Invicta has finally announced the full card for their Apr. 6 show at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City. I assume casinos are cheaper than where they were before. At first they announced a move to California but then changed that probably for financial reasons. As far as I know, I am planning to attend a concert that night so I won't see the show live. But I do want to give my usual analysis of the booking. I guess my issue with Invicta matchmaking is their bad habit of overrating some of their roster. They seem to do this with the main event of Jessica Penne defending her 105lb belt against Michelle Waterson. Of course the ideal match would have been a rematch with Lisa Ellis but she got pregnant. Michelle is very popular because of her looks and sex appeal. She's an OK fighter but nothing special. She won over Lacey Schuckman by split decision on the Oct. 6 Invicta show. I don't believe that was a decisive enough win to get a title shot. I thought Lacey lost due to tactical errors. Most of the whispers after this title fight was announced was that Michelle's looks got her a title shot. The other title match will be Barb Honchak vs Vanessa Porto for the 125lb belt. I think Barb Honchak is the most improved female fighter over the last couple of years. Her record is 7-2 and she is on a six fight win streak that includes wins over Roxanne Modafferi and Aisling Daly. Vanessa is a decent fighter who can be inconsistent. If the good Vanessa shows up, this could be a good fight. But I expect Barb to win. So let's look at the other fights. Sarah Kaufman will face Leslie Smith in what I will call a UFC eliminator. As I said elsewhere yesterday, Sarah needs to win big. And Leslie has improved. In her early career, she was a kickboxer. She seems to have broadened her game and I liked her win over Raquel Pennington on the Oct. Invicta show. Last week, Invicta announced the signing of Zoila Gurgel. She will face Jennifer Maia. Why didn't Bellator re-sign Zoila? They could have matched just like Eddie Alvarez. Figure it out for yourself. But it's interesting that the Invicta press release didn't mention that Jessica Eye choked Zoila out in her last fight. Jennifer Maia is a boxer turned MMA fighter. She trains at Chute Boxe in Brazil. So early in her career she was touted as the next Cris Cyborg. In her first fight outside Brazil, Sheila Gaff KOd Jennifer in ten seconds on the Mar. 16 Cage Warriors. That shows lack of preparation. She won a fight in Brazil in Dec. but she needs to redeem herself for that loss. We'll see if she steps up. Kaitlin Young will face Amanda Nunes. Both fighters are coming off losses but Amanda's loss may have cost her a UFC contract. Then she told Tatame that she had a bad cold for that fight. I don't like excuses. Julia Budd will face Ediane Gomes for a 145lb title shot against Marloes Coenen. I have to say Ediane looked really jacked in her last fight. She looked bigger than I've ever seen her. Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc will face Cassie Rodish. Cassie is on a four fight win streak. I like her a little better than Nicdali. It could be close. Bec Hyatt will face Jasminka Cive. Bec did well in that title match but needs to work on her takedown defense. Jasminka is an undefeated fighter from Austria but she is unproven. I don't know what she will be like. Katja Kankaanpaa will face Juliana Carnerio Lima. Katja is an undefeated fighter from Finland and her last win was over Aisling Daly on the Dec. 31 Cage Warriors show. Juliana is 5-0 but hasn't fought the same level of competition in Brazil. Katja has a big edge here. Jessamyn Duke will face Miriam Nakamoto. I think most of us saw Jessamyn on the Oct. Invicta show. She has potential. Miriam is a kickboxer from San Francisco and she won her MMA debut in Sept. Jessamyn is ten years younger so that makes me want to favour her. Aussie fighter Alex Chambers will face Jodie Esquibel. In her last fight, Alex beat Mika Nagano. But before that, she lost to MIZUKI. That should tell you her talent level. Jodie is 3-0 and won her last fight over Liz McCarthy by split decision. It was a questionable decision. Rose Namajunas will face Kathina Catron. Rose won her MMA debut at the Jan. Invicta show in very impressive fashion. I expect her to do the same in this fight. And Pat Barry in her corner is very entertaining. Veronica Rothenhausler will face Mollie Estes. Veronica is a KO artist. She won by KO at last month's Invicta show but I thought it was a bad stoppage. Mollie lost to Randi Miller on the first Invicta show. She is a local fighter from Missouri. and River Jones will make her MMA debut against Lauren Barefoot. River is from Nelson, BC and has a 6-0 amateur record. Lauren is 1-0 and is from Omaha. So that's the entire card though as usual it is subject to change.
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