Shayna Baszler (left) and Sara McMann

Invicta Fighting Championships and Japan-based JEWELS announced today that the two women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) promotions have formed a strategic partnership to cross-promote the world’s top female fighters on their respective fight cards in The United States and Japan.

The fruits of the deal will began to emerge as JEWEL fighter Akaya Hamasaki (7-0) will do battle with Jasminka “Impressive” Cive (5-0) on July 28th in Kansas City, Kansas. This bout will be at the flyweight limit of 115 pounds.

Also, Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (18-9) will face Alexis Davis (11-5) in the co-main event at the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds.

Invicta President Shannon Knapp commented on the deal:

We are excited to enter this partnership with JEWELS, which was essentially founded with the same goal of placing professional women’s MMA competition, at its highest level, on a major stage,” said Invicta President Shannon Knapp.  “This relationship with an overseas promotion will effectively make it more turnkey for us to bring in some of the best women fighters in the world to compete in the Invicta cage and to send our top athletes to Japan to compete at JEWELS events.

The headline bout at Invicta FC 2 will feature 31-year-old Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann (5-0) against submission specialist Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler (14-6).

JEWELS President Yuichi Ozono commented on the news:

“We are very honored and extremely excited about this partnership with Invicta Fighting Championships,” said JEWELS President Yuichi Ozono. “We appreciate the opportunity that Invicta Fighting Championships is extending to our fighters, including the current JEWELS champion Ayaka Hamasaki and Pro Elite and Strikeforce veteran Hitomi Akano. We are excited to be able to collaborate and cooperate with Invicta Fighting Championships to achieve our common goal, which is to promote the appeal of women’s Mixed Martial Arts.”

Tickets for Invicta FC 2: McMann vs. Baszler, priced from $25, are available for purchase at Memorial Hall box office(913) 549-4853), online at Ticketmaster.com and InvictaFC.com and by phone at (800) 745-3000.

MAIN CARD

  • Shayna Baszler vs. Sara McMann
  • Hitomi Akano vs. Alexis Davis
  • Liz Carmouche vs. Kaitlin Young
  • Milana Dudienva vs. Amanda Nunes
  • Kelly Kobold vs. Vanessa Porto
  • Barb Honchak vs. Bethany Marshall
  • Julia Budd vs. Elina Nilsson
  • Carla Esparza vs. Sarah Schneider

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Angelica Chaves vs. Kikuyo Ishikawa
  • Sarah Moras vs. Raquel Pennington
  • Jessamyn Duke vs. Suzie Montero
  • Cheryl Chan vs. Jocelyn Lybarger
  • Liz McCarthy vs. Jessica Philippus

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