Back in May, Jamie Edenden picked up the biggest win of her life. Down two rounds to PFL veteran Genah Fabian, she put the pedal to the metal and picked up a third round TKO stoppage. That win gave her the momentum to realize a goal of hers – which was to head to one of the big promotions. However, due to her size, she knew those options might be a bit limited.
“Obviously at my weight class, because I do fight at [featherweight], there’s not really many options for me,” Edenden said. “And I can absolutely not go down to bantamweight. I did that before and I missed weight trying to get there, so it’s just not an option for me.”
Knowing that the UFC doesn’t really have that weight class anymore, Edenden started looking at three organizations that do. With some unfinished business in the back of her head, she had an early front runner for her favorite.
“The big promotions are Invicta, Bellator or PFL. I kind of had my eyes set on Bellator because I have a history with one of the girls there [Sara Collins],” she remarked. “And I thought that was the only way for me to go and win a belt.”
However, shortly after that win, it was another promotion that reached out to her management. While Invicta has always been one of the top promotion for women, it has not featured a featherweight title fight in half of a decade. The fine people at Invicta assured Edenden that was soon to change and that they’d like her to be a part of the return of the division.
“My manager got in contact with Invicta and they said they were going to build the 145lbs division again and I was like ‘well, that’s great,” Edenden recalled. “There’s been greats like Cris Cyborg and fellow Aussie Megan Anderson that have been past champions, so I was like f*ck it – let’s go to Invicta. It’s an amazing promotion to be in, and I’m absolutely so stoked and grateful for it.”
Now, in order to be part of that conversation for the returning title, Edenden is looking to put on a show. Luckily for her, her opponent Abby Montes is the right person to help make that happen.
“I like to be in the pocket and throw and so does she,” she said. “I think it’s going to be a scrap. Hopefully we can stand there and put on a great performance and make the Invicta promoters happy.”
She’ll get a chance to make all viewers happy as part of Invicta FC 57’s main card. That fight takes place tonight with the main card starting at 7pm EST on CBS Sports Network.
