An MMA Burner Exclusive Interview.
Invicta Fighting Championship’s President Shannon Knapp sees the potential in women’s mixed martial arts (WMMA) and plans on helping the sport evolve successfully. Shannon and Janet Martin (Invicta FC Matchmaker) hope to create depth in WMMA by making sure fighters are evenly matched, fight at their proper weight classes, and strike a good balance between taking enough training time between fights and taking enough performance opportunities to make a living throughout the year.
Part of the stigma surrounding WMMA is that people frankly struggle with the idea of watching women getting beat up. “I don’t like watching girls get beat up,” said Shannon. “Heck, I don’t like watching guys get beat up when it needs to stop.”
Shannon believes people would enjoy WMMA if some of them simply adjusted their perspective a bit. “I think once people get over the word ‘fight,’ get over the word ‘fighter,’ and get over the word ‘women’ and we switch it up to ‘athletes competing,‘ then I think you will see amazing competition,” said Shannon.
Invicta’s third event will take place in Kansas City, Kansas and can be viewed online at invictafc.com via live stream on Saturday, October 6. Otherwise, tickets are on sale starting at $25 and can be purchased at Memorial Hall box office (913) 543-4853, online at Ticketmaster.com and InvictaFC.com, or by phone at (800) 745-3000. The fight card will be headlined by Invicta’s first-ever title bout in the Atomweight (105 lbs) division when Jessica Penne battles former Jewels Champion Naho Sugiyama.
Also on the card, Sarah Kaufman and Kaitlin Young are set to meet in the center of the cage. Both athletes are elite strikers, both are coming off disparaging losses to ground-fighting specialists, and it’s doubtful either of them plan on going to the ground for this one. “That’s like fireworks to me,” said Shannon. “I wanted that fight so badly because of the level of skill between those two girls, and their styles — how they match. I think it’s going to be an amazing fight.”
Shannon and Janet are accomplishing what the UFC did years ago — breaking trends and redesigning formulas to further promote successful sporting events in the fight game. With the rise of MMA in general, and with many of the top female fighters under Invicta’s banner, the future seems very bright for Invicta FC.
“We change things, we’re growing, every day is something new,” said Shannon. “We are making new deals, new partnerships, new alignments. The most amazing part of anything is to be able to watch it grow and that’s the process we are in. Each and every person in the world that is supporting us or helping us or is taking the time for an interview is contributing to our success and that growth.”
Watch the hauntingly beautiful highlight compilation from InvictaFC 1 in the video below.
VIDEO COURTESY OF INVICTA FC..
Invicta FC 3 Full Fight Card (Saturday October 6 from Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas)
* Jessica Penne vs Naho Sugiyama (Atomweight Championship Fight)
* Shayna Baszler vs Sarah D’Alelio
* Sarah Kaufman vs Kaitlin Young
* Barb Honchak vs Aisling Daly
* Tara LaRosa vs Vanessa Porto
* Leslie Smith vs Kim Connor-Hamby
* Michelle Waterson vs Lacey Schuckman
* Julia Budd vs Elaina Maxwell
* Carla Esparza vs Lynn Alvarez
* Ashley Cummins vs Joanne Calderwood
* Amy Davis vs Stephanie Frausto
* Jessamyn Duke vs Marciea Allen
* Tecia Torres vs Kaiyana Rain
* Katalina Malungahu vs Ediane Gomes
By Gabe Keith ~ Senior Writer
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