Sarah Kaufman signs with Invicta FC; will headline first card of 2018

Former Strikeforce Champion Sarah Kaufman (18-4) has signed a multi-fight deal with North America’s leading all-female MMA promotion, Invicta FC. This story was first reported by MMAFighting‘s Ariel Helwani yesterday and was confirmed by the promotion during today’s Invicta FC 26 festivities.

Kaufman competed for Invicta once before back in 2013 against Leslie Smith in between her Strikeforce and UFC runs. The fight would earn fight of the night honors.

Kaufman began her career with a 12 fight undefeated run that was punctuated by a KO slam victory over recent UFC flyweight title challenger Roxanne Modafferi to retain her Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. The performance would earn her national recognition on ESPN’s Sportscenter top plays of the week.

She’d go on to lose her title via submission to Marloes Coenen just months later before earning a shot at regaining it against Ronda Rousey after a three-fight win streak. Kaufman would become the 6th of 8 consecutive armbar victims for Rousey and would end her Strikeforce run with a very respectable 7-2 run before defeating Smith in Invicta and eventually joining the UFC.

After a 1-2 run in the UFC that ended with a split decision loss to Valentina Shevchenko, Kaufman opted not to resign with the promotion. She take a full year away from competition before returning to defeat Jessy Rose-Clark at a Battlefield FC card in South Korea. She’ll now headline Invicta FC 27 in the first fight on her new Invicta FC deal on January 13 at the Scottish Rite Temple in Kansas City against an opponent TBA. The card will air exclusively on UFC Fight Pass.

The following list of other notable recent Invicta signings reported earlier today by Rob Tatum includes former UFC competitor Pearl Gonzalez and the undefeated Julia Avila Shumate, who holds victories over current UFC flyweight champ Nicco Montano and 7-fight UFC vet Marion Reneau. 

Marciea Allen (6-2)
Julia Avila Shumate (4-0)
Kerri Kenneson (2-0)
Allison Schmidt (1-0)
Chelsea Chandler (0-0)
Bianca Daimoni (7-2)
Helen Peralta (0-0)
Brogan Sanchez (4-0)
Monica Medina (3-1)
Pearl Gonzalez (6-3)
Ashley Nichols (3-1)
Loma Lookboonmee (0-0)
Fernanda Priscila (3-1)
Rebekah LeVine (1-0)

image credit – Esther Lin for ShoSports