Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Analysis of Invicta FC 24 card

Yesterday Invicta announced the full card for Invicta FC 24 July 15 in Kansas City. This will air on UFC Fight Pass. As usual, I will analyze the card. A few weeks ago, Megan Anderson defending her Welterweight belt against Helena Kolesnyk was announced. Since Megan is going to the UFC, Bantamweight champ Tonya Evinger will move up to Welterweight. It's not a title fight anymore. It doesn't matter. It's a weak main event because Helena is a nobody. She does not belong in a main event anywhere. So who is she? She's from Russia. Her nickname is Pretty. Like a lot of Russian female fighters including the other ones on this show, she is heavily protected at home to a ridiculous level so when they come here to fight, none of them are any good. Her record is 5-0-1NC. Four of her six fights have been for WBK in China against beginners. And then I found this video of her June 9, 2016 fight vs Xiaomin Wing. Wing wins the first round probably by 10-8. At the start of round two, Helena gets called for an illegal knee. Then they are clinching on the fence and the ref inexplicably calls for the finish and Helena gets the win. He thought Wing tapped but there was no submission. It's a brutal call and everyone in the arena is shocked. When I research fighters, I see a lot of weird stuff. This was pretty bad. I have posted the video. You can see it for yourself. This girl wasn't going to last long with either Megan or Tonya. And when the main event is that weak, it hurts the rest of the card. And it's not a strong card anyway. Milana Dudieva will make her Invicta debut vs Mara Romero Borella. Of course Milana was in the UFC. She was terrible. I knew about her before she was in the UFC. She never belonged in the UFC and she doesn't belong in Invicta either. Mara is Italian. Her record is 10-4-1NC. Italy has produced a lot of great kickboxers but very few MMA fighters because the training is at a low level. This will be Mara's first fight outside Europe. And it's at Flyweight. I would be OK with her on the prelims but she's too high on the card. In a Bantamweight fight Raquel Pa'aluhi will face Yana Kunitskaya. Raquel is a very popular fighter from Hawaii. She currently trains with Robert Drysdale in Las Vegas. Her problem is she tends to come up short in important fights. This is an important fight. Yana has already has two chances at Tonya and she wants another. I like Raquel but I know her history too. In an Atomweight fight, Jinh Yu will face Ashley Cummins. The winner probably gets a shot at Ayaka Hamasaki's title. Jinh already lost to Ayaka. Ashley looked really good in her last fight. Let's get to the prelims. In a Flyweight bout, Karina Rodriguez will face Barbara Acioly. Both are Invicta newcomers. Karina is from Puebla, Mexico. Her record is 4-2. Most of her fights have been for one Mexican promotion. Barbara is from Brazil. She is 4-0. She has fought twice for regional US promotions. Both are unproven which is OK on the prelims. In a Strawweight bout, Sunna Davidsdotter will face Kelly D'Angelo. Sunna is from Iceland. She's 2-0 but she's 32 years old. I liked what I have seen from her but the clock is ticking. Kelly is 30 years old from Missouri. She's 2-0. Her age is an issue. I prefer younger fighters. In an Atomweight bout, Mallory Martin will face Tiffany Masters. The last time we saw Mallory she lost to Sunna in March. She's 1-1 and 24 years old. Who knows? Tiffany is an Invicta newcomer. She's 2-0 from Fond du Lac, WI. She's fought for King Of The Cage twice. The opener is a Featherweight bout. Felicia Spencer will face Amy Coleman. We've seen both of them before. I would describe both as developing talents. There is going to be a demand for good Featherweights. Felicia is from Montreal but she now trains in Orlando, FL. Her record is 2-0 and she beat Madison McElhenny in her Invicta debut. Amy is from Knoxville, TN. Her record is 2-1. She lost her Invicta debut last Sept. My assessment is the top two fights are weak and that hurts the entire show. Don't forget to check out the video.

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