Invicta FC 51 Features Championship Doubleheader on January 18 in Denver

DENVER — Get ready for another thrilling night of action in the Mile High City as Invicta Fighting Championships returns to Reelworks Denver with a championship doubleheader on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

In the night’s main event, bantamweight champion Taneisha “Triple Threat” Tennant (5-1) puts her 135-pound belt on the line opposite UFC veteran Talita Bernardo (9-4). New York’s Tennant has yet to taste defeat under the Invicta banner, including winning three fights in one night to capture the third Phoenix Tournament. She was most recently in action at Invicta FC 48, edging Olga Rubin after five, hard-fought rounds to retain her title. Brazil’s Bernardo has quickly established herself as the No. 1 contender with back-to-back submission wins over Katharina Lehner and Yana Gadelha.

The co-feature also features gold up for grabs as Oklahoma’s Kristina “Warhorse” Williams (6-3) collides with Brazilian knockout artist Ketlen “Esquentadinha” Souza (12-3) for the vacant flyweight title. Williams rides the momentum of three straight victories, including a first-round submission of Liana Pirosin at Invicta FC 48 in July. Souza was successful in her promotional debut in September, cruising past Strikeforce and Phoenix Tournament veteran Maiju Suotama.

Also on the card, bantamweight Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus (5-2) looks to make a statement with a victory over recent title challenger “Big Bad” Olga Rubin (7-3), Denver’s “Grizzly” Claire Guthrie (4-1) aims for a fourth straight win against hard-hitting bantamweight Auttumn “The Natural” Norton (2-1), atomweight Marisa “Spider Monkey” Messer-Belenchia (5-1) welcomes Brazilian Elisandra “Lili” Ferreira (4-2) to the Invicta cage, “The Queen of the North” Katie Saull (5-5) takes on Contender Series veteran Rayanne dos Santos (12-6) of Brazil at 105 pounds, strawweight submission ace Fatima “The Archangel” Kline (2-0) squares off with The Ultimate Fighter 30 alum Laura “La Jefa” Gallardo (4-1), and Canada’s Tanya Nijjar (1-0) meets fellow debutant Sayury Cañon (2-0) of Colombia.

Invicta FC 51: Tennant vs. Bernardo will be overseen by the Colorado Combative Sports Commission and will feature open scoring. The event will kick off at 8:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. MT, with the main card airing on AXS TV in the U.S., Fight Network in Canada, and Invicta’s official YouTube Channel and Facebook Page at 9 p.m. ET/7 p.m. MT. Tickets to the event go on sale Tuesday, Dec. 13 at 12 p.m. ET/10 a.m. MT through Eventbrite.

The current fight card can be found below:

Bantamweight Title: Taneisha Tennant vs. Talita Bernardo
Flyweight Title: Kristina Williams vs. Ketlen Souza
Bantamweight: Serena DeJesus vs. Olga Rubin
Bantamweight: Claire Guthrie vs. Auttumn Norton
Atomweight: Marisa Messer-Belenchia vs. Elisandra Ferreira
Atomweight: Katie Saull vs. Rayanne dos Santos
Strawweight: Fatima Kline vs. Laura Gallardo
Strawweight: Tanya Nijjar vs. Sayury Cañon

About Invicta FC:
Invicta Fighting Championships (invictafc.com) 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. Follow Invicta on Twitter (@InvictaFights), Facebook (InvictaFights) and Instagram (@InvictaFC) for all the latest information.

About Anthem Sports & Entertainment, Inc.
Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc. is a global multi-platform media company with offices and studios in Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, Kansas City, Cleveland and Toronto. Anthem’s portfolio includes AXS TV, a leading music, entertainment and lifestyle television channel and digital media company; global film distribution company Gravitas Ventures; Fight Network, the world’s premier combat sports channel; IMPACT Wrestling, one of the world’s leading wrestling organizations specializing in original programming and live events; Invicta Fighting Championships, the world’s premier all-women mixed martial arts promotion;  Game+, the leader in Esports and gaming content; GameTV, the home of game shows and competition-based reality series; and HDNet Movies, which features theatrically released films and documentaries. Anthem also has a significant ownership interest in Pursuit Channel, one of the top outdoor channels in the U.S.