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Invicta FC 48: Tennant vs Rubin preview, weigh-in results

July 20, 2022
Invicta FC 48 headliners Taneisha Tennant and Olga Rubin.
Bantamweight gold on the line, and that belt is nice. | Dave Mandel/Invicta FC

Bantamweights see some action with the title in the main event.

Invicta ventures west to Denver as their bantamweight champion Taneisha Tennant (4-1) defends her title against former Bellator title challenger Olga Rubin (7-2).

Tennant managed to earn the title via a hard-fought decision win against Lisa Verzosa last August, and returns almost a year later to defend it. Her use of range with her striking selection and cardio have served her well so far, as seen when she blazed through the field in the Phoenix Rising one-night tournament she won in 2020.

Along with her takedown defense, Tennant’s got smart lateral movement and the ability to shut down offense with well-timed counters. On the other hand, Rubin has some good submission chops even if she takes some time for her setups. Her grappling got her out of some rough spots against Iony Razafiarison and Cindy Dandois, but her striking defense has also let her down in the past against Julia Budd and Sinead Kavanaugh.

Granted, those two losses were at featherweight. Having dropped to bantamweight, she got back in the win column against Priscila de Souza with a decision win. Perhaps not having such a pronounced size disadvantage might work out this time. Tennant’s a stiff test for where she’s at, but the fight should deliver on the action front.

Former UFC talent Talita Bernardo (7-4) also returns after almost a year to the day from her last fight, a win over Lucie Pudilova. Originally scheduled to face Katharina Lehner, Lehner withdrew from the bout and Bernardo now faces fellow Brazilian Yana Gadelha (7-4). Gadelha is a submission specialist that has fought for Jungle Fight and Shooto Brazil.

After back to back losses to Kanako Murata and Kay Hansen (both very talented grapplers and currently signed to the UFC), Liana Pirosin (8-4) snagged a split decision win over Invicta staple Janaisa Morandin back in May. Now she’s back in the saddle against Bellator vet Kristina Williams (5-3). Williams has a fun kicking game and good movement that has led her to wins over Emily Ducote, Heather Hardy, Bruna Ellen, and Flore Hani. Pirosin has scrambles for days and slick hands with a zippy in-and-out game.

Kickboxing veteran Isis Verbeek (3-1 MMA) graces the cage once again as she brings her striking arsenal to the table against boxer Melissa Parker (6-0 boxing, 3-1 MMA) in a duel that should in all likelihood remain upright. But we may see some other wrinkles, as this is an MMA bout. We’ve seen this sort of thing play out (such as in KSW), and it’s possible we get some surprises here.

Amber Leibrock (5-4) brings heavy hands to the cage every time, and she’ll be looking to get some work in against former PFL talent Morgan Frier (4-3). Auttumn Norton (1-1) returns to action as she welcomes Canadian prospect Maria Djukic (2-0) to the Invicta stage.

No full weigh-in video available for this one, but we got some highlights here:

Full card is as follows:

Taneisha Tennant (134.3) vs. Olga Rubin (134.1)

Talita Bernardo (135.2) vs. Yana Gadelha (135.6)

Liana Pirosin (126) vs. Kristina Williams (125.4)

Melissa Oddessa (115.1) vs. Isis Verbeek (115.5)

Amber Leibrock (145.6) vs. Morgan Frier (145.4)

Auttumn Norton (135.4) vs. Maria Djukic (135.7)

Invicta FC 48: Tennant vs Rubin takes place this Wednesday night, streaming live and free on YouTube via Invicta’s official channel. The event will also be available on AXS TV at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

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