Invicta FC 56: Maia vs. Cantuária is an upcoming mixed martial arts event by Invicta Fighting Championships scheduled to take place on August 9, 2024 at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver, Colorado, United States.
Fight Card
Main Card (CBS Sports Network)
Bantamweight Jennifer Maia vs. Mayra Cantuária
Strawweight Valesca Machado vs. Yulia Ostroverkhova
Featherweight Jackie Cataline vs. Kelly Ottoni
Flyweight Kate Bacik vs. Paula Cristina
Preliminary card
Atomweight Flor Hernandez vs. Ana Palacios
Atomweight Ailed Zubieta vs. Giulliany Perêa
Featherweight Ali Pellegrini vs. Marissa Ellis
Flyweight Ashley Barrett vs. Tatiana Salazar
Background
Fresh off one of the most successful events in Invicta Fighting Championships history, the phoenix is rising to a Mile High once more. The world’s premier combat sports organization for women touches down at the Stockyards Event Center in Denver on Friday, Aug. 9 with another star-studded lineup.
In the night’s headliner, Brazilian Jennifer Maia (21-10-1) returns to the organization that launched her into stardom to take on her countrywoman, Mayra Cantuária (10-5-1). Maia, the former Invicta FC flyweight champion and UFC title challenger, will move up in weight for a non-title bantamweight clash, marking her seventh appearance in the Invicta cage. Cantuária aims to build on the momentum of her second-round submission win over Calie Cutler in her promotional debut at Invicta FC 52 last year.
Invicta FC 56 will also feature the return of former strawweight titleholder Valesca “Tina Black” Machado (13-4), who welcomes Russia’s Yulia Ostroverkhova (9-2-1) to North America. Machado rebounded from her title defeat at Invicta FC 52 with a 49-second stoppage victory in February and looks to quickly get back into title contention. Ostroverkhova is a product of the Alexander Shlemenko “STORM” fight team and is an Open Fighting Championship strawweight champion.
The card also includes Brazilian Kelly Ottoni (5-0) against Jackie “The Hybrid” Cataline (4-3) in a featherweight bout, English flyweight Kate “Queen of the South” Bacik (4-1) takes on Brazilian Paula “Bittencourt” Cristina (6-2), Mexican atomweight Flor “Compean” Hernandez (4-1) clashes with Ana “Guerrera” Palacios (8-3-1), Ailed Zubieta (3-2), also of Mexico, faces off with fellow atomweight Giulliany “Giu” Perêa (1-0) of Brazil, featherweight Ali Pellegrini (debut) makes her first professional appearance opposite Missouri native Marissa “Mo” Ellis (1-1), and Ashley Barrett (debut) and Nicaragua’s Tatiana Salazar (debut) kick off the night’s action in a flyweight contest.
The history-making Invicta FC continues to pave the way for all to follow, providing female athletes from around the globe with a major platform where they are able to compete against other top talent. Founded in 2012 by veteran MMA executive Shannon Knapp, Invicta is pioneering the future growth of women’s MMA, putting the spotlight on the absolute best match-ups while identifying and developing the sport’s future stars.
The event is scheduled to be headlined by Jennifer Maia returning to Invicta to face Mayra Cantuária. Kelly Ottoni was scheduled to fight Riley Martinez but Martinez was replaced by Jackie Cataline
