Card announced for Oct. 6 Invicta show

Sugi Rock

Most of the card for the Oct. 6 Invicta show at Memorial Hall in Kansas City was announced today. One more match is to be announced next week. I think this show is weaker than the July show especially at the top of the card. There are also some curious matchmaking decisions that I will analyze in a moment. One good thing is there are no greenhorn European fighters who will inevitably have "visa problems". The already announced main event is for the Invicta Atomweight Championship. It will be Jessica Penne vs JEWELS Flyweight Champion Naho "Sugi Rock" Sugiyama. I think it could be a good match but it's a tough sell as a main event because most fans have never seen or heard of Sugi Rock. Her record is 8-0 and she is very slick on the ground. We've seen Jessica before. She got a good win over Lisa Ellis in March but I think Sugi Rock is a tougher opponent. The co-main event is Shayna Baszler vs Sarah D'Alelio. Sara McMann is unavailable due to injury. That's why she's not on this show. So where is Alexis Davis or Liz Carmouche? Remember they are under Strikeforce contract. They may not be available. Maybe Invicta had limited choices. I would not have booked Sarah that high on the card. So next we have Barb Honchak vs Aisling Daly at 125 and Tara LaRosa vs Vanessa Porto at 125 and then Cat Zingano vs Leslie Smith at 135. Wait a minute. Doesn't Cat usually fight at 125? So why isn't Tara fighting either Barb or Cat placed higher on the card? That would improve the card. I don't know the backstage wrangling that went into these matches but the matchmaking seems a little weak. Michelle Waterson will face Lacey Schuckman. Michelle is on the comeback trail after having a baby. Julia Budd will face Elaina Maxwell in what I expect will be a kickboxing match. Carla Esparza will face Lynn Alvarez. Carla was an All American wrestler and she would make an interesting opponent for Ayaka Hamasaki. Ashley Cummins vs Scottish fighter Joanne Calderwood are both undefeated and could be interesting. Joanne has done well in Super Fight League in India. Amy Davis will face Stephanie Frausto. Jessamyn Duke won her pro debut on the last Invicta show and she will face Marceia Allen from South Dakota. Two fighters making pro debuts are Tecia Torres vs Kaiyana Rain. And the opener is Katalina Malungahu vs Taylor Stratford. Taylor is making her pro debut. She had an 8-1 amateur record. Her only loss was to Ronda Rousey. Katalina won both her pro fights by KO. Remember the card is subject to change.