Two Championship Bouts Announced For Invicta FC 25
We have a date, location, and oh yeah, two championship bouts for Invicta FC’s 25th event. Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp recently appeared on The MMA Hour and revealed that the MMA’s premier all women’s organization will hold Invicta FC 25 on Thursday, August 31st at the Tachi Palace in Lemoore, California. The card will stream live on UFC Fight Pass.
The event will be headlined by top bantamweight contenders Yana Kunitskaya and Raquel Pa’aluhi to crown the new bantamweight champion. The title was recently vacated by longtime champion Tonya Evinger, who will fight Cris Cyborg in a key bout at UFC 214 later this month.
This upcoming event will mark the third consecutive title fight for Kunitskaya (9-3, 1 NC). Her win over Evinger in 2016 was overturned to a no contest due to a controversial call by referee Mike England. She then went on to lose the rematch against Evinger after being caught in a second-round rear-naked choke. On the flip side, Pa’aluhi (6-5), who has won three of her four contests under the Invicta FC umbrella, is coming off a first-round submission over Pannie Kianzad.
In the co-main event, former strawweight champion Livia Renata Souza and veteran Jodie Esquibel will meet for the 115-pound title vacated by UFC fighter Angela Hill.
Souza (10-1) is seeking to reclaim the strawweight strap after she lost in a split decision against Hill last summer. She is coming off a knockout win over Ayaka Hamasaki in under two minutes at Invicta FC 22 this past March. On the flip side, Esquibel (6-2) has won four of her six Invicta FC appearances including a recent split decision over DeAnna Bennett.
