Friday is a busy night in the world of sports. You’ll have the business end of many competitions in this year’s Summer Olympics, a full day and evening of action in MLB, including a day-night doubleheader in Minneapolis between the visiting Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins and some NFL preseason games as week one of the three-week exhibition slate continues.
Let’s be honest with ourselves: Unless you’re a fan of the teams playing on Friday’s preseason schedule, you’re probably not going to be tuning in to the gridiron action that night. Aside from everything else going on this Friday. you’ll have the back-end of a day-night doubleheader in MMA to watch.
After Brave CF 84 gets the day of competitive violence started off in the morning, the fights head stateside in primetime. Denver, CO holds its second MMA event in as many months when Invicta Fighting Championships heads to Stockyards Events Center for Invicta FC 56.
Bantamweights Go to Battle in Invicta FC 56 Main Event
Live coverage begins with the undercard at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on the promotion’s official YouTube channel and Facebook page before moving onto main card action at 9 pm ET/ 6 pm PT on CBS Sports Network. Make no mistake: Even though CBS Sports Network is accessible on cable/ satellite/ telco providers in Canada, the live telecast of Invicta FC 56 will be available on the channel for its United States viewers only.
For those viewers looking for Invicta FC 56 in Canada, tune into Fight Network. If there are no late adjustments to the bout order ahead of fight night, the final version of Invicta FC 56 will feature eight contests.
Highlighting the night’s itinerary is a bantamweight contest in the Invicta FC 56 main event. Immediately following the co-main event, the headliner sees Jennifer Maia (21-10-1 MMA, 4-2 Invicta FC) taking on Mayra Cantuaria (10-5-1, 1 NC MMA, 1-0 Invicta FC) in the bantamweight division. This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round to close the show.
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Invicta FC 56 Main Event Fighter Comparison and Betting Odds
Heading into the Invicta FC 56 main event on Friday night, Mayra Cantuaria stands as the taller fighter at 5-foot-7, compared to the 5-foot-4 frame of Jennifer Maia. Cantuaria owns a three-inch reach advantage (67 inches to 64 inches) over Maia.
Currently, the oddsmakers have installed Jennifer Maia as a -699 favorite on the money line, with Mayra Cantuaria countering as a +400 underdog. If you plan on betting on this or any other card happening this weekend in MMA and/or combat sports, please wager responsibly.
Maia Readies for First MMA Appearance in Over Nine Months
Jennifer Maia, who formerly competed in the UFC, enters her Invicta promotional return with a record of 2-3 in her last five MMA fights. At the moment, she’s on a two-fight losing streak.
Last time out in the cage, she dropped a unanimous decision to Viviane Araujo (12-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) in October of last year. Not long after that, she was dropped by the promotion. She turned to grappling earlier in 2024, but that fight, too, ended in defeat (first-round submission: rear-naked choke) against Beatriz Mesquita.
She hasn’t competed in an MMA fight in almost 10 months’ time and there are bragging rights on the line as Maia represents Curitiba, Brazil. Will she able to get back to the win column? Tune in and find out.
Cantuaria Looking for Second Straight Victory Amid String of Long Layoffs
In the other corner, Mayra Cantuaria has posted a mark of 3-2 in her last five appearances. Most recently, she made good on her Invicta FC promotional debut with a second-round submission (rear-naked choke) of Callie Cutler (7-8 MMA, 0-1 Invicta FC) right before St. Patrick’s Day last year in Invicta FC 52 on AXS TV and YouTube.
It’s been over 14 months since that fight. Unfortunately for Mayra Cantuaria and her camp, long hiatuses between contests have become commonplace of late.
She hasn’t fought more than once in a calendar year since 2021. Lengthy interregnums like the one Cantuaria has encountered in the past are detrimental toward a fighter’s maturation. Can she go 2-for-2 in Shannon Knapp‘s promotion during the Invicta FC 56 main event and bring glory back to Anapolis, Brazil?
Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction
While both fighters can do damage when the cage door closes in the Invicta FC 56 main event, the edge is given to Jennifer Maia due to her black belts in both Muay-Thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Maia Slick With Submissions
Statistically speaking, Jennifer Maia has recorded six wins by way of submission. Even if she finds herself on the bottom of a ground exchange, as was the case versus Joanne Wood in 2020 at the UFC Apex, it could be a done deal.
During the first round of a scheduled three, Maia peppered the former Joanne Calderwood with a two-punch combination while she absorbed some kicks to the leg before returning fire by landing a right-handed shot. Upon Calderwood catching Maia’s kick, she took top mount and wouldn’t let Maia rise to her feet.
After landing ground and pound shots from the bottom position, Maia assumed full guard and eventually applied the torque to lock up an armbar with 31 seconds left on the clock. She’s got the skills to flip the script if the fight goes to the ground.
Cantuaria Equally Adept on the Ground
In the other corner. Mayra Cantuaria sings the classic refrain “Anything you can do, I can do better, I can do anything better than you.” She’s also got a good ground game, and it showed in the second round of her fight versus Callie Cutler from March of last year.
That frame saw Cantuaria trapping her leg and arm on Cutler’s body, giving her the opening to go to work on a rear-naked choke. While Cutler gestured to the official that she was still in the fight, it wouldn’t stay that way for much longer after that in round two.
She was forced to tap due to the deep choke a few seconds later. If Cantuaria can take Maia down in the Invicta FC 56 main event, it’s her world and we’re all living in it.
Final Thoughts
While this fight will take place in the USA, this fight is for supremacy in Brazil. Even without a championship up for the taking, the stakes will be high on Friday night in the Invicta FC 56 main event.
Prediction: Mayra Cantuaria by Second-Round Submission.
