‘Invicta FC 10’ Waterson - Tiburcio Preview

Houston, Texas will be the site for the 10th event from the all women’s mixed martial arts promotion Invicta FC. Surely keeping her word on a busy end of 2014 Shannon Knapp and crew have been very busy as of late doing what they can to keep the excitement of the organization heading into 2015. While to the casual observer and mainfan the loss of Cyborg on this card may be a huge blow, but for those of us familiar with the current talent it will be just fine. Furthermore the loss of Cris on the card allows for the true star of Invicta FC atomweight champion Michelle Waterson.

She takes on Brazilian Herica Tiburcio who was unable to compete at IFC 9 due to visa issues. The 9 bout card also features standouts Tonya Evinger, Cindy Dandois, Roxanne Modafferi and possibly the new face of the women’s flyweight division Andrea KGB Lee.

At Invicta FC 9 when Shannon Knapp and Julie Kedzie made the announcement for IFC 10 many were surprised to see the champ Michelle Waterson (12-3) back so soon. She faces Herica Tiburcio (8-2) a Brazilian with some nasty submission skills. What I like about this match up is finally we get to see someone who can match up “physically” with Waterson.

Michelle can get back up to about 115 before her fights and Herica has most of her fights at the strawweight level. So as long as she has a good cut and refuel in time this could be a very dynamic match up. As usual the striking of Waterson will make the difference and set the tone. Thought we will be curious about how many leg kicks she will throw with the take down and submission ability of Tiburcio. Prediction would be Waterson in an unanimous decision.

The career of Tonya Evinger (14-5) continues to surge on as truly one of the most well rounded fighters in women's mixed martial arts today looks for another W against the talented Cindy Dandois (5-1). Evinger may be looking past Cindy outside of the cage in route to title contention but once the door closes it’s a different ball game. Tonya should be able to impose her will and finish Cindy in the early rounds. The longer the fight goes usually spelled doom for Tonya but a rejuvenated “Triple Threat” can take out anyone in the division and not worry about fatigue. This should be a great fight with Tonya Evinger winning by a first round stoppage.

Talk about a chance of a lifetime. After an impressive Invicta FC debut against Shannon Sinn we see the return of Andrea “KGB” Lee (2-0) taking on the also newly rejuvenated Roxanne Modafferi (16-11). Roxy has picked up her striking like nobody’s business in this stage in her career and this has implications of being fight of the night. KGB has shown the gift on her feet as well which is what really excites us for their fight. The experience of Modafferi will have a lot to do with the outcome. We like KGB for the win by a possible split decision.

One of the worst things about being in this business is when one of your original favorite fighters takes on one of your new favorite fighters. The sky's the limit for the extremely talented Deanna Bennet (5-0) and she is running up against one of the fiercest women in mixed martial arts in Jennifer Maia (9-3-1). Any Invicta FC card without Maia is a travesty so we are so glad to see this match up. Both of these women fight at an amazing pace but will Bennet be able to deal with Maia never going away. Maybe another well timed kick to the liver can give the Argentine Assassin the edge but the head movement and work of Maia won’t make it that easy. This also could be a FOTH and we are going against the grain and choosing Jennifer in a split decision.

Charmaine Tweet (6-4) squares off with Faith Van Dunn (4-1) in a fight that we feel Charmaine should win due to stoppage. Peggy Morgan (2-2) goes back to featherweight to try and get back in the win column but we don’t feel she will against a very underrated Andria Wawro (3-1). The Mexican standout Alexa Grasso (5-0) also returns to IFC 10 in a very anticipated match up between Alida Gray(4-1). It’s great to see Alida in Invicta and hopefully we will see their other women fighters join the roster as well. Alida has already proven she is contender in the division so this match up should have huge implications.

Cassie Robb (0-2) finally returns to the Invicta cage looking for a victory against Jinh Yu Frey (2-1-0) who lost a very close split to Jodie Esquibel (no offense to Jodi who is outstanding but we felt Jinh won). If Cassie can match the pace of Jihn and avoid the power she seems to hold then she has the tools to win this fight. We give a slight technical edge to Frey who more than likely will be looking for a finish.We see her winning this time in a close split decision. The event kicks off with Rachael Ostovich (1-1-0) facing Evva Johnson (1-0). Johnson shows great potential but Rachael has fought better competition and even though she is only 2 fights in her pro career she fights like its her 10th. We see her picking up the decision over Johnson in a fun opening bout.

It should be another action packed card for Invicta FC and the possible implications from the card will be truly rewarding. It all goes down this Friday from Houston but you can witness it all from the comfort of your home on UFC Fight Pass!

Michelle Waterson's last match: