Invicta FC 15 Set For Southern California on Jan. 16

Kansas City, Mo. — Invicta Fighting Championships is returning to California.

The promotion will visit The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Jan. 16. The event will stream live and exclusively on UFC Fight Pass beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Headlining the event will be featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (14-1, 1 NC), who will put her belt on the line against Russian newcomer Daria Ibragimova (9-1). Cyborg successfully defended her 145-pound title at Invicta FC 13 in July, stopping New Zealand’s Faith Van Duin in under a minute. Ibragimova will make her promotional debut riding a seven-fight winning streak. Seven of her nine career victories have come via submission and six of her wins have come inside the first round.

In the co-main event, the strawweight title will be up for grabs between champion Livia Renata Souza (8-0) and fellow unbeaten DeAnna Bennett (8-0). The Brazilian Souza captured the 115-pound title with a fourth-round finish of Katja Kankaanpää at Invicta FC 12. Seven of the 24-year-old’s wins have come via submission, including five in the first round. Utah’s Bennett has won four straight inside the Invicta cage. Since dropping to 115 pounds, she has topped Norma Rueda Center, as well as the aforementioned Kankaanpää, in her last two outings.

Also announced for the event will be another strawweight bout between recently signed UFC veteran Angela Hill (2-2) and veteran striker Jodie Esquibel (5-1). Esquibel will move up from atomweight riding a two-fight winning streak.

The current fight card for Invicta FC 15 can be found below:

Featherweight Title: Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (14-1, 1 NC) vs. Daria Ibragimova (9-1)
Strawweight Title: Livia Renata Souza (8-0) vs. DeAnna Bennett (8-0)
Atomweight: Amber Brown (5-1) vs. Lisa Ellis (15-10)
Strawweight: Jodie Esquibel (5-1) vs. Angela Hill (2-2)

Additional bouts for the event will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for Invicta FC 15 go on sale starting today at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased at fightcluboc.tix.com.

About Invicta FC:

Invicta Fighting Championships is a world championship, all-pro mixed martial arts (MMA) fight series dedicated to providing female athletes with a major platform to hone their skills on a consistent basis. Founded in 2012 by longtime MMA executive Shannon Knapp, Invicta is committed to pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA by promoting the best possible match-ups between female competitors and identifying and developing future superstars of the sport. For more information, visit InvictaFC.com, follow Invicta on Twitter (@InvictaFights) and like Invicta on Facebook (Facebook.com/InvictaFights).