With a significant portion of Invicta FC’s strawweight roster being signed by the UFC for the twentieth season of The Ultimate Fighter, it was only a matter of time before the women’s only promotion bolstered their roster.
That boost came on Friday when Invicta FC announced that the promotion had added 15 fighters to the roster in all five of their divisions.
Of the fifteen acquisitions, the biggest names would have to be Roxanne Modafferi (15-11) and Peggy Morgan (2-1). Both bantamweights competed in the first ever women’s tournament on The Ultimate Fighter, but were unable to secure spots in the UFC after losing decisions to Raquel Pennington and Jessamyn Duke respectively.
Modafferi is a true veteran in women’s MMA. She made her pro debut in 2003 and has victories over the likes of Marloes Coenen, Tara LaRosa, and Vanessa Porto. Unfortunately for the 31 year-old, she has lost her last six contests.
Standing 6 foot, 1 inch tall, Peggy Morgan possesses a real physical advantage over a large part of the women’s bantamweight division. When you combine her height along with the skills she’s already displayed at such an early stage in her career, it’s not hard to understand why Morgan was an appealing fighter to Invicta.
Two other fighters will join Modaferri and Morgan in the Invicta 135 pound division. It was also announced that Irene Aldana (3-1) and Cindy Danbois (5-1) were also part of the fifteen additions. The signings of Aldana and Danbois showcased a growing a diversity in division as Aldana is from Mexico, while Danbois’ home country is Belgium.
Invicta also signed a quarter of intriguing prospects from Brazil and Poland. Brazilian strawweights Livia Renata Souza (5-0) and Herica Tiburcio (7-2) are two 22 year-olds that have risen up the ranks on the Brazilian MMA scene. The pick-ups from Poland were Karolina Kowalkiewicz (4-0), a strawweight that was victorious in her three KSW outings, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk (4-0), a bantamweight who last beat a tough Russian flyweight in Julia Berezikova.
The lone featherweight that was a part of the signings was New Zealand’s Faith Van Duin (4-0). Van Duin started her professional career in 2013 and has finished three of her opponents thus far.
Amber Brown (3-1) is set to join the fray in the atomweight division after a submission win over Kikuya Ishikawa in Pancrase, and Canadian Valerie Letourneau (4-3) will join the fold at flyweight. Letourneau was actually eliminated by Roxanne Modafferi during the preliminary round of The Ultimate Fighter.
Four women will also look to secure their first victory inside the Invicta cage with the signings of Delaney Owen (0-0), Rachel Ostovich (0-1), Ashley Greenway (0-0), and Mellony Geugjes (0-1). Owen and Ostovich compete are flyweights, while Greenway and Geugjes compete in the strawweight division.