You may not know it, but Invicta Fighting Championships – the all-female MMA promotion run by Shannon Knapp – stages its seventh event tonight, live on pay-per-view.
The reason that this event is flying under the radar of MMA fans isn’t due to a lack of quality fights – the card features three title fights, as well as a number of other high-profile women’s MMA bouts – but because of a lack of advertising.
I had wondered why the event wasn’t being advertised more, but then this week it was revealed by Knapp that Invicta is currently dealing with some financial issues stemming from the departure of former matchmaker and co-owner Janet Martin. I don’t know exactly what happened, but there are rumors out there (that Knapp wouldn’t confirm) that Martin was funneling money out of the company for personal ventures. Either way, Invicta clearly isn’t in the same positive financial situation it was for its last few pay-per-views, and that’s why you see less advertising for this coming event.
The only thing that’s disappointing about this whole situation is that Invicta FC 7 is arguably the best card the promotion has ever put on paper, and I believe it will be in contention for “MMA card of the year” when it’s all said and done. But no one’s talking about it. So I felt like doing my part here to spread the word of what I think might be the best MMA card of the whole weekend.
One of the main reasons I believe this card is going to be memorable is that Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith will be on this card. And she’s not just on the card, she’s fighting in the main event, for the Invicta FC flyweight championship against current champ Barb Honchak.
If you don’t know who Smith is, I feel sorry for you. That’s because you have missed out on a number of exciting fights if you haven’t watched her compete for nearly the last two years in Invicta.
3-1-1 so far in her Invicta FC career, Smith has won three “Fight of the Night” awards during that time, her wins coming over current UFC bantamweight Raquel Pennington, women’s MMA pioneer Kaitlin Young, and up-and-comer Jennifer Maia. Those are all quality wins, and honestly, she should really have a victory and not a loss against top-ranked UFC fighter Sarah Kaufman at Invicta FC 4, but the judges ripped her off there.
But it’s not even about the wins and losses. It’s about the entertainment, and Smith is about as entertaining as it gets in MMA. She throws an insane volume of strikes and she even taunts her opponents in the cage. You don’t see that that often in mixed martial arts, male OR female, but it makes a lot of sense when you consider Smith trains with the Stockton Bad Boys Nick and Nate Diaz at Team Cesar Gracie in California.
We all know what Nate and Nick do – entertain the crowd – and Smith is certainly cut from the same cloth. Although she was a Bellator veteran, I will be honest and say I wasn’t sure who she was before her time in Invicta. But now, as someone who has watched all five of her Invicta bouts, I can safely say I know who Smith is, and I can safely say she is one of the most exciting fighters, male or female, in the sport of MMA today. That is not hyperbole, by the way; I really, truly believe that.
At 135 pounds, Smith was a top contender and was arguably top 10 in the world, but dropping down to 125 after the loss to Kaufman was a great decision for her, because she now has an unblocked path to Honchak’s flyweight title and thus the mantle of best female flyweight in the world. At 5’9” and 125 pounds, Smith is long and lean just like the Diaz brothers, and just like the Stockton Bad Boys, she backs it up in the cage every single time, and I don’t expect anything less this weekend.
There is a reason why Invcita is putting this flyweight title fight ahead of their bantamweight title fight. It’s not because of Honchak, the champ, because Honchak isn’t that exciting. So it must be about Smith, and Knapp must also see what I do in Smith: a future star, and more importantly, a draw. And if she can win the Invicta FC flyweight title tonight, you better believe the UFC is going to come calling. Will Knapp give her up, though, is a question that we’ll have to wait and find out the answer to.
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Invicta FC 7: Honchak vs. Smith is due to take place on December 7, 2013 at the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.
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