Invicta Fighting Championships is heading back to Southern California.
The all-women’s promotion will visit The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Jan. 16. Headlining the event will be a strawweight title fight between champion Livia Renata Souza and fellow unbeaten DeAnna Bennett. Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp announced the news on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour.
The Brazilian Souza will enter the contest looking to defend her title for the first time. Seven of the 24-year-old’s wins have come via submission, including five in the first round. She captured the 115-pound title with a fourth-round finish of Katja Kankaanpää at Invicta FC 12.
Utah’s Bennett has won four straight inside the Invicta cage. After back-to-back victories in the flyweight division, Bennett turned her attention to the strawweight ranks where she has topped Norma Rueda Center, as well as the aforementioned Kankaanpää, in her last two outings.
In the co-main event, featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is expected to take on Belgium’s Cindy Dandois in a non-title, 140-pound catchweight affair. Cyborg successfully defended her 145-pound title at Invicta FC 13 in July, stopping New Zealand’s Faith Van Duin in under a minute. Dandois bested Australia’s Megan Anderson at Invicta FC 14 in September via triangle choke.
Also announced for the event will be another strawweight bout between recently signed UFC veteran Angela Hill and veteran striker Jodie Esquibel, returning atomweight Lisa Ellis will take on Amber Brown and bantamweights Raquel Pa’aluhi and Irena Aldana lock horns.
More bouts for the event are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The event will stream live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.