stepping in to fill the void is newly crowned Invicta bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger (16-5), who will put her belt on the line for the first time against Pannie Kianzad (8-0) at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
Evinger has gone undefeated fighting for Invicta, winning all four of her bouts, including a TKO stoppage of Irene Aldana at Invicta FC 13 to capture the 135-pound title. It's been a career resurgence for one of the pioneering women in mixed martial arts, as she is currently on a seven-fighting winning streak, save for an exhibition bout loss during a stint on The Ultimate Fighter.
Her opponent, Kianzad, is a Swedish fighter that holds the Cage Warriors bantamweight championship, and impressed in her Invicta FC debut, winning a dominant decision over Jessica-Rose Clark in July.
Former Invicta strawweight champion Katja Kankaanpaa (10-2-1) looks to rebound in the co-main event against unbeaten DeAnna Bennett (7-0), who is coming off of a victory in her strawweight debut.
The full 10-fight card for Invicta FC 14:
Bantamweight Title: Tonya Evinger (16-5) vs. Pannie Kianzad (8-0)
Strawweight: Katja Kankaanpaa (10-2-1) vs. DeAnna Bennett (7-0)
Flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi (17-12) vs. Mariana Morais (9-2)
Flyweight: Rachael Ostovich (2-1) vs. Andrea Lee (2-1)
Featherweight: Cindy Dandois (5-2) vs. Megan Anderson (4-1)
Strawweight: Jamie Moyle (3-0) vs. Sharon Jacobson (3-1)
Atomweight: Jinh Yu Frey (3-1) vs. Liz McCarthy (2-1)
Strawweight: J.J. Aldrich (1-1) vs. Daniela Kortmann (1-0)
Flyweight: Aspen Ladd (1-0) vs. Amanda Bobby Cooper (1-0)
Lightweight: Rachel Wiley (0-0) vs. Felicia Spencer (0-0)