Serena DeJesus Elevated to Phoenix Series 3 Tournament After Gillian Noll Withdraws
Kansas City, Kan. – The lineup for the PHOENIX SERIES© 3 bantamweight tournament on March 6 has undergone a last-minute change.
Gillian Noll has been forced to withdraw from the eight-woman, single-elimination tournament. Stepping into the tournament field will be Las Vegas fighter Serena “The Southpaw Outlaw” DeJesus (1-1), who was previously slated to compete in one of the night’s reserve bouts.
Taking the place of DeJesus opposite Florina Moeller (1-1) in the tournament reserve match-up will be Washington’s Kelly “Skittles” Clayton (1-2). Clayton picked up a win over the aforementioned Noll in her last bout.
In addition to the bantamweight tournament, the event is headlined by a bantamweight title clash between undefeated 24-year-old phenom Lisa “Battle Angel” Verzosa (5-0) and The Ultimate Fighter alumna Julija Stoliarenko (8-3-1) of Lithuania.
As was previously announced, all fights for the event will utilize open scoring.
PHOENIX SERIES© 3 takes place from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass at 7 p.m. CT. Tickets to the event can be purchased through Eventbrite.
The updated fight card can be found below:
Bantamweight Title: Lisa Verzosa vs. Julija Stoliarenko
Bantamweight Tournament Final: TBD vs. TBD
Strawweight: Kay Hansen vs. Liana Pirosin
Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD
Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD
Bantamweight Reserve Bout No. 2: Mitzi Merry vs. Morgan Hickam
Bantamweight Reserve Bout No. 1: Kelly Clayton vs. Florina Moeller
Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD (Randomly Drawn)
Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD (Randomly Drawn)
Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD (Randomly Drawn)
Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD (Randomly Drawn)
PHOENIX SERIES© 3 Quarterfinalists
Brittney Victoria
Claire Guthrie
Hope Chase
Julia Ottolino
Kerri Kenneson
Serena DeJesus
Taneisha Tennant
Taylor Guardado
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.