Invicta Fighting Championships will crown their first champion when the third installment of the all female pro mixed martial arts promotion returns to Kansas City on October 6th. The event will be headlined by 29-year-old Californian, Jessica Penne (9-1), taking on Japan’s 34-year-old Naho Sugiyama (8-0) in an atomweight title bout.

Penne enters this fight riding a two fight winning streak, most recently defeating Lisa Ellis via third round TKO at Invicta FC 1 earlier this year. Prior to that she scored a first round submission victory over Amy Davis at a regional event in November 2010, and dropped her only pro MMA loss to Zoila Gurgel via unanimous decision at Bellator 25 in August 2010.

The undefeated Naho Sugiyama last fought at Jewels 19 in May, where she defeated Yasuko Tamada via decision. Prior to that she defeated Kikuyo Ishikawa and Misaki Takimoto both in one night to become a Jewels champion. This bout against Penne will be Sugiyama’s first fight in the United States.

A who’s who of women’s mixed martial arts has been tapped for this event. Shayna Baszler returns, coming off of her main event “Fight of the Night” appearance at Invicta FC 2, to take on a Sarah D’Alelio. Julia Budd, Barb Honchak and Lacey Schuckman also make their return to the Invicta cage. And longtime women’s MMA fans will be excited to see veteran Tara LaRosa make her Invicta FC debut on this card.

Invicta FC 3 will take place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City on October 6th. The full Invicta FC 3 fight card as it currently stands is as follows:

  • Jessica Penne vs. Naho Sugiyama
  • Shyana Baszler vs. Sarah D’Alelio
  • Barb Honchak vs. Asiling Daly
  • Tara LaRosa vs. Vanessa Porto
  • Leslie Smith vs. Cat Zingano
  • 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. Marclea Allen
  • Katalina Malungahu vs. Taylor Stratford

Stay close to ProMMAnow.com for more Invicta FC info and all your pro mixed martial arts news.

-Jay Cee contributed to this article.

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