A pair of title fights are going to be headlining the next Invicta Fighting Championships 25 card as Yana Kunitskaya faces Raquel Pa’aluhi for the vacant bantamweight title and Livia Renata Souza faces Jodie Esquibel for the vacant strawweight title.
Kunitskaya (9-3-0-1NC) has previously challenged twice before for the bantamweight title, fighting then champion Tonya Evinger to a no contest at Invicta FC 20 and then suffering a defeat to Evinger at Invicta FC 22. Kunitskaya has yet to see any of her professional MMA fights go the distance and only three of them made it to the second round.
Pa’aluhi (6-5-0) has won three of four in Invicta FC competition, defeating Kaitlin Young, Pannie Kianzad and Ediane Gomes. Pa’aluhi has suffered five defeats as a pro, with three of them coming to UFC veterans Raquel Pennington, Amanda Nunes and Sara McMann.
Souza (10-1-0) is a former Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, defeating Katja Kankaanpaa for the gold at Invicta FC 12. Souza has only suffered a single defeat as a pro, which came to UFC veteran Angela Hill at Invicta FC 17.
Esquibel (6-2-0) has already earned four victories under the Invicta FC banner, most notably defeating Jinh Yu Frey at Invicta FC 8. Esquibel is going to be competing for the second time this year, which is the first time she has competed twice in a calendar year since 2014.
Invicta Fighting Championships 25 takes place on Thursday, August 31 from the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California with Yana Kunitskaya and Raquel Pa’aluhi headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on UFC Fight Pass.
