Jennifer Maia moves up in weight for Invicta FC 56 headliner
DENVER — Fresh off one of the most successful events in Invicta Fighting Championships history, the phoenix is rising to a Mile High once more. The world’s premier combat sports organization for women touches down at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver on Friday, Aug. 9 with another star-studded lineup.
In the night’s headliner, Brazilian Jennifer Maia (21-10-1) returns to the organization that launched her into stardom to take on her countrywoman, Mayra Cantuária (10-5-1). Maia, the former Invicta FC flyweight champion and UFC title challenger, will move up in weight for a non-title bantamweight clash, marking her seventh appearance in the Invicta cage. Cantuária aims to build on the momentum of her second-round submission win over Calie Cutler in her promotional debut at Invicta FC 52 last year.
Invicta FC 56 will also feature the return of former strawweight titleholder Valesca “Tina Black” Machado (13-4), who welcomes Russia’s Yulia Ostroverkhova (9-2-1) to North America. Machado rebounded from her title defeat at Invicta FC 52 with a 49-second stoppage victory in February and looks to quickly get back into title contention. Ostroverkhova is a product of the Alexander Shlemenko “STORM” fight team and is an Open Fighting Championship strawweight champion.
The card also includes undefeated featherweights as Idaho’s “Rad” Riley Martinez (4-0) meets newcomer Kelly Ottoni (5-0), English flyweight Kate “Queen of the South” Bacik (4-1) takes on Brazilian Paula “Bittencourt” Cristina (6-2), Mexican atomweight Flor “Compean” Hernandez (4-1) clashes with Ana “Guerrera” Palacios (8-3-1), Ailed Zubieta (3-2), also of Mexico, faces off with fellow atomweight Giulliany “Giu” Perêa (1-0) of Brazil, and featherweight Ali Pellegrini (debut) makes her first professional appearance opposite Missouri native Marissa “Mo” Ellis (1-1).
Invicta FC 56: Maia vs. Cantuária will air via CBS Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT. Preliminary card action will stream live on Invicta’s official YouTube Channel and Facebook Page at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT. Tickets to the event are on sale now through Eventbrite.
The current fight card can be found below:
Bantamweight: Jennifer Maia vs. Mayra Cantuária
Strawweight: Valesca Machado vs. Yulia Ostroverkhova
Featherweight: Riley Martinez vs. Kelly Ottoni
Flyweight: Kate Bacik vs. Paula “Bittencourt” Cristina
Atomweight: Flor Hernandez vs. Ana Palacios
Atomweight: Ailed Zubieta vs. Giulliany Perêa
Featherweight: Ali Pellegrini vs. Marissa Ellis
