Invicta FC 16: A Deeper Look

Invicta FC returns to Las Vegas on March 11 with a very exciting fight card. The two headlining bouts will crown an atomweight and interim flyweight champion.

The main event will be a bout to remember, as the current champion, Ayaka Hamasaki, will look to defend her belt and improve to 13-1 against prospect Amber Brown.

Hamasaki is one of the top female fighters on the planet. Having only one setback in her career against Claudia Gadelha, she has been dominant. Hamasaki holds notable wins over Herica Tiburcio, Emi Fujino and Lacey Schuckman.

Amber “The Bully” Brown (6-1) is unbeaten in Invicta FC, and has finished the majority of her opponents. Most recently, she submitted Shino VanHoose in the first round at Invicta FC 15 to become the top contender for the champion. In addition, she has defeated Catherine Costigan and Liz McCarthy all under the Invicta banner.

The co-main event is a rematch for the interim Invicta FC flyweight championship, as the current champion Barb Honchak needed some time off. Fighting for the belt will be Brazilians Vanessa Porto and Jennifer Maia.

Porto and Maia fought previously back in 2011 in Brazil. Porto won the match in the second round by an arm lock to become Maia’s first professional loss.

Porto is a veteran of 24 professional fights, with a combined record of 18-6. She earned the title shot after defeating Zoila Frausto and Roxanne Modafferi. Her last loss was in 2013 against Honchak by decision. In her career spanning back to 2005, she has fought some of the best; Carina Damm, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, Tonya Evinger, Amanda Nunes and more.

Maia (12-4-1) has gone 1-2 in Invicta FC, holding a win over the aforementioned Frausto. She lost to title contender DeAnna Bennett in her last fight in Invicta. She has won her last three fights, two by TKO.

The next fight on the main card is a strawweight bout between Alexa Grasso and Stephanie Eggink.

Grasso is unbeaten as a professional mixed martial artist, holding a record of 7-0 (3-0 in Invicta). In her last fight against Mizuki Inoue, she was awarded fight of the night. She has also defeated Alida Gray and Ashley Cummins in Invicta.

Eggink (4-2) looks to get her first Invicta win. She made her debut for the organization in 2014, and lost to then-champion Katja Kankaanpaa by submission. Prior to joining Invicta FC, Eggink was the XFC strawweight champion, which she earned after submitting Angela Magana. She has defeated Brianna Van Buren and Heather Clark.

UFC veteran, Jessamyn Duke, will look to get back on the winning track against Invicta FC title contender Irene Aldana. Duke started her professional career in Invicta, finishing Suzie Montero and Marciea Allen. She appeared on The Ultimate Fighter and fought Peggy Morgan in her UFC debut. Duke won by decision, but is in the midst of a three-fight skid.

Aldana defeated Morgan and Colleen Schneider by a rear-naked choke in the Invicta cage, earning her a shot at the champion Tonya Evinger in July of 2015. She lost to the champion by TKO in the fourth round. This will be another tough test for the explosive prospect.

The main card is stacked, but the prelims will have a lot of exciting match ups as well. Strikeforce veteran Roxanne Modafferi will take on contender DeAnna Bennett, Jinh Yu Frey will fight former champion Herica Tiburcio, Sarah D’Alelio will fight fan favorite Andrea Lee, Kelly McGill will fight rising star Amberlynn Orr, and Sarah Click will fight Ashley Greenway.

The fights will be available to watch on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, or you can catch them live at the Trinidad Pavilion at the Tropicana Las Vegas.

This article was authored by guest writer, Matthew Pearlman. You can find more of his work at TeensOnSports.com.