Next month’s Invicta Fighting Championships 21 card is starting to fill up as we have four new fights added to the card, those fights will see Pannie Kianzad face Raquel Pa’aluhi, DeAnna Bennett face Jodie Esquibel, Aspen Ladd face Sijara Eubanks and Heather Hardy face Brieta Carpenter.
Kianzad (7-1-0) will be competing for the first time since losing to bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger at Invicta FC 14, the bout was non-title because Kianzad missed weight. Kianzad also competed in Cage Warriors, where she holds victories over both Eeva Siiskonen and Megan Van Houtum.
Pa’aluhi (5-5-0) has won two of three fights under the Invicta FC banner, defeating Katlin Young and Ediane Gomes, while suffering a defeat to Colleen Schneider. Pa’aluhi has fought three UFC veterans during her career, those UFC veterans are Raquel Pennington, Sara McMann and Amanda Nunes.
Bennett (8-2-0) will enter the fight while riding a two fight losing streak, including an strawweight title fight loss to then champion Livia Renata Souza at Invicta FC 15. It has been well over a year since Bennett earned a victory, her last one came over Katja Kankaanpaa at Invicta FC 14.
Esquibel (6-2-0) has won three of five fights under the Invicta FC banner, most notably defeating Jinh Yu Frey at Invicta FC 8. Esquibel also competed on the UFC Ultimate Fighter 23, where she lost to Ashley Yoder in the opening round.
Ladd (4-0-0) has spent her entire professional MMA career in the Invicta FC promotion and none of her professional MMA fights have gone to a decision. Ladd also won four women’s flyweight titles as an amateur, they came in the promotions known as Ultimate Reno Combat, West Coast Fighting, The Future Stars Of MMA and the World Fighting Championships.
Eubanks (2-1-0) is currently undefeated in Invicta FC competition, where she earned victories over both Gina Begley and Amberlynn Orr. Eubanks also went undefeated as a amateur MMA fighter, she defeated Alexa Conners in a 2013 amateur MMA bout.
Heather Hardy (0-0-0) will be making her professional MMA debut in this fight and she has no amateur fights to speak of.
Carpenter (0-0-0) will also be making her professional MMA debut in this fight, but she did win the Tuff-N-Uff Women’s Bantamweight Title as an amateur.
Invicta FC 21 takes place on Friday, January 14 from the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City, Missouri with Megan Anderson and Charmaine Tweet headlining.
