Invicta Fighting Championships has announced the full lineup for its 25th event which takes place Thursday, Aug. 31 from the Tachi Palace Hotel and Casino in Lemoore, Calif.
The card will be headlined by a pair of title fights in the bantamweight and strawweight divisions.
At bantamweight, recent title challenger Yana Kunitskaya will get another crack at gold when she takes on Hawaii’s Raquel Pa’aluhi. The belt was recently vacated by long-reigning champion Tonya Evinger, who faces Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino at UFC 214.
In the strawweight title affair, former titleholder Livia Renata Souza looks to recapture the belt when she takes on Jodie Esquibel. Souza dropped the belt to Angela Hill last year in a five-round battle. Hill vacated the belt to return to the UFC earlier this year.
Seven additional bouts join the championship doubleheader. South Carolina’s Alexa Conners returns to the Invicta FC cage to welcome undefeated German bantamweight Katharina Lehner to the promotion, wrestling stalwart Sharon Jacobson returns from a two-year absence to take on undefeated Kali Robbins at strawweight, atomweight Shino VanHoose makes her second Invicta appearance when she faces off with newcomer Alyse Anderson, the bantamweight division features two additional bouts as Kelly McGill-Velasco squares off with Amberlynn Orr and California’s Yaya Rincón takes on Swiss judoka Stephanie Egger, flyweight newcomers clash when Colorado’s Cheri Muraski meets Tracy Cortez of Arizona, and atomweights Ashley Medina and Jillian DeCoursey make their professional debuts.
Livia Renata Souza vs. Jodie Esquibel – for vacant strawweight title
Alexa Conners vs. Katharina Lehner
Sharon Jacobson vs. Kali Robbins
Shino VanHoose vs. Alyse Anderson
Kelly McGill-Velasco vs. Amberlynn Orr
Yaya Rincón vs. Stephanie Egger
Cheri Muraski vs. Tracy Cortez
Ashley Medina vs. Jillian DeCoursey