Invicta FC
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| Private | |
| Industry | Mixed martial arts promotion |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Shannon Knapp Janet Martin |
| Headquarters | United States |
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Area served
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United States |
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Key people
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Shannon Knapp (President) Julie Kedzie (Matchmaker) |
| Website | http://www.invictafc.com/ |
Invicta Fighting Championships, also known as Invicta FC, is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion for female fighters based in the United States. It was founded in 2012 by Janet Martin a former VP with MMA organization Blackeye Promotions and Shannon Knapp, who held positions at various levels, including executive positions with King of the Cage, World Fighting Alliance, International Fight League, Affliction Entertainment, UFC, and Strikeforce. It has a strategic partnership with fellow Japanese MMA promotion Jewels.
When Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, purchased rival promotion Strikeforce in March 2011, Shannon Knapp received several calls from female fighters who were afraid of what the future might hold for them in Strikeforce since the UFC had never promoted a women's fight. As the women were calling Knapp for representation, she started looking at the issue and met Janet Martin, and between the two acquired the financial resources needed.
The term Invicta, a Latin word for "invincible and incomparable", was chosen by founders Knapp and Martin since the terms invincible and incomparable are very masculine, but the term appears in the feminine form in Latin, and they thought it was a good description for women's MMA.
After more than a year in the making, the promotion held its first event, Invicta FC 1 on April 28, 2012. It was headlined by a rematch between former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen and French fighter Romy Ruyssen. The event also marked the MMA debut of 2008 Summer Olympics women's freestyle wrestling medalist Randi Miller. The event was available as a free video stream at the Invicta Fighting Championships webpage. After the event, fight of the night went to Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith who fought to a draw whilst submission of the night was awarded to Sarah Schneider. Liz Carmouche and Jessica Penne both received social media bonuses.
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