Invicta FC 38 analysis

Yesterday Invicta announced the full card for Invicta FC 38 which will air Nov. 1 8PM on UFC Fight Pass. This show will have two championship matches. The first will have Vanessa Porto defend her Invicta Flyweight Championship against Karina Rodriguez. Vanessa is 35 years old from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Her record is 20-8 and 6-4 on Invicta. This will be her first title defense. Vanessa won by decision after she was poked in the eye by Pearl Gonzalez. She would have won anyway. Vanessa is on a three fight winning streak but the opposition has been sub par. I'm not sure Karina is any better. She's 34 years old from Mexico. She trains with Alexa Grasso at Lobo. Her record is 8-3 and 4-1 in Invicta. Her opposition has been sub par too. And like Alexa, Karina is a points fighter. I don't see her outpointing a seasoned veteran like Vanessa and she's not a finisher. The other title match will have Kanako Murata vs Emily Ducote for the Invicta Strawweight Championship. Kanako is 26 years old from Japan. Her record is 10-1 and 1-0 in Invicta. She was a wrestler at Nihon University when Olympic champ Saori Yoshida recruited her to RIZIN. Because RIZIN's emphasis is on Atomweight, they have loaned Kanako to Invicta. I think Emily is a step up in competition for her. Emily is 25 years old from Oklahoma City. She went 4-4 as a Flyweight in Bellator. She has dropped to Strawweight and won her first Invicta fight. She's getting a title shot because she fought on TV. One win should not get her a title shot. I would say the same thing about Kanako except there may be limits as to what they can do with her because they are borrowing her from RIZIN. In a Strawweight bout, Mallory Martin will face Cynthia Arceo. Mallory is 25 years old from Colorado. Her record is 5-2. The last time we saw her she won a fight on Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series. She didn't get a contract. She is 2-1 in Invicta. Cynthia is 29 years old from El Paso, TX. Her record is 5-1-1 all in King of the Cage. This is her Invicta debut. In a Flyweight bout, Shanna Young will face Maiju Suotama. I would describe both fighters as retreads. Shanna is 28 years old from Knoxville, TN. Her record is 6-2. She was a Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series loser. Maiju is 33 years old from Finland. Her record is 8-4. We saw her lose to Miesha Tate in Strikeforce in 2010. Shanna beat Maiju in a Phoenix Series exhibition bout. I don't think either should be fighting on TV. Shaianna Rincon will face an opponent TBA at Featherweight. She trains with Aspen Ladd at MMA Gold. She's 2-0 and she's looked good so far. In a Bantamweight bout Lisa Verzosa will face Kerri Kenneson. We've seen Lisa as Lisa Spangler. She is 23 years old from Portland, OR. She's a Josh Barnett student. Her record is 4-0 and 2-0 in Invicta. Kerri is 33 years old from Hookset, NH. Her record is 3-1 and 1-1 in Invicta. And in a Bantamweight bout, Serena DeJesus will face Taneisha Tennant. Both are making their Invicta debuts. Serena is 27 years old. She trains at Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas. Her pro record is 1-0 but she has extensive amateur experience. Taneisha is 30 years old from Long Island, NY. She trains at Budokan with UFC fighter Randy Brown. She's 1-0 as a pro but she is 3-0 as an amateur. As usual, this show is a mixed bag as Invicta hires too many retreads.