Invicta FC has announced it’s next single-night tournament. Following the success of Phoenix Rising Series 1 in May, which featured the strawweight division, Phoenix Series 2 will see flyweights throw down, with three fights in a night for those who make it to the final. As with the first Phoenix Rising event, the bouts will total five rounds between them, with quarterfinal and semifinal fights being one round each.

In a press release Monday, Invicta FC revealed the participants for the latest tournament. Those include DeAnna Bennett (10-5-1), an Ultimate Fighter alum, UFC veteran and former Invicta FC title challenger (at strawweight). Bennett most recently made it to the final of the Invicta FC’s flyweight tournament, where she lost to Karina Rodriguez.

Former UFC fighter Milana Dudieva (12-8) is also in the mix, as is Dana White’s Contender Series alum Marilia Santos (10-3). Maiju Suotama (8-4) is in the field as well. For those not familiar with Suotama, she fought Miesha Tate back on the Strikeforce Challengers series, and also competed against Aisling Daly early in her career. After a six year break from the sport starting in 2011, she returned in 2017, and is 2-1 since.

Brazil’s Daiana Torquato (9-3) will enter Phoeniz Rising on a seven fight win streak. The field is rounded out by a trio of Invicta FC regulars: Cheri Muraski (6-2), Liz Tracy (5-3), and Miranda Maverick (5-2), who at 22-years old remains a hot prospect in the division.

A pair of non-tournament bouts were also announced for the card Monday. Those are Alexa Conners (5-3) vs. Mariya Agapova (6-1), and Josee Storts (1-0) vs. Helen Lucero (0-0).

Invicta FC Phoenix Rising 2 takes place September 6 at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. The event will air live on UFC Fight Pass.

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Invicta FC kicked off a new era on Friday, putting on Phoenix Rising 1. The card, going down at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, would witness the crowning of a new strawweight champion. But a crucial difference from championship bouts past: the winner would have to run the gauntlet, winning three fights in a single night.

Yes, the tournament format was rising from the ashes once again, this time in Invicta. A mainstay of early MMA, many promotions have resurrected tournaments over the years, including Bellator, ONE Championship, the PFL, and others.

Invicta, however, would try to stand out with the crowning of a champion after a single night, a rarity for a major MMA promotion. However, to keep from going over a total of five rounds, quarter-final and semi-final bouts would be one round affairs. The final would be a three-round fight, with the title on the line.

One reserve bout will be an exhibition fight, and 19-year old Kay Hansen will appear in the co-main event, in a non-tournament bout.

The card airs live on UFC Fight Pass – check below for results!

Invicta FC: Phoenix Rising 1 Results:

Brianna Van Buren defeats Kalin Curran via second round submssion (3:49) – strawweight tournament final

Kalin Curran was having a career resurgence in one night, and shocked many on her way to the finals. Sadly, her story wouldn’t end as well as it started. Brianna Van Buren started the fight with a big slam takedown, and didn’t give Curran a chance to breathe in the first round, as she out muscled Curran and dominated.

The second round, Van Buren took her down again and got the back. After alternating between a neck crank, and a rear-naked-choke, she would secure the choke. She would get the choke, and with that, she was now the Invicta FC Strawweight champion. What a night by the young fighter.

Magdaléna Šormová defeats Kay Hansen via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Round one was all Kay Hansen, as she used her grappling to avoid Sarmova’s submission attempts, and land a big slam takedown of her own. She ended the round on top, however the second round wouldn’t go as smoothly. Sormova would get a trip-takedown and would spend almost the entire first round on top, with the exception of the end of the round where Kay rolled to end up on top to close out the round.

The third round is where things got all wild. Sormova dominated the first half of the round, getting Hansen’s back and looking for a choke early. However after a failed armbar attempt, Hansen moved to Sormova’s back and looked to get a submission finish herself. However Sormova would move to her back, and Hansen would jump on an armbar from there. With ten seconds left, it looked in, but Sormova gutted it out. A fantastic fight.

Kalin Curran defeats Sharon Jacobson via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9)  – strawweight tournament semifinal

Kalin Curran started the bout with a big hip-toss, and doing good work from the top. Not much longer, Jacobson would work her way to the feet, and get a big slam takedown. Curran would work her way back to the feet, and start landing combinations, including a big knee. Jacobson would then move the fight back to the ground with an opportunistic takedown, and would end the fight on top, but it was too late.

Brianna Van Buren defeats Julianna Lima via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9)  – strawweight tournament semifinal

Brianna Van Buren made sure that Lima earned some frequent flyer miles. Buren slammed Lima down early, and although Lima made her way back to her feet after threatening with an armbar, she was soon slammed again. Van Buren ended the round on top, and dominated the fight.

