Invicta Phoenix Rising analysis

So the next Invicta show is a gimmick show. It will be May 3 in Kansas City and it will air on UFC Fight Pass. They are doing a one night Strawweight tournament to crown a new champ. I am writing about this now because I now have full details. One night tournaments were once popular in Japan. Invicta owner Shannon Knapp used to work for Strikeforce and Scott Coker is well known to like tournaments. Before he started Strikeforce he promoted the K-1 Las Vegas show. And at that time K-1 did a lot of tournaments. Coker also did a one night women's tournament in Strikeforce. He still does tournaments in Bellator but he now does them over several months. Even Japanese promoters don't do one night tournaments anymore. The memories of these tournaments are skewed because there is no regulation in Japan. Promoters could still do them if they wanted. Here in North America, athletic commissions would never allow the Japanese style of one night tournament. So a promoter has to compromise and get a little gimmicky. And Invicta has done both. There are eight fighters in the tournament. The opening round and semi finals will be one five minute round. That is a compromise that typifies why one night tournaments won't work in the US. Invicta has added a gimmick where whoever wins in the shortest time gets to choose her next opponent. If there are no finishes, the next round is chosen by lot. It remains to be seen if that creates the appropriate urgency. I have my doubts. No has ever tried this. Knapp is well aware that the majority of Strawweights are not finishers. This week Invicta announced the first round bouts. Kailin Curran will face Sunna Davidsdottir. Sunna is from Iceland and she has looked good in Invicta. Kailin was in the UFC but she is awful. Danielle Taylor will face Juliana Lima. They are both terrible ex-UFC fighters. Danielle uses the keep away strategy. Juliana uses lay and pray. The urgency gimmick is aimed squarely at them. Janaisa Morandin will face Brianna Van Buren. And MIZUKI will face Sharon Jacobson. The final will be three five minute rounds. The two best fighters are MIZUKI and Sunna. That doesn't mean they will make the final. The only real fight is the final and the rest are exhibitions. I don't think a champion should be determined by exhibitions. The added gimmick doesn't make the whole thing better. They have added two reserve bouts; Amber Brown vs Manjit Kolekar and Itzel Esquivel vs Alyssa Khan. These will be one five minute round exhibition bouts. There is also a non tournament Strawweight bout: Kay Hansen vs Magdalena Sormova. The whole thing is too much of a crapshoot for me.