Above: Jessica Penne (left) and Vanessa Mariscal (right) will compete in the inaugural Invicta FC event.
KANSAS CITY, Kansas — OTM sponsored fighters Jessica Penne and Vanessa Mariscal will be competing tonight at the inaugural event for the all-women’s MMA organization Invicta Fighting Championships (Invicta FC). The event will take place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas and all of the fights will stream live via the event website www.InvictaFC.com at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
The 11-bout fight card features some of the biggest names in Women’s MMA, including former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen who will be headlining the event against Romy Ruyssen. The Dutch fighter Coenen is the only woman to ever defeat the French challenger Ruyssen, as this will be a rematch from the summer of 2008. Coenen and Ruyssen will meet in a women’s featherweight bout (145-pounds).
The co-main event will feature OTM sponsored fighter Jessica Penne in her highly-anticipated return to action against fellow women’s MMA and Bellator veteran Lisa Ellis. Penne fights out of Huntington Beach, California and trains with the likes of Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA, Mark Muñoz at Reign Training Center, and Leo Vieira at CheckMat BJJ. Penne and Ellis will meet in a women’s atomweight bout (105-pounds).
The card will also feature the return of OTM sponsored fighter Vanessa Mariscal. She is stepping in as a late-replacement for Strikeforce veteran Shana Nelson and will face another Strikeforce veteran in Sarah D’Alelio. Mariscal has trained with the likes of longtime UFC veterans Royce Gracie and Vladimir Matyushenko and fights out of VMX Gym in El Segundo, California. Maricscal and D’Alelio will meet in a women’s bantamweight bout (135-pounds).
Invicta FC 1 – Fight Card (Streamed on www.InvictaFC.com):
-Marloes Coenen vs. Romy Ruyssen (Women’s Featherweight Bout)
-Jessica Penne vs. Lisa Ellis (Women’s Atomweight Bout)
-Liz Carmouche vs. Ashleigh Curry (Women’s Bantamweight Bout)
-Kaitlin Young vs. Leslie Smith (Women’s Bantamweight Bout)
-Sarah D’Alelio vs. Vanessa Mariscal (Women’s Bantamweight Bout)
-Sally Krumdiack vs. Sarah Schneider (Women’s Strawweight Bout)
-Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc vs. Amy Davis (Women’s Atomweight Bout)
-Michele Gutierrez vs. Sarah Maloy (Women’s Flyweight Bout)
-Randi Miller vs. Mollie Ahlers-Estes (Women’s Featherweight Bout)
-Ashley Cummins vs. Sofia Bagherdai (Women’s Strawweight Bout)
-Cassie Rodish vs. Meghan Wright (Women’s Atomweight Bout)