Alyssa Khran defeats Itzel Esquivel via split decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9)  – strawweight tournament reserve bout

Khran utilized a grappling heavy strategy to defeat Itzel. Khran landed a takedown early, and often. However she didn’t do much damage, and didn’t throw many strikes when on top. Itzel landed a big upkick, and landed the harder strikes of the fight. Overall, a hard to fight to judge. However, Khran gets it done with her grappling.

Sharon Jacobson defeats Amber Brown via unanimous decision (10-9, 10-9, 10-9)  – strawweight tournament quarterfinal

Amber Brown started the fight very well, despite a slam takedown from Jacobson, she utilizes a heel-hook to get on top. Jacobson would find her way back to her feet, where Brown would land a beautiful hip-toss. Once again, Jacobson would get back to her feet where she would land a big takedown. From here, it was all domination, as Jacobson would get the back and land big ground and pound until the final bell.

Brianna Van Buren defeats Manjit Kolekar via first round submission (3:20) – strawweight tournament quarterfinal

Van Buren starts the fight with a big slam takedown. She then moves into mount, and starts doing some ground and pound against the cage. Kolekar moves back to her feet, before being slammed back down. Van Buren gets the mount again, and transition to an armbar, and she gets the tap!

Juliana Lima defeats Danielle Taylor via Split Decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9) – strawweight tournament quarterfinal

Taylor and Lima spent five minutes fighting in the clinch, with Taylor attempting to get the takedown and Lima defending it for the majority of the five minutes. Taylor did get a brief takedown late in the round, but Lima got up quickly. Tough round to score.

Kailin Curran defeats Sunna Davidsdottir via Split Decision (10-9, 9-10, 10-9)  – strawweight tournament quarterfinal

One of the most exciting rounds of the year, Curran started the fight with a big knockdown of Sunna. Curran then looked for the choke as she got the back, but lost it. Sunna then worked her way into a takedown and full mount, where she landed big punches on Curran. Curran found her way back to her feet where she again dropped Sunna. Sunna survived and then found another takedown to end the round on top.

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When Invicta FC announced a one-night strawweight tournament for May 4, there were many questions surrounding the card. We got the answers this morning as Invicta released a press release regarding the first tournament. Invicta announced the matchups, and that the winner of the one-night tournament would be crowned the new Invicta strawweight champion, due to Virna Jandiroba vacating the title to join the UFC.

In addition to this news, we learned the matchups, as determined by random draw. Those matchups include former title challenger Mizuki Inoue (13-5) taking on Sharon Jacobson (5-4). Brazilian contender Janaisa Morandin (10-2) will be facing Brianna Van Buren (5-2). UFC veterans Danielle Taylor (10-4) and Julianna Lima (9-5) will be squaring off. The last fight features former UFC fighter Kailin Curran (4-6) facing the Icelandic Sunna Davíðsdóttir (3-0).

Also announced for the card was a non-tournament fight and two reserve-tournament fights. The non-tournament fight features the 19-year old rising star Kay Hansen (4-2) taking on Magdaléna Šormová (7-1) in the co-main event of the card.

The two reserve bouts will be one-round and be considered exhibition fights. However, should any of the fighters be forced in as injury replacements in the tournament, the fights will count on the fighter’s professional record. In the first reserve match-up, former title challenger Amber Brown (7-5) will face off with India’s Manjit Kolekar (11-2). The other pairing features Invicta newcomers as Canada’s Alyssa Krahn (5-2) meets Texan fighter Itzel Esquivel (4-2).

Invicta’s Phoenix Rising 1 takes place from Kansas City’s Memorial Hall on May 3. The event streams exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.

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During UFC 235, Invicta FC officially announced the Phoenix Rising Series. Each of their five divisions will take part in eight-woman one-night tournaments in the coming months. The first division up will be strawweight, where Virna Jandiroba is currently the champion. There is no information on whether the champion will be a part of the tournament, or if the tournament winner will get a title shot. What is known, though, is that the tournament winner will get a “big cash prize” according to the promotion’s president Shannon Knapp.

May 3 is the date of the first tournament, and like every Invicta event, will stream live on UFC Fight Pass. There are currently 32 fighters in their strawweight division, so it is now up to speculation to who is in and who is out.

The one-night tournament is a staple in old-time MMA, and it has been recently called back by Combate Americas, which has held multiple one-night tournaments recently.

Again, plenty of logistics are unknown as far as how long the fights will be (two-rounds vs. three), and the involvement of the champion.

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