The highly-anticipated, 13-bout Invicta Fighting Championships women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) world championship doubleheader event will stream live in its entirety on InvictaFC.com from Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City on Friday, April 5.
The live stream, provided by Ustream, will begin at 7 p.m. EST/4 p.m. PST with the five-bout preliminary card and can be purchased on InvictaFC.com for $9.95 with all major credit cards.
Returning to the Invicta FC booth to call the action cageside will be the trio of vet! eran MMA voice Mauro Ranallo, light heavyweight superstar “King Mo” Lawal and women’s sensation Julie Kedzie.
“This is, without a doubt, the most stacked Invicta Fighting Championships card yet, so we are excited to be able to once again deliver all of the world-class action to a global audience, live online,” said Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp.
In the main event, reigning Invicta FC World Atomweight (105 pounds) Champion Jessica Penne (10-1) of Huntington Beach, Calif. will defend her crown against superstar Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (10-3) of Albuquerque, N.M. and, in the co-main event, and first-ever Invicta FC world flyweight (125 pounds) championship fight, submission ace Vanessa Porto (15-5) of Sao Paulo, Brazil will square off with red-hot star Barb Honchak (7-2) of Bettendorf, Iowa.
Pound-for-pound great and devastating KO artist Cris Cyborg (10-1, 1 NC) of Curitiba, Brazil will make her highly-anticipated Invicta FC debut against rising star Fiona Muxlow (6-2) of Townsville, Queensland Australia in a featherweight (145 pounds) matchup.
Flyweight superstar Zoila Frausto Gurgel (12-2) of Cincinnati, Ohio will also make her Invicta FC debut in another featured bout against submission expert Jennifer Maia (6-2) of Curitiba, Parana Brazil.
In other action on the eight-bout main card, bantamweight (135 pounds) superstar Sarah Kaufman (15-2) of Victoria, BC Canada will go to war with Invicta FC 3 and Invicta FC 4 winner Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith (5-2-1) of Pleasant Hill, Calif.
Undefeated KO artist Lauren Taylor (5-0) of Anchorage, Alaska will battle hard-hitting! Kaitlin Young (7-7-1) of St. Louis Park, Minn. at bantamweight.
“Rowdy” Bec Hyatt (4-2) of Brisbane, Australia will look to return to the win column against undefeated sensation and Invicta FC newcomer Jasminka Cive (5-0) of Graz, Austria in a strawweight (115 pounds) meeting.
Hard-hitting kickboxing stylist Julia “The Jewel” Budd (4-2) of Port Moody, BC Canada will square off with upstart Mollie Estes (1-1) of Kansas City in a featherweight contest.
The Invicta FC preliminary card will be highlighted by a bantamweight tilt between two undefeated prospects in powerhouse Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke (2-0) of Richmond, Ky. and Muay Thai stylist Miriam Nakamoto (1-0) of Dublin, Calif.
Katja Kankaanpaa (7-0-1) of ! Seinajoki, Finland will square off with fellow undefeated rising star Juliana Carnerio Lima (5-0) of Belo Horizonte, Brazil at strawweight in what will mark both fighters’ Invicta FC debuts.
Alex Chambers (3-1) of St. Ives New South Wales, Australia will meet unbeaten Jodie Esquibel (3-0) of Albuquerque, N.M. at atomweight.
Fresh off of her professional debut victory in the Invicta FC cage, top-flight prospect Rose Namajunas (1-0) of St. Paul, Minn. will face off with fellow undefeated upstart Kathina Catron (2-0) of Tehlequa, Okla. at strawweight.
Cassie Rodish (4-3) of Des Moines, Iowa will face Simona Soukupova (3-2) of London, England in an atomweight contest.
Tickets for Invicta FC 5, priced from $25, are on sale online at TicketFly.com.